Blue Nile rift

Rifts in Sudan and Kenya

The Blue Nile rift is a major geological formation in the Sudan, a rift with a NW trend that terminates on the Central African Shear Zone.^[1] It was formed through crustal extension during the break-up of Gondwana.

The rift, and other rifts in the area such as the Bahr El Arab rift and White Nile rift, appears to have been activated several times since the Paleozoic era, which ended about 250 Ma.^{[fn 1]} During periods of rapid uplift and subsidence, the rifts accumulated sediments of different ages, origins and methods of deposition.^[2] Late Jurassic rifting occurred in the Blue Nile rift, with east-west half-graben extension connected by large-scale shear zones and pull-apart basins, and early Cretaceous rifting re-activated the Jurassic basin.^[3]

The Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopia may be a southeastern extension of the rift.^[4] Further to the southeast, the late Palaeozoic-Mesozoic Ogaden Rift is aligned with the Blue nile rift.^[5]

Explanatory notes

↑ Ma = Million years ago

References

↑ Kenneth Harold Olsen (1995). Continental rifts: evolution, structure, tectonics. Elsevier. p. 437. ISBN 0-444-89567-1.
↑ Ramsis B. Salama (1997). "6 Rift Basins of the Sudan". African Basins. pp. 105–149. ISBN 0-444-82571-1.
↑ William Bosworth (20 August 1992). "Mesozoic and early Tertiary rift tectonics in East Africa". Tectonophysics. 209 (1-4): 115–137. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(92)90014-W.
↑ N. DS. GANI, M. G. ABDELSALAM, S. GERA and M. R. GANI (2008). "Stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Blue Nile Basin, Northwestern Ethiopian Plateau" (PDF). Geological Journal. 44: 30–56. doi:10.1002/gj.1127. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
↑ Daniel Mège; Tesfaye Korme (2004). "Dyke swarm emplacement in the Ethiopian Large Igneous Province: not only a matter of stress" (PDF). Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 32: 283–310. doi:10.1016/s0377-0273(03)00318-4.

Major African geological formations

Plates	African Plate Somali Plate Madagascar Plate Seychelles Plate

Cratons and shields	Arabian-Nubian Shield Congo Craton Kaapvaal Craton Kalahari Craton Saharan Metacraton Tanzania Craton Tuareg Shield West African Craton Zimbabwe Craton

Shear zones	Aswa Dislocation Broodkop Shear Zone Central African Shear Zone Chuan Shear Zones Foumban Shear Zone Mwembeshi Shear Zone Todi Shear Zone Western Meseta Shear Zone

Orogens	Alpide Orogen Cape Fold Belt Damara Orogen East African Orogen Eburnean Orogen Gondwanide Orogen Kuunga Orogen Mauritanide Belt Pan-African orogens Terra Australis Orogen

Rifts	Afar Triangle Anza trough Bahr el Arab rift Benue Trough Blue Nile rift East African Rift Gulf of Suez Rift Lamu Embayment Melut Basin Muglad Basin Red Sea Rift Sangha Aulacogen Atbara rift White Nile rift

Sedimentary basins	Angola Basin Aoukar Blue Nile Basin Chad Basin Congo Basin Douala Basin El Djouf Foreland Karoo Basin Gabon Basin Iullemmeden Basin Kufra Basin Murzuq Basin Niger Delta Basin Ogaden Basin Orange River basin Ouled Abdoun Basin Owambo Basin Reggane Basin Rio del Rey Basin Sirte Basin Somali Coastal Basin Taoudeni basin Tanzania Coastal Basin Tindouf Basin Turkana Basin

Mountain ranges	Aïr Mountains Atlas Mountains Aurès Mountains Bambouk Mountains Blue Mountains Cameroon line Central Pangean Mountains Chaillu Mountains Drakensberg Ethiopian Highlands East African mountains Great Escarpment Great Karas Mountains Guinée forestière Imatong Mountains Jebel Uweinat Loma Mountains Mandara Mountains Marrah Mountains Mitumba Mountains Nuba Mountains Rif Mountains Rwenzori Mountains Sankwala Mountains Serra da Leba Serra da Chela Teffedest Mountains Tibesti Mountains

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