Luelseged Emishaw, a new graduate student of the Tectonics and Geophysics Group, will investigate the anomalous width of the South Main Ethiopian Rift. The rift formed in an overlap area of the northward propagating Kenya Rift and the southward propagating Main Ethiopian Rift. There are various geological processes that favour broadly rifted zones. However, he will determine what are the geological and tectonic conditions that produced 300 km of width in the East African Rift System, which is characterized by narrow rift basins. He will use remote sensing techniques and gravity data to characterize the geophysical characteristics of the rift and to reconstruct the evolution of the rift system.
