The Kenya rift revisited: insights into lithospheric strength through data-driven 3-D gravity and thermal modelling

Sippel, Judith; Meeßen, Christian; Cacace, Mauro; Mechie, James; Fishwick, Stewart; Heine, Christian; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena; Strecker, Manfred R.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-45-2017

Articles | Volume 8, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-45-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-45-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 8, issue 1

Research article

|

16 Jan 2017

Research article |

| 16 Jan 2017

The Kenya rift revisited: insights into lithospheric strength through data-driven 3-D gravity and thermal modelling

Judith Sippel, Christian Meeßen, Mauro Cacace, James Mechie, Stewart Fishwick, Christian Heine, Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth, and Manfred R. Strecker

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Final revised paper (published on 16 Jan 2017)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 04 Oct 2016)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'se-2016-139: referee comments', Anonymous Referee #1, 01 Nov 2016
- AC1: 'Reply to the anonymous reviewer RC1', Judith Sippel, 05 Dec 2016
RC2: 'Review comment (se-2016-139; The Kenya Rift revisited...)', Geoffrey Kimbell, 02 Nov 2016
- AC2: 'Reply to reviewer RC2', Judith Sippel, 05 Dec 2016
EC1: 'Topical Editor Comment', Gwenn Peron-Pinvidic, 09 Nov 2016
- AC3: 'Reply to the editor (EC1)', Judith Sippel, 05 Dec 2016

Short summary

The Kenya Rift is a zone along which the African continental plate is stretched as evidenced by strong earthquake and volcanic activity. We want to understand the controlling factors of past and future tectonic deformation; hence, we assess the structural and strength configuration of the rift system at the present-day. Data-driven 3-D numerical models show how the inherited composition of the crust and a thermal anomaly in the deep mantle interact to form localised zones of tectonic weakness.