Danakil Alps

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Danakil Alps
Highest point
Etiopia
  • Eritrea
    • Geology
    Age of rockMiocene
    Type of rockLimestone

    The Danakil Alps are a highland region in

    normal faulting on the inland side.[2]

    In the northern part of the alps the basement rock is less elevated and there are many volcanic edifices,[2] such as those forming the Nabro Volcanic Range. The largest of the Nabro Volcanic Range edifices are the Mallahle, Nabro, and Dubbi. The volcanic range extends northwestward to the Red Sea, ending with the Kod Ali volcano offshore.[5]

    The Danakil Alps have been cut off from the sea since the late Pleistocene.[6]

    Composition

    Geologically these highlands are described as a horst[7] and are sometimes referred to as the Danakil Horst or Danakil Block. They were formed by geological faulting which has occurred since the Miocene epoch.[4] There is Precambrian basement rock underlying the region and in coastal Eritrea Precambrian and Mesozoic rocks are exposed.[8] The Antalo Limestone in the Danakil Alps is unusually thick for the Horn of Africa, being at least 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in depth,[9] implying that the area acted as a drainage basin before the uplift and break up of the Afro-Arabian continent.[2] The basement rock of the alps has become overlaid with flood basalt since the Oligocene epoch.[10] The pre-rift stratigraphic section in the Danakil Alps exceeds 4,000 metres (13,000 ft), greater than that to the north, reflecting the development of the Indian Ocean margin during the Mesozoic.[11]

    Development

    About 20 million years ago the

    plate boundary continues along the west side of the Danakil Block, and links to the Red Sea at the Gulf of Zula. Stretching factors of the continental crust in the Danakil Alps are estimated to be up to β = ~2.5.[11]

    See also

    References

    1. ^ "Ethiopian (Danakhil) Potash Project, Afar, Ethiopia". mining-technology.com. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
    2. ^
      ISBN 9783319608655
      .
    3. ^ "Curiosities of the Danakil Depression". Nasa. 27 August 2014.
    4. ^
      ISBN 9780080869643
      .
    5. S2CID 129124049
      .
    6. S2CID 34061051
      .
    7. ISBN 9780285641327
      .
    8. doi:10.1098/rsta.1970.0038
      .
    9. ISBN 9783031054877
      .
    10. ^ a b "Geology of the Danakil and Ali-Sabieh Blocks". Afar Rift Consortium. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
    11. ^
      ISBN 978-0-444-56357-6
      – via Science Direct.
    12. ^ a b Wood, Charles A. (1979). "Marda Fault Zone and the Opening of the Red Sea". In El-Baz, Farouk; Warner, D.M. (eds.). Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: Earth observations and photography. Vol. II. NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. pp. 29–31.
    13. ISBN 9781461580386
      .
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