Geoscientists Find Pulsing Mantle Plume beneath Ethiopia’s Afar Region
These impulses gradually tear the African continent and forming a new ocean basin, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Southampton.
Variation of geochemical and geophysical properties around the Afar triangle. Image credit: watts and al., DOI: 10.1038 / S41561-025-01717-0.
The AFAR region is a rare place on earth where three tectonic rifts converge: the main Ethiopian rift, the red rift and the Gulf of Aden Rift.
Geologists have long suspected that a hot height of the mantle, sometimes called plume, is under the region, helping to cause the extension of the crust and the birth of a future ocean basin.
But so far, we knew little about the structure of this increase, or how it behaves under rifting plates.
“We have found that the coat in far is not uniform or stationary – it implies, and these impulses bear distinct chemical signatures,” said Dr. Emma Watts, who has conducted research at the University of Southampton and is now based at Swansea University.
“These ascending impulses of partially melted mantle are channeled by the rifting plates above.”
“This is important for the way we think of the interaction between the interior of the earth and its surface.”
Dr. Watts and his colleagues collected more than 130 samples of volcanic rocks throughout the Afar region and the main Ethiopian rift.
They used them, as well as existing data and advanced statistical modeling, to study the structure of the crust and the coat, as well as the cast iron it contains.
Their results show that under the Afar region is a single asymmetrical plume, with distinct chemical bands which are repeated through the rift system, such as geological bar codes.
These models vary in the spacing according to the tectonic conditions in each rift arm.
“The chemical striping suggests that the plume is pulsed, like a heart rate,” said Southampton Professor Tom Gernon.
“These impulses seem to behave differently depending on the thickness of the plate and the speed at which it separates.”
“In faster rockets like the Red Sea, pulses move more effectively and regularly as an impulse through a narrow artery.”
The results show that the mantle plume under the Afar region is not static, but dynamic and reactive to the tectonic plate above.
“We have found that the evolution of the ups in the deep mantle increase is intimately linked to the movement of the above plates,” said Dr. Derek Keir, a researcher at the University of Southampton and the University of Florence.
“This has deep implications on how we interpret surface volcanism, the activity of earthquakes and the continental break process.”
“The work shows that the deep mantle tops can flow under the base of the tectonic plates and help concentrate volcanic activity where the tectonic plate is the thinnest.”
“Research on research includes understanding understanding of the manner’s way and speed occurs under plates.”
“Working with researchers with a different expertise between institutions, as we have done for this project, is essential to disentangle the processes that occur below the surface of the earth and link it to recent volcanism,” said Dr. Watts.
“Without using a variety of techniques, it is difficult to see the image complete, like assembling a puzzle when you don’t have all the parts.”
The study was published in the journal Nature geoscience.
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EJ Watts and al. The Upwelling coat with the Triple Jonction Afar shaped by the dynamic of primordial plaque. Nat. Geoscipublished online on June 25, 2025; DOI: 10.1038 / S41561-025-01717-0
