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We present a new gravity model for the lithosphere beneath the Kenya Rift Valley, the Mozambique Belt, and the Tanzania Craton in western Kenya and northeaatem Tanzania. The Kenya Rii lies within the eastern branch of the extensive Cetnwoie East African Rift System and has developed almost entirely in the Pan-African M~b~que Belt about 50 to 150 km east of the exposed margin of the Archean Tanzania Craton. The gravity field over western Kenya and northeastern Tanzania is characterized by a long-wavelength Bnuguer anomaly. We propose that this anomnly has two components: (1) a “rift” signature, deriving from a shalknv rift basin, a lower crustal intrusion and a low-density gone in the mantle lithosphere 1ocallzed beneath the rift axis, and (2) a “suture” signature, arising from a crustal root along the boundary between the Moaambiqne Belt and Tanaania Craton and higher density crust in the mobile belt above part of the crustal root. Two lines of reasoning support our inte~re~tion: (1) Recent geologlcal studies of the M~bique Belt in Kenya and Tanzania suggest that it is a ~ntinent-~n~nent collision aone, and continent-axrtinent collision zones worldwide commonly exhibit a characteristic gravity anomaly. (2) The long-wavelength Bouguer anomaly has at least two minii one over the craton-mobile belt boundary, and one or more over the rift valley. Corroborative evidence for our interpretation of the gravity field is provided by recent seismic investigations.

[1] The nature of the lower crust across the southern African shield has been investigated by jointly inverting receiver functions and Rayleigh wave group velocities for 89 broadband seismic stations located in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. For large parts of both Archaean and Proterozoic terrains, the velocity models obtained from the inversions show shear wave velocities 4.0 km/s below 20–30 km depth, indicating a predominantly mafic lower crust. However, for much of the Kimberley terrain and adjacent parts of the Kheis Province and Witwatersrand terrain in South Africa, as well as for the western part of the Tokwe terrain in Zimbabwe, shear wave velocities of 3.9 km/s are found below 20–30 km depth, indicating an intermediate-to-felsic lower crust. The areas of intermediate-to-felsic lower crust in South Africa coincide with regions where Ventersdorp rocks have been preserved, suggesting that the more evolved composition of the lower crust may have resulted from crustal reworking and extension during the Ventersdorp tectonomagmatic event at c. 2.7 Ga. Citation: Kgaswane, E. M., A. A. Nyblade, J. Julia`, P. H. G. M. Dirks, R. J. Durrheim, and M. E. Pasyanos (2009), Shear wave velocity structure of the lower crust in southern Africa: Evidence for compositional heterogeneity within Archaean and Proterozoic terrains, J. Geophys. Res., 114, B12304, doi:10.1029/2008JB006217.

[1] For seismic stations deployed on ice sheets, determining crustal structure using P wave receiver functions can be difficult since ice reverberations may mask P-to-S (Ps) conversions from the crust-mantle boundary (Moho). In this study, we assess the usefulness of S wave receiver functions (SRFs), which are not affected by ice multiples, for investigating crustal structure beneath ice sheets by analyzing broadband seismic data recorded across the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) and the East Antarctic (EA) craton. Clear S-to-P (Sp) conversions from the Moho are obtained using standard SRF processing methods and are easier to interpret than the corresponding Ps conversion on PRFs. When the Sp-S times are modeled together with 16–20 s Rayleigh wave group velocities, we obtain Moho depth estimates of ∼40–45 km for the EA craton, consistent with average Precambrian crustal thickness found globally but ∼9 km thicker than previously reported estimates. A somewhat thinner crust (∼35–40 km) is obtained beneath the TAMs, suggesting that crustal buoyancy is at most a minor contributor to the uplift of the mountain range in this region.

11th South African Geophysical Association Biennial Technical Meeting and Exhibition, Swaziland, 16-18 September 2009

11th South African Geophysical Association Biennial Conference and Exhibition, Swaziland, 16-18 September 2009

[1] The shear wave velocity structure of the shallow upper mantle beneath the Arabian Shield was modeled by inverting Rayleigh wave phase velocity measurements between 45 and 140 s together with previously published Rayleigh wave group velocity measurements between 10 and 45 s. For measuring phase velocities, we applied a modified array method to data from several regional networks that minimizes the distortion of raypaths caused by lateral heterogeneity. The new shear wave velocity model shows a broad low-velocity region to depths of � 150 km in the mantle across the Shield and a narrower low-velocity region at depths � 150 km localized along the Red Sea coast and Makkah-Madinah-Nafud (MMN) volcanic line. The velocity reduction in the upper mantle corresponds to a temperature anomaly of � 250– 330 K. These findings, in particular the region of continuous low velocities along the Red Sea and MMN volcanic line, do not support interpretations for the origin of the Cenozoic plateau uplift and volcanism on the Shield invoking two separate plumes. When combined with images of the 410 and 660 km discontinuities, body wave tomographic models, a S wave polarization analysis, and SKS splitting results for the Arabian Peninsula, the anomalous upper mantle structure in our new velocity model can be attributed to an upwelling of warm mantle rock originating in the lower mantle under Africa that crosses through the mantle transition zone beneath Ethiopia and moves to the north and northwest under the eastern margin of the Red Sea and the Arabian Shield. In this interpretation, the difference in mean elevation between the Arabian Platform and Shield can be attributed to isostatic uplift caused by heating of the lithospheric mantle under the Shield, with the significantly higher elevations along the Red Sea coast possibly resulting also from lithospheric thinning and dynamic uplift.

[1] The thickness of the mantle transition zone beneath Ross Island, and parts of the Transantarctic Mountains and East Antarctic Craton has been mapped using data from the 2000–2003 Transantarctic Mountain Seismic Experiment to determine if, as indicated by some tomographic images, an upper mantle thermal anomaly centered beneath Ross Island is a deep-seated feature extending into the mantle transition zone. Some 2700 receiver functions have been stacked using a 3D velocity model, revealing Ps conversions from the mantle transition zone discontinuities at depths of 410 and 660 km. Results yield an average nearly uniform transition zone thickness (266 ± 10 km) that is slightly larger than the global average, implying that the upper mantle thermal anomaly does not likely extend into the transition zone. This finding favors explanations for the upper mantle thermal anomaly invoking a plume head or small-scale convection.

SUMMARY The magnetization of fresh natrocarbonatite lavas from Oldoinyo Lengai in Tanzania is dominated by small amounts of single- or pseudo-single-domain grains of a spinel in the solid solution series jacobsite (MnFe204)-magnetite (Fe304). Although this phase may acquire TRM before carbonatite lava crust has ceased being mobile, the Oldoinyo Lengai samples are good palaeomagnetic recorders of the field they cooled in. In comparison, samples from older carbonatites in Tanzania have very different magnetic mineralogies and unstable behaviour of remanent magnetization. There are two possible explanations for the contrast in magnetic properties. Recrystallization of fresh carbonatites during weathering may destroy the original remanence and lead to the production of various authigenic magnetic minerals. Alternatively, the different magnetic mineralogies may derive from distinct types of carbonatite magmas. Some older calcitic carbonatites may have associated magnetic anomalies that could be useful in prospecting for economically valuable minerals often associated with carbonatites.

[1] The seismic velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Ethiopia and Djibouti has been investigated by jointly inverting receiver functions and Rayleigh wave group velocities to obtain new constraints on the thermal structure of the lithosphere. Most of the data for this study come from the Ethiopia broadband seismic experiment, conducted between 2000 and 2002. Shear velocity models obtained from the joint inversion show crustal structure that is similar to previously published models, with crustal thicknesses of 35 to 44 km beneath the Ethiopian Plateau, and 25 to 35 km beneath the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) and the Afar. The lithospheric mantle beneath the Ethiopian Plateau has a maximum shear wave velocity of about 4.3 km/s and extends to a depth of ∼70–80 km. Beneath the MER and Afar, the lithospheric mantle has a maximum shear wave velocity of 4.1–4.2 km/s and extends to a depth of at most 50 km. In comparison to the lithosphere away from the East African Rift System in Tanzania, where the lid extends to depths of ∼100–125 km and has a maximum shear velocity of 4.6 km/s, the mantle lithosphere under the Ethiopian Plateau appears to have been thinned by ∼30–50 km and the maximum shear wave velocity reduced by ∼0.3 km/s. Results from a 1D conductive thermal model suggest that the shear velocity structure of the Ethiopian Plateau lithosphere can be explained by a plume model, if a plume rapidly thinned the lithosphere by ∼30–50 km at the time of the flood basalt volcanism (c. 30 Ma), and if warm plume material has remained beneath the lithosphere since then. About 45–65% of the 1–1.5 km of plateau uplift in Ethiopia can be attributed to the thermally perturbed lithospheric structure.

[1] Ethiopia has been subjected to widespread Cenozoic volcanism, rifting, and uplift associated with the Afar hot spot. The hot spot tectonism has been attributed to one or more thermal upwellings in the mantle, for example, starting thermal plumes and superplumes. We investigate the origin of the hot spot by imaging the S wave velocity structure of the upper mantle beneath Ethiopia using travel time tomography and by examining relief on transition zone discontinuities using receiver function stacks. The tomographic images reveal an elongated low-velocity region that is wide (>500 km) and extends deep into the upper mantle (>400 km). The anomaly is aligned with the Afar Depression and Main Ethiopian Rift in the uppermost mantle, but its center shifts westward with depth. The 410 km discontinuity is not well imaged, but the 660 km discontinuity is shallower than normal by ∼20–30 km beneath most of Ethiopia, but it is at a normal depth beneath Djibouti and the northwestern edge of the Ethiopian Plateau. The tomographic results combined with a shallow 660 km discontinuity indicate that upper mantle temperatures are elevated by ∼300 K and that the thermal anomaly is broad (>500 km wide) and extends to depths ≥660 km. The dimensions of the thermal anomaly are not consistent with a starting thermal plume but are consistent with a flux of excess heat coming from the lower mantle. Such a broad thermal upwelling could be part of the African Superplume found in the lower mantle beneath southern Africa.

[1] This study uses seismic receiver functions, surface wave phase velocities, and airborne gravity measurements to investigate the structure of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) and adjacent regions of the Ross Sea (RS) and East Antarctica (EA). Forty-one broadband seismometers deployed during the Transantarctic Mountain Seismic Experiment provide new insight into the differences between the TAM, RS, and EA crust and mantle. Combined receiver function and phase velocity inversion with niching genetic algorithms produces accurate crustal and upper mantle seismic velocity models. The crustal thickness increases from 20 ± 2 km in the RS to a maximum of 40 ± 2 km beneath the crest of the TAM at 110 ± 10 km inland. Farther inland, the crust of EA is uniformly 35 ± 3 km thick over a lateral distance greater than 1300 km. Upper mantle shear wave velocities vary from 4.5 km s � 1 beneath EA to 4.2 km s � 1 beneath RS, with a transition between the two at 100 ± 50 km inland near the crest of the TAM. The � 5k m thick crustal root beneath the TAM has an insufficient buoyant load to explain the entire TAM uplift, suggesting some portion of the uplift may result from flexure associated with a buoyant thermal load in the mantle beneath the edge of the TAM lithosphere.

P and S wave travel times from teleseismic earthquakes recorded by the Transantarctic Mountains Seismic Experiment (TAMSEIS) have been used to tomographically image upper mantle structure beneath portions of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM), the East Antarctic (EA) craton, and the West Antarctic rift system (WARS) in the vicinity of Ross Island, Antarctica. The TAM form a major tectonic boundary that divides the stable EA craton and the tectonically active WARS. Relative arrival times were determined using a multichannel cross-correlation technique on teleseismic P and S phases from earthquakes with mb ≥ 5.5. 3934 P waves were used from 322 events, and 2244 S waves were used from 168 events. Relative travel time residuals were inverted for upper mantle structure using VanDecar's method. The P wave tomography model reveals a low-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle of approximately δVp = −1 to −1.5% in the vicinity of Ross Island extending laterally 50 to 100 km beneath the TAM from the coast, placing the contact between regions of fast and slow velocities well inland from the coast beneath the TAM. The magnitude of the low-velocity anomaly in the P wave model appears to diminish beneath the TAM to the north and south of Ross Island. The depth extent of the low-velocity anomaly is not well constrained, but it probably is confined to depths above ∼200 km. The S wave model, within resolution limits, is consistent with the P wave model. The low-velocity anomaly within the upper mantle can be attributed to a 200–300 K thermal anomaly, consistent with estimates obtained from seismic attenuation measurements. The presence of a thermal anomaly of this magnitude supports models invoking a thermal buoyancy contribution to flexurally driven TAM uplift, at least in the Ross Island region of the TAM. Because the magnitude of the anomaly to the north and south of Ross Island may diminish, the thermal contribution to the uplift of the TAM could be variable along strike, with the largest contribution in the Ross Island region. The tomography results reveal faster than average velocities beneath East Antarctica, as expected for cratonic upper mantle.

[1] This study analyzes Rayleigh wave phase velocities from the Ross Sea (RS) region of the West Antarctica rift system, the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs), and part of East Antarctica (EA). The Transantarctic Mountain Seismic Experiment deployed 41 three-component broadband seismometers, which provide new data for high-resolution two-dimensional maps demonstrating crustal and uppermost mantle seismic velocity anomalies. The short-period (16–25 s) phase velocity maps are consistent with changes in crustal thickness from ∼20 km under the RS to ∼35 km beneath the TAMs and EA. Long-period (75–175 s) phase velocity maps indicate high mantle velocities beneath EA, low velocity beneath the RS, and a transition between the two between 50 and 150 km inland. The EA phase velocities in the region adjacent to the TAM exhibit a directional pattern consistent with 2 ± 1% azimuthal anisotropy with a NE-SW fast direction. The structure of the RS is similar to continental rifting environments elsewhere, with a pronounced low-velocity zone in the ∼80–220 km depth range, whereas EA shows a typical continental cratonic structure with high velocities between the 80 and 220 km depth range.

[1] This study examines teleseismic S-wave attenuation variations between the Ross Sea in West Antarctica and Vostok Subglacial Highlands in East Antarctica. These analyses indicate that δt* is ∼1 second greater beneath the Ross Sea than East Antarctica, with the transition occurring beneath the Transantarctic Mountains. While the structure is non-unique, low attenuation beneath East Antarctica is consistent with thick subcontinental lithosphere (≥250 km) and negligible asthenosphere. In contrast, the Ross Sea possesses a thin lithosphere underlain by thick, highly anelastic asthenosphere. Independent temperature estimates from velocity and quality factor indicate that the mantle is 200–400°C colder beneath East Antarctica than the Ross Sea between 80 and 220 km depth. The temperature variation beneath the Transantarctic Mountains may have assisted in the asymmetric uplift of the mountains. Attenuation and velocity anomalies within East Antarctica may delineate regions of elevated temperature, representing recently modified sections between older lithospheric blocks.

The East African and Ethiopian Plateaus have long been recognized to be part of a much larger topographic anomaly on the African Plate called the African Superswell. One of the few places within the African Superswell that exhibit elevations of less than 1 km is southeastern Sudan and northern Kenya, an area containing both Mesozoic and Cenozoic rift basins. Crustal structure and uppermost mantle velocities are investigated in this area by modeling Rayleigh wave dispersion. Modeling results indicate an average crustal thickness of 25 {+-} 5 km, some 10-15 km thinner than the crust beneath the adjacent East African and Ethiopian Plateaus. The low elevations can therefore be readily attributed to an isostatic response from crustal thinning. Low Sn velocities of 4.1-4.3 km/s also characterize this region.

[1] Three teleseismic P-wave travel time data sets (KRISP 1985, 1989–1990; Kenya Broadband Seismic Experiment) have been inverted to obtain a new tomographic model of the upper mantle beneath the Kenya Rift. The model shows a 0.5–1.5% low velocity anomaly below the rift extending to about 150 km depth. Below ∼150 km depth, the anomaly broadens to the west toward the Tanzania Craton, suggesting a westward dip to the structure. Tomographic images to the south in Tanzania and to the north in Ethiopia also show westward dipping low velocity anomalies below depths of ∼150–200 km. The presence of westward dipping low velocity structures along much of the East African rift (Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania) is difficult to explain with a plume model and is consistent with some models of the African Superplume showing anomalous lower and upper mantle structure connecting at mid-mantle depths under the western side of East Africa.

[1] We report 12 new focal mechanisms from earthquakes in NE and SW Tanzania where the stress regime within the East African rift system is not well constrained. Focal mechanisms for events at the intersection of the Lake Tanganyika and Rukwa rifts in SW Tanzania indicate a complicated stress pattern with possible dextral strike-slip motion on some faults but oblique motion on others (either sinistral on NW striking faults or dextral on NE striking faults). Within the Rukwa rift, focal mechanisms indicate normal dip-slip motion with NE-SW opening. In NE Tanzania where the Eastern rift impinges on the margin of the Tanzania Craton, fault motions are consistent with a zone of distributed block faults and sub E-W extension. All twelve earthquakes likely nucleated within the crust.

[1] Crustal structure in Kenya and Ethiopia has been investigated using receiver function analysis of broadband seismic data to determine the extent to which the Cenozoic rifting and magmatism has modified the thickness and composition of the Proterozoic crust in which the East African rift system developed. Data for this study come from broadband seismic experiments conducted in Ethiopia between 2000 and 2002 and in Kenya between 2001 and 2002. Two methods have been used to analyze the receiver functions, the H-κ method, and direct stacks of the waveforms, yielding consistent results. Crustal thickness to the east of the Kenya rift varies between 39 and 42 km, and Poisson's ratios for the crust vary between 0.24 and 0.27. To the west of the Kenya rift, Moho depths vary between 37 and 38 km, and Poisson's ratios vary between 0.24 and 0.27. These findings support previous studies showing that crust away from the Kenya rift has not been modified extensively by Cenozoic rifting and magmatism. Beneath the Ethiopian Plateau on either side of the Main Ethiopian Rift, crustal thickness ranges from 33 to 44 km, and Poisson's ratios vary from 0.23 to 0.28. Within the Main Ethiopian Rift, Moho depths vary from 27 to 38 km, and Poisson's ratios range from 0.27 to 0.35. A crustal thickness of 25 km and a Poisson's ratio of 0.36 were obtained for a single station in the Afar Depression. These results indicate that the crust beneath the Ethiopian Plateau has not been modified significantly by the Cenozoic rifting and magmatism, even though up to a few kilometers of flood basalts have been added, and that the crust beneath the rifted regions in Ethiopia has been thinned in many places and extensively modified by the addition of mafic rock. The latter finding is consistent with models for rift evolution, suggesting that magmatic segments with the Main Ethiopian Rift, characterized by dike intrusion and Quaternary volcanism, act now as the locus of extension rather than the rift border faults.

Received 28 October 2003; revised 2 April 2004; accepted 21 May 2004; published 6 August 2004. [1] East Africa is a tectonically complex region owing to the presence of a rigid craton, paleothrust belts and shear zones, active magmatism and rifting, and possibly even a mantle plume. We present new splitting results of teleseismic shear phases recorded by 21 broadband seismic stations in Tanzania, seven broadband stations in Kenya, and three permanent broadband Global Seismic Network stations in Kenya and Uganda. Inconsistent apparent splitting is observed beneath the craton and along its southern and southeastern flank in Tanzania. Splitting at stations elsewhere in the rifts and orogenic belts is more consistent. We test between different models of anisotropy for stations with inconsistent splitting (single layer with horizontal fast axis, single layer with dipping fast axis, and two layers with horizontal fast axes). However, we show that these more complicated models do not reasonably explain the data. The data are explained better by a laterally (and/or in some places vertically) varying single-layer model with a horizontal fast axis. We arrive at a conceptual model of anisotropy in Tanzania and Kenya that is controlled by (1) active shear along the base of the plate associated with asthenospheric flow beneath and around the moving craton keel, (2) asthenospheric flow from a plume north of central Kenya, (3) fossilized anisotropy in the lithosphere due to past orogenic events, and possibly (4) aligned magma-filled lenses beneath the rifts. Our most robust conclusion is that we can rule out an extension-induced lattice preferred orientation of olivine as a dominant factor, which is surprising given the long history of extension in the region. This indicates that mantle-lithospheric extension in East Africa occurs via dikeintrusion and/or ductile thinning within narrow rift zones and is possibly facilitated by a mechanical lithospheric anisotropy imparted by fossilized north/south structural or mineralogical fabrics. INDEX TERMS: 7203 Seismology: Body wave propagation; 7218 Seismology: Lithosphere and upper mantle; 8109 Tectonophysics: Continental tectonics—extensional (0905); 8120 Tectonophysics: Dynamics of lithosphere and mantle—general; 8121 Tectonophysics: Dynamics, convection currents and mantle plumes; KEYWORDS: anisotropy, shear wave splitting, extension

[1] Twenty-six broadband seismic stations in an areal array spanning 500 × 500 km across Ethiopia were used for shear-wave splitting studies. Our results show small-to-moderate delay times (0.5–1.7s) with fast-polarization azimuths sub-parallel to the orientation of the East African Rift (NNE-SSW) and also to the Proterozoic tectonic fabric across the entire studied area. Our results imply Ethiopian upper-mantle anisotropy is controlled largely by the Proterozoic accretion of the Mozambique belt, with possible minor effects within the rift due to aligned cracks or melt pockets parallel to the rift axis. Our observations are not consistent with anisotropy created by asthenospheric flow parallel either to the Cenozoic extension direction (NW-SE) or to the modern absolute plate motion direction (NNW-SSE), or to asthenospheric radial flow from the “Afar” plume.

[1] We measure P wave spectral amplitude ratios from deep-focus earthquakes recorded at broadband seismic stations of the Tanzania network to estimate regional variation of sublithospheric mantle attenuation beneath the Tanzania craton and the eastern branch of the East African Rift. One-dimensional profiles of QP adequately explain the systematic variation of P wave attenuation in the sublithospheric upper mantle: QP ∼ 175 beneath the cratonic lithosphere, while it is ∼ 80 beneath the rifted lithosphere. By combining the QP values and a model of P wave velocity perturbations, we estimate that the temperature beneath the rifted lithosphere (100–400 km depth) is 140–280 K higher than ambient mantle temperatures, consistent with the observation that the 410 km discontinuity in this region is depressed by 30–40 km.

[1] We investigate under what conditions the present-day long wavelength anomalous elevation (∼500 m) of the southern African Plateau can be attributed to Mesozoic plume events. The anomalous, long wavelength topography of the southern African Plateau cannot be easily explained by recent heating of the upper mantle, as opposed to other areas of the African Superswell, and geomorphological studies provide few hard constraints on the timing of the uplift. A Mesozoic origin for the plateau uplift is attractive in that southern Africa experienced several large magmatic events in the Mesozoic. We formulate numerical and scaling models to investigate if plume material ponded beneath cratonic lithosphere in the Mesozoic could produce 500 m of present-day elevation. We find that starting plume heads are ineffective at producing much long lasting uplift because the material spreads into a thin layer, tens of km thick. The ponded plume material also suppresses secondary convection by having a stable boundary at its base. Over time, heat continues to flow out of the top of the lithosphere, and a net imbalance of heat flow in the lithosphere develops, resulting in subsidence. Even after the plume material has cooled to the temperature of the mantle adiabat, secondary convection supplies less heat to the lithosphere than is lost upward by conduction. The cratonic lithosphere returns to its original thermal structure on a timescale of less than 200 m.y. Even two mantle starting plume heads, one at the time of Karoo volcanism (ca.183 Ma) and the other at the time of kimberlite eruption (ca. 80–90 Ma) in our models, cannot produce much (

[1] The Archean Tanzanian craton, nestled between the eastern and western branches of the East African Rift, presents a unique opportunity to study the interaction of active rifting with stable cratonic lithosphere. The high density of Rayleigh wave paths recorded in a regional seismic array yields unusually precise determinations of phase velocity within the Tanzanian craton. Shear velocities in the cratonic lithosphere are higher than a global average to a depth of 150 ± 20 km. Beginning at 140 km, shear velocity decreases sharply, reaching a minimum of 4.20 ± 0.05 km/s at depths of 200–250 km. The base of the lithosphere, identified by the depth to the center of the maximum negative velocity gradient, is similar to that found beneath other Archean lithospheres. Where Cenozoic rifting crosscuts the southern corner of the craton, velocities up to 130 km depth are reduced, indicating recent disruption of the lithosphere. The anomalously low velocities beneath the Tanzanian craton indicate high temperatures and the presence of melt, consistent with the spreading of a mantle plume head beneath the craton. Tests for the possibility of a radial pattern of azimuthal anisotropy that may indicate outward flow from a plume show that a model with average anisotropy of 0.71 ± 0.17% centered SE of Lake Victoria fits the data significantly better than a uniform, single direction of anisotropy. Thus our results agree with the suggestion that an upper mantle plume, centered beneath the Tanzanian cratonic lithosphere, provides the buoyancy required for uplift of the East African Plateau.

[1] We use P wave tomography and receiver function analysis to place new constraints on the nature of the thermal anomaly in the upper mantle beneath the Arabian Shield. A broad, low velocity anomaly is found in the upper mantle characterized by a strong lateral velocity gradient, with a peak to peak anomaly of at least 4–6% extending from the Red Sea eastward into the interior of the shield. The lowest velocities are found under the region adjacent to the Red Sea where elevations are more than 1 km higher than elsewhere in the Arabian Shield. We infer that large lateral temperature variations exist beneath the Arabian Shield associated with the higher elevations near the Red Sea. Receiver function stacks of P to S conversions from the 410 and 660 km discontinuities do not indicate thinning of the transition zone, suggesting that the broad, low velocity anomaly is likely confined to depths shallower than 410 km.

[1] Uppermost mantle P wave velocity structure beneath the Baikal rift and southern margin of the Siberian Platform has been investigated by using a grid search method to model Pnl waveforms from two moderate earthquakes recorded by station TLY at the southwestern end of Lake Baikal. The results yielded a limited number of successful models which indicate the presence of upper mantle P wave velocities beneath the rift axis and the margin of the platform that are 2–5% lower than expected. The magnitude of the velocity anomalies and their location support the presence of a thermal anomaly that extends laterally beyond the rift proper, possibly created by small-scale convection or a plume-like, thermal upwelling.

Crust and upper mantle structure in East Africa, together with the tectonic history of the region, is used to evaluate geodynamic processes commonly associated with the formation of magmatic rifted margins. Cenozoic rifting and volcanism in East Africa represent the earliest stage in the development of a rifted continental margin, and East Africa is one of the few places where geodynamic processes may be active that could lead to the development of a magmatic rifted margin. The Precambrian tectonic framework of East Africa is characterized by an Archean craton (Tanzania Craton) surrounded by Proterozoic mobile belts. An extensive nonmagmatic rift system associated with the separation of Madagascar from Africa developed in the mobile belts during the Permian-Cretaceous. In the Cenozoic, two rift branches (Western Rift and Eastern Rift) formed in the mobile belts. Volcanism is present in both branches, but most of it is concentrated in the Eastern Rift. Crustal structure away from the Cenozoic rifts is typical for Precambrian crust. Similarly, uppermost mantle structure across East Africa does not appear to have been altered, except beneath the rift valleys. Deeper in the upper mantle a thick (∼200 km) lithospheric keel is found under the Tanzania Craton, and a broad (200-400 km wide) thermal anomaly extending to a depth of at least 400 km is beneath the Eastern Rift. Several models cannot fully account for the tectonic history of East Africa and/or the structure of the crust and upper mantle, including edge flow in the convecting mantle around the keels of Archean cratons, broad (>500 km wide) thermal upwellings originating in the lower mantle, a relatively stationary plume head, and a plume head that flows outward along topography on the underside of the lithosphere. Consequently, these models are not strong candidates for the origin of volcanism and rifting in East Africa. Models with two or more plume heads, however, can explain the relevant observations, and therefore a multiple plume head explanation for the rifting and volcanism in East Africa is favored. These findings further call into question the viability of nonplume models for the formation of magmatic rifted margins, particularly models invoking edge flow in the convecting mantle around cratonic keels.

[Extract] AfricaArray(http://www.AfricaArray.org) is a 20-year initiative in the geosciences to meet the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) requirements for continent-wide cooperation in human resources development and capacity building. The name AfricaArray refers to arrays of scientists working on linked projects across the continent, arrays of shared training programs and recording stations, and, above all, a shared vision that Africa will retain capacity in an array of technical and scientific fields vital to its sustainable development. AfricaArray officially launched in January 2005 and, with support from many public and private partners, has become multifaceted, promoting a broad range of educational and research activities and supporting a multiuser sensor network (Figure 1). Though fostering geophysics education and research in South Africa was its initial focus, AfricaArray has expanded to 17 countries and is now branching out into all areas of the geosciences (Earth, atmosphere, and space).

In a previous work, we have used the genetic algorithm NSGA-II to generate a set of solutions to model the receiver functions and dispersion curves of several seismometer stations located in southern Africa. Now in continuation of applying the NSGA-II to seismic problems, we have used it to model the average velocity profiles along two-dimensional paths from a single seismic event to several stations across West Antarctica. The event was a rare continental earthquake of magnitude 5.6 that took place in West Antarctica near the Ross Ice Shelf during the austral winter of 2012. Data were collected from stations in the Global Seismic Network as well as a local network during the 2012–2013 field season. The seismograms were first modeled using a full body wave modeling code that generates synthetics based on a structure composed of layers with user-defined velocities, thicknesses, and densities. Those models then served as the starting models in NSGA-II, which created a set of solutions from which an average structure with error bounds was calculated for each station.

I would like to thank Peter Shearer for his citation and the Seismology, Geodesy, and Tectonophysics sections for this honor. Paul Silver was a friend and mentor, and so receiving this award is especially meaningful. I first met Paul in 1993 when I was a postdoc writing a National Science Foundation proposal to deploy a seismic network in Tanzania and recall his strong encouragement to not cut back on the size of the project in spite of the cost. The project, which was funded, helped pave the way for the development of AfricaArray more than a decade later, illustrating Paul's far-reaching influence on the community through his support of junior scientists.

Each continent contains pockets of ancient crust that appear to have been unaffected by tectonic forces since they formed billions of years ago. Why? There's now a fresh twist on the usual explanation.

[1] Crust and upper mantle structure under Tanzania, East Africa, is investigated using broadband waveforms and phase travel times collected from regional events recorded by the 1994–1995 Tanzania Broadband Seismic Experiment. Broadband displacement waveforms from the mL 5.9 Rukwa graben earthquake (18 August 1994) are modeled using a wave number integration algorithm and a new “phase time” inversion technique to infer a very simple crustal and upper mantle model that can be used for waveform studies of other regional earthquakes in the area. Displacement amplitudes for all phases in the data are predicted quite well using source parameters determined from a previous study of teleseismic waveforms. The crust is parameterized by a linear gradient in velocity defined by surface and Moho P velocities, Poisson's ratio, and crustal thickness. This simple parameterization is sufficient to explain arrival times and waveshapes of the three-component waveforms recorded between 200 and 800 km at stations located on the craton and Mozambique belt. The S wave train consists of Sn, multiple Sn, and critically reflected S wave multiples in the crustal waveguide, in addition to the fundamental mode Rayleigh wave. High phase velocity, critical S wave reflections are seen to form the low group velocity Lg phase. Prominent sP depth phases are seen in the regional waveform data which can be used to infer accurate source depths for events in the region. The Tanzania craton and adjacent Mozambique belt crustal structure is simple and laterally homogeneous, showing few effects of rift disruption. High wave velocities in the uppermost mantle suggest little thermal modification from rifting processes of the East African Rift.

We propose a new kinematic framework for the East African rift system linking the development of the Eastern and Western rifts via stress transmission across the Archean Tanzania craton. The proposal is based on three observations. (1) A new map of uppermost-mantle P-wave velocities beneath Tanzania, in combination with the results of other seismic, gravity, heat-flow, and xenolith studies, reveals that the craton's thick, cold lithosphere has largely resisted modification by the Cenozoic extensional tectonism and has therefore behaved as a rigid tectonic block. (2) As the southward-propagating Eastern rift reached the craton margin ca. 12–10 Ma, the Western rift began to develop. (3) Subsequently, the Western rift enlarged into a 2500-km-long system of en echelon rift basins while development of the Eastern rift stalled where it ran into the craton. These observations suggest that when the Eastern rift reached the margin of the rigid craton ca. 12–10 Ma, the transmission of extensional stresses across the strong cratonic lithosphere caused rift faulting to develop in the weaker mobile-belt lithosphere on the west side of the craton. This new kinematic framework for rift development is consistent with models for both active and passive rifting in East Africa.

A research project in Tanzania, East Africa, is being conducted to examine seismic velocities within the crust and upper mantle in an area where cratonic lithosphere is experiencing extensional tectonism. The results will be used to evaluate models of cratonic structure. Waveforms from several hundred teleseismic earthquakes and over 10,000 regional and local earthquakes recorded in 1994 and 1995 by the Tanzania Broadband Seismic Experiment are not only yielding new insights into deep continental structure, but are also helping to determine the tectonic stability of cratons by identifying the locus of rifting within northeastern Tanzania.

We report 26 new heat flow and 13 radiogenic heat production measurements from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania, together with details and some revisions of 18 previous heat flow measurements by other investigators from Kenya and Tanzania. These measurements come from Archean cratons, Proterozoic mobile belts, and Mesozoic and Cenozoic rifts. Heat flow data from eight new sites in the Archean Zimbabwe Craton are consistent with previous measurements in the Archean Kaapvaal-Zimbabwe Craton and Limpopo Belt (Kalahari Craton) and do not change the mean heat flow of 47±2 mW m−2 (standard error of the mean) in the Kalahari Craton based on 53 previous measurements. Eight new sites in the Archean Tanzania Craton give a mean heat flow of 34±4 mW m−2. The mean heat flow from nine sites in the Proterozoic Mozambique Belt to the east of the Tanzania Craton in Kenya and Tanzania is 47±4 mW m−2. Twelve measurements in the Mesozoic rifted continental margin in east Africa give a mean heat flow of 68±4 mW m−2; four measurements in the Mesozoic Luangwa and Zambezi Rifts range from 44 to 110 mW m−2 with a mean of 76±14 mW m−2. In comparing heat flow in east and southern Africa, we observe a common heat flow pattern of increasing heat flow away from the centers of the Archean cratons. This pattern suggests a fundamental difference in lithospheric thermal structure between the Archean cratons and the Proterozoic and early Paleozoic mobile belts which surround them. Superimposed on this common pattern are two regional variations in heat flow. Heat flow in the Tanzania Craton is lower by about 13 mW m−2 than in the Kalahari Craton, and in the Mozambique Belt in east Africa heat flow is somewhat lower than in the southern African mobile belts at similar distances from the Archean cratonic margin. The two regional variations can be explained in several ways, none of which can as yet be elevated to a preferred status: (1) by variations in crustal heat production, (2) by thin-skinned thrusting of the Mozambique Belt over the Tanzania Cratonic margin, (3) by lateral heat transfer from beneath the rift flanks into the rifts, or (4) by lower mantle heat flow beneath all of eastern Africa prior to the Cenozoic development of the East African rift system.

Stable reversed remanence carried by pseudo-single-domain magnetite shows systematic direction changes in three thick (∼ 70m) Eocene basalt flows from the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming. Three cores were collected at each of 24 sites in the lower flow, 26 sites in the middle flow, and nine sites in the upper flow. Cores in the two lower flows were oriented by sun compass and in the upper flow with a magnetic compass. Although remanent directions do not change smoothly through the entire thickness of the flows, portions of the record indicate that the field direction was changing as rapidly as 0.5° per year during remanence acquisition. Rough paleointensity estimates suggest that this behavior occurred while the field was in a stable reversed state rather than during a transitional period. Paleomagnetic studies of flows should avoid sampling the upper parts, because the declination record may be distorted by rotations of portions of the crust.