Ethiopia-Yemen Continental Flood Basalts

Shibam-Kawkaban ignimbrite, Yemen, part of the Ethiopia-Yemen CFB

The Ethiopia-Yemen Continental Flood Basalts were erupted during the Oligocene. They cover an area of about 600,000 km2 in Yemen and Ethiopia, with an estimated volume of greater than 350,000 km3.[1] They are associated with the Afar Plume and the initiation of rifting in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.[2]

In Ethiopia flood basalts cover an old erosion surface with occasional flat areas or peneplains.[3][4] Burial of old surfaces by lava has preserved laterite soils in both Yemen and Ethiopia.[4]

  1. ^ Ukstins I.A.; Renne P.R.; Wolfenden E.; Baker J.; Ayalew D.; Menzies M. (2002). "Matching conjugate volcanic rifted margins: 40Ar/39Ar chrono-stratigraphy of pre- and syn-rift bimodal flood volcanism in Ethiopia and Yemen". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 198 (3–4): 289–386. Bibcode:2002E&PSL.198..289U. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00525-3.
  2. ^ Natali C.; Beccaluva L.; Bianchini G.; Siena F. (2011). "Rhyolites associated to Ethiopian CFB: Clues for initial rifting at the Afar plume axis". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 312 (1–2): 59–68. Bibcode:2011E&PSL.312...59N. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2011.09.059.
  3. ^ Coltorti, M.; Dramis, F.; Ollier, C.D. (2007). "Planation surfaces in Northern Ethiopia". Geomorphology. 89 (3–4): 287–296. Bibcode:2007Geomo..89..287C. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.12.007.
  4. ^ a b Abbate, Ernesto; Bruni, Piero; Sagri, Mario (2015). "Geology of Ethiopia: A Review and Geomorphological Perspectives". In Billi, Paolo (ed.). Landscapes and Landforms of Ethiopia. World Geomorphological Landscapes. pp. 33–64. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-8026-1_2. ISBN 978-94-017-8026-1.