ESS Department - November 9th, 2023
For several years, my research on plate tectonics has focused on how incipient divergent plate boundaries (i.e. continental rifts) initiate via a system of short segments that exploit inherited mechanical weaknesses in the continental lithosphere. In recent times, I have been fascinated by how these segments establish themselves (i.e. localize), and how they progressively grow laterally and accommodate the thinning of the lithosphere (i.e. propagate), all of which ultimately lead to continental break-up and creation of new oceanic crust. In my seminar talk, I will present exciting new results from the research efforts of my group at Columbia University, revealing the critical roles of brittle damage and fluid-driven weakening on rift localization, propagation, linkage, and coalescence along the East African Rift System.