Imaging lithospheric discontinuities beneath the northern East African Rift using

S-to-P receiver functions

Aude Lavayssière1, Catherine Rychert1, Nicholas Harmon1, Derek Keir1,2, James O. S.

Hammond3, J-Michael Kendall4, Cécile Doubre5, Sylvie Leroy6

1
National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
2
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy
3
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, United
Kingdom
4
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
5
Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, UMR 7516, Université de Strasbourg/EOST,
CNRS, France
6
Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7193, Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris, France

Corresponding author: Aude Lavayssière ([email protected])

Key Points:
 S-to-P receiver functions image lithospheric discontinuities beneath northern East
African Rift
 The Moho shallows from 28 km in the MER along the rift to 23 km in the northern
Afar triple junction
 The LAB is strong beneath the Ethiopian plateau but not imaged beneath the rift
valley in Afar or MER.

This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not
been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process which may
lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as
doi: 10.1029/2018GC007463

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Abstract
Imaging the lithosphere is key to understand mechanisms of extension as rifting progresses.
Continental rifting results in a combination of mechanical stretching and thinning of the
lithosphere, decompression upwelling, heating, sometimes partial melting of the
asthenosphere and potentially partial melting of the mantle lithosphere. The northern East
African Rift System is an ideal locale to study these processes as it exposes the transition
from tectonically active continental rifting to incipient seafloor spreading. Here we use S-to-P
receiver functions to image the lithospheric structure beneath the northernmost East African
Rift System where it forms a triple junction between the Main Ethiopian rift, the Red Sea rift
and the Gulf of Aden rift. We image the Moho at 31±6 km beneath the Ethiopian plateau.
The crust is 28±3 km thick beneath the Main Ethiopian rift and thins to 23±2 km in northern
Afar. We identify a negative phase, a velocity decrease with depth, at 67±3 km depth beneath
the Ethiopian plateau, likely associated with the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB),
and a lack of a LAB phase beneath the rift. Using observations and waveform modelling, we
show that the LAB phase beneath the plateau is likely defined by a small amount of partial
melt. The lack of a LAB phase beneath the rift suggests melt percolation through the base of
the lithosphere beneath the northernmost EARS.

Index terms and Keywords

7218 Seismology: Lithosphere (1236)

7203 Seismology: Body waves
8109 Tectonophysics: continental tectonics: extensional (0905)
8178 Tectonophysics: Tectonics and magmatism

East African Rift; lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary; Continental rifting; Receiver

functions; Partial melt

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

1 Introduction
Continents are expected to be underlain by thick lithosphere (Sleep, 2005; Tharimena et al.,
2017) but the timing and distribution of the lithospheric deformation during continental
breakup is still debated and the mechanisms responsible not well understood (Corti, 2012;
Ziegler & Cloetingh, 2004). The East African Rift system (EARS) is the ideal region to
understand how the lithosphere is modified by extensional tectonics since it exposes the
transition between continental breakup and incipient seafloor spreading, hence the temporal
and spatial evolution of continental rifting.

The northern part of the EARS encompasses Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and part of the
Arabian Peninsula (Figure 1). It marks a junction of three rifts: the Red Sea rift (RSR), the
Gulf of Aden rift (GOA) and the Main Ethiopian rift (MER). Estimates for the initiation of
rifting in the region range around 29 to 35 Myrs ago with initiation of the separation of
Arabia from Africa (Leroy et al., 2010; Watchorn et al., 1998). This occurred either before or
roughly at the same time as the eruption of the Ethiopian flood basalts (Wolfenden et al.,
2004). Subsequently, the MER started extending 11-18 Myrs ago (Wolfenden et al., 2004),
forming a triple junction with the RSR and GOA. Structural and geochronological studies
suggest that crustal extension has migrated from being either broadly distributed (Stab et al.,
2016) or more focused on major rift bounding border faults (Wolfenden et al., 2004), to being
localised to Quaternary - Recent volcanic segments along the rift axis with extensive
intrusion (Ebinger & Casey, 2001).

Plate tectonic theory suggests the existence of a transition between a rigid plate, the
lithosphere, and a weaker layer, the asthenosphere. The nature of this boundary, the
lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), is still poorly constrained. Mechanisms such as
dehydration (Hirth & Kohlstedt 1996; Karato & Jung 1998), grain size (Faul & Jackson,
2005), partial melting (Anderson & Sammis, 1970; Schmerr, 2012) and temperature and/or
effects of near solidus conditions (Priestley & McKenzie, 2006; Yamauchi & Takei, 2016)
have been proposed. Understanding the gradient in seismic velocity at this boundary is key to
constrain those mechanisms. Recently, receiver functions and SS imaging of strong, sharp
seismic discontinuities have been interpreted as the LAB and used to argue that the boundary
cannot be purely thermally defined (Rychert & Shearer, 2009; Kawakatsu et al., 2009;
Rychert et al., 2012; Hopper et al., 2014; Tharimena et al., 2017). Indeed, the sharpness of the
discontinuity is inconsistent with thermal gradients that occurs over more than 70 km depth
but it is consistent with a deep layer containing a small amount of partial melt (Fischer et al.,
2010; Hopper et al., 2014; Kawakatsu et al., 2009; C. A. Rychert et al., 2005, 2012; C. A.
Rychert & Shearer, 2009; Tharimena et al., 2017). Knowing the LAB depth and properties,
with their respective spatial variations, helps to better understand the evolution of the
lithosphere during continental rifting.

Numerous analytical and geodynamical models have attempted to explain continental

extension, from the pure shear mechanical model (McKenzie, 1978) and the magma-assisted
model (Buck et al., 1999) to depth-dependent models (R. Huismans & Beaumont, 2011). All
models have different implications in terms of the geometry and sharpness of the LAB.
Therefore, imaging this transition can be used to test the applicability of rifting models in
nature. The pure shear model of McKenzie (1978) involves uniform ductile stretching of the
crust and mantle lithosphere, and faulting of the upper crust. Such a model predicts
symmetrical and proportionate shallowing of the Moho and LAB beneath the rift.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

More recently, a variety of depth-dependent stretching models (e.g. Huismans and Beaumont,
2011) have been developed in which either the crust or mantle lithosphere is preferentially
thinned. Preferential thinning of the crust would image no Moho and a strong LAB whereas
preferential thinning of the mantle lithosphere would image a strong Moho and no LAB.

Rifting can also be assisted by magma emplacement (Bialas et al., 2010; Ebinger & Casey,
2001; Kendall et al., 2005). The magma assisted rifting model of Buck et al. (1999) predicts
that if magma is present then it can accommodate extension at much lower stresses than the
previously mentioned mechanical rifting models. The intrusion of magma is likely to
complicate the behaviour of the mantle lithosphere since it could thin by thermal erosion
(Holtzman & Kendall, 2010; Lenoir et al., 2001; Monnereau et al., 1993; Saunders et al.,
1992), or be preferentially stretched due to thermal weakening (Bialas et al., 2010),
potentially destroying the rigid, seismically fast lithosphere beneath the ridge (Armitage et
al., 2015; Rychert et al., 2012). The magma could also add material to the crust and/or
lithosphere (Bialas et al., 2010).

With magma assisted rifting, the spatial variation in sharpness of the LAB is likely to be
linked to the supply of melt into the lithosphere and as such S-to-P receiver functions may
also provide a tool to test mechanisms of melt generation. The involvement of hot plume
material has been presented as a mechanism of rift initiation and lithosphere weakening
(Tanya Furman, 2007; Schmeling, 2010; White & McKenzie, 1989). However, the location
and degree of influence of such a plume nowadays is highly debated (Armitage et al., 2015;
Civiero et al., 2016; Ebinger & Sleep, 1998; C. A. Rychert et al., 2012; White & McKenzie,
1989). In addition to elevated mantle temperature, explanations for melt production during
rifting processes include mantle composition (Shillington et al., 2009), melt focusing along
the LAB (Holtzman & Kendall, 2010) or pre-rift history (Armitage et al. 2010). Knowing the
depth of melting and if partial melt is present in the lithosphere will aid discrimination
between models of rifting.

Presence of melt in the mantle can modify the sharpness of the LAB in two different ways. If
partial melt is ponding along the LAB interface (Rychert et al. 2005, 2007) then the velocity
decrease expected by the transition from asthenosphere to lithosphere would occur over a
smaller depth range than with an interface only thermally defined. In this scenario the solidus
would prevent melt from rising into the lithosphere and it is thought to be what defines the
LAB in itself (Fischer et al. 2010; Rychert et al., 2005, 2007; Tharimena et al., 2017). The
second scenario is where melt crosses the LAB. This vertical distribution of melt would
destroy the LAB signature as there would be no velocity constrast (Rychert et al., 2012;
Dugda et al., 2007, Hopper et al., 2014).

Previous P-to-S receiver function studies (Dugda, 2005; Hammond et al., 2011; Reed et al.,
2016; Stuart et al., 2006) have constrained variations in crustal thickness and ratio of P-wave
to S-wave velocities (Vp/Vs ratio) in the region. These studies show that the crust varies from
40-45 km and 35 km thick beneath the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaux respectively, to 26
km thick beneath the northernmost MER (Stuart et al., 2006; Hammond et al., 2011), 20-26
km thick beneath Afar (Hammond et al., 2011; Reed et al., 2016) and 16 km thick beneath
northernmost Afar (Hammond et al., 2011). Vp/Vs ratio varies from ~1.8 beneath the
Ethiopian plateau not covered by flood basalts to 1.9 beneath the flood basalt provinces and
above 1.95 beneath the rift. The data was interpreted to show that extension occurs by a
combination of mechanical and magmatic extension, with magma intrusion mostly focused
within the rift (Hammond et al., 2011). They also show that the high Vp/Vs ratios result from

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

aligned melts in the rift (Hammond et al., 2014). The results of these receiver functions
concur with wide-angle reflection/refraction studies (Mackenzie et al., 2005; Maguire et al.,
2006; Makris & Ginzburg, 1987) and inversion of gravity data for crustal thickness (Makris
& Ginzburg, 1987; Tiberi et al., 2005). These studies also suggest presence of lower crustal
intrusions beneath the flood basalt provinces of the Ethiopian plateau (Mackenzie et al.,
2005; Maguire et al., 2006; Makris & Ginzburg, 1987; Tiberi et al., 2005).

Previous teleseismic body and surface wave tomography studies constrained spatial variation
in mantle wavespeeds (Bastow et al., 2005; Gallacher et al., 2016; Hammond et al., 2013).
These are broadly consistent in spatial variations of seismic wavespeeds with the absolute
shear velocity (Vs) maps of Gallacher at al. (2016) showing that the seismic wavespeeds of
the upper mantle beneath the Ethiopian plateau are relatively fast (Vs of 4.3 - 4.4 km/s)
compared to the rift valley. Seismic velocities are slower beneath the rift, with absolute Vs of
3.85 - 4.0 km/s, best explained by a small fraction (<1 %) of partial melt in the upper mantle.
The spatial variation of slow Vs is not continuous beneath the rift, but instead segmented in
nature (Hammond et al. 2013; Gallacher et al. 2016). Other recent seismology studies found
evidence of melt in the crust and upper mantle beneath the Afar rift and velocities 5 – 10 %
slower than global average (Kendall et al. 2005; Bastow et al. 2008; Fishwick 2010;
Hammond et al. 2011; Civiero et al. 2016).

A joint inversion of Rayleigh wave velocities and receiver functions (Dugda et al., 2007) and
a previous S-to-P receiver function study (Rychert et al., 2012) imaged the shear velocity
structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath the Afar rift. They both identified a shear
velocity decrease at 60 to 80 km depth beneath the Ethiopian plateau, consistent with the
velocity decrease expected for the LAB. Therefore, the lithosphere in Ethiopia is 30 to 50 km
thinner than beneath the central and southern part of the East African Rift (Dugda et al. 2007;
Fishwick and Bastow, 2011), showing evidence for more extension and/or more lithospheric
modification from magmatism beneath Ethiopia. In the two studies no strong LAB is imaged
beneath the MER and Afar. They suggest that partial melting is required, in addition to
temperature, to explain the shear velocity structure in the region (Dugda et al., 2007; C. A.
Rychert et al., 2012).

Here we present a S-to-P receiver functions study and image lithospheric structures in the
northern EARS with improved resolution, including new datasets in comparison to previous
study and extending coverage to the southern MER and southwest Arabia.

2 Data and Methods

2.1 Data
We use an array of 182 seismic stations deployed during 1997 - 2015 in the Afar depression,
MER and surrounding plateaux in Ethiopia but also stations in Djibouti, Eritrea and Yemen.
Data are sourced from different projects including the Ethiopian Afar Geoscientific
Lithospheric Experiment (EAGLE) deployment in 2001-2003 (e.g. Bastow et al. 2005; Keir
et al. 2006; Stuart et al. 2006), the Afar Consortium project in 2007-2009 (e.g. Hammond et
al., 2011; Belachew et al., 2011), the Geoscope station ATD in Djibouti in 1993-2010 (e.g.
Debayle et al, 2001; Sicilia et al., 2008), a temporary Eritrean deployment in 2011-2012 (e.g.
Hammond et al. 2013; Goitom et al. 2015), the YOCMAL project in Yemen in 2009-
2011(Ahmed et al., 2013; Korostelev et al., 2014; 2015) and a French deployment in Djibouti
in 2009-2011 (Figure 1). The majority of the data is publicly available and was downloaded
from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) database. All instruments

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

are three component broadband seismometers with varying natural period, including Güralp
models CMG-40TD (0.01-30s), CMG-ESP (0.02-60s), CMG-6TD (0.01-30s), CMG-3TD
(0.02-120s) and Streckeisen model STS-2 (0.1-120s).

2.2 Methods: S-to-P receiver functions

To image lithospheric structures beneath the northern EARS rift we use S-to-P (Sp) receiver
functions. In this method, the deconvolution of the S-wave from the P-component removes
source and instrument effects, illuminating the seismic velocity discontinuities. In Sp receiver
functions, reverberations associated with the crust (commonly the Moho or strong intra-
crustal interfaces) arrive after the direct phase whereas direct conversions arrive before it.
The separation prevents contaminations of the direct arrivals from crustal multiples, allowing
us to better image lithospheric structures, such as the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary.
We use teleseismic earthquakes from 55-80° and of all magnitudes. We picked 16076
waveforms from 182 stations, compared to the 10737 waveforms from 100 stations used in
the previous Sp study (Rychert et al., 2012). We will hence improve resolution. In this study
we manually pick and rate all the waveforms as well as their deconvolution to select only the
best quality waveforms. This results in a more selective dataset than previous studies with
3688 best quality waveforms (1215 from the EAGLE, ATD and Afar network, 2183 from the
IRIS database, 171 from the Eritrean stations and 119 from the Djibouti network).
Waveforms are band-pass filtered to higher frequencies, 0.03 - 0.25Hz, to get finer scale
resolution compared to previous receiver functions study using a similar methodology
(Rychert et al., 2012). The waveforms are then deconvolved in the frequency domain using
an extended time multitaper technique (Helffrich 2006; Rychert et al. 2012).

We inverse the polarity of the waveforms so that it is consistent with P-to-S (Ps) imaging and
that a positive phase represents a velocity increase with depth and a negative phase a velocity
decrease with depth. We migrate the waveforms in 3D using a crustal model specific to each
waveform. We calculate the piercing points at 32km assuming IASP91 and, for each of these
piercing points, we use the crustal thickness and VpVs ratio obtained from Hammond et al.
(2011) model developed by H-κ stacking of Ps waveforms. To get those values we take the
nearest point in the interpolated grid of Hammond et al. (2011). We use IASP91 for regions
and depths not included in Hammond et al. (2011). We then calculate Vs, assuming an
average Vp of 6.25km/s (Hammond et al., 2011 and references therein). Waveforms are
binned on a 50 km by 50 km grid, which is then smoothed with a radius corresponding to the
Fresnel zone of a waveform at a given depth. Only bins with at least 3 traces are included,
providing high coverage of the northern EARS (Figure 3).

2.3 Methods: waveform modelling

Synthetic waveform forward modelling is conducted with three representative regions from
the Afar depression, the MER and the Ethiopian plateau. First, for each region, we compute
waveform stacks of the data. We calculate which waveforms convert within the given bin at 5
km depth intervals and then deconvolve and migrate each of these sections to depth in 1D
using
the same multitaper and migration model applied for our 3D model. We then stack these
sections and filter the result to get a 1D waveform stack for each of the three bins. Our
waveforms are primarily sensitive to shear wave velocity (C. A. Rychert et al., 2007) and we
create a 1-D shear velocity model for each bin, assuming Vp/Vs ratios of 2.0 (Afar), 1.95
(MER) and 1.9 (Ethiopian plateau), values based on previous studies (Hammond et al., 2011).
We calculate the synthetic seismograms using the reflectivity method of Shearer & Orcutt

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

(1987). The seismograms are then simultaneously deconvolved (Bostock, 1998; C. A.
Rychert et al., 2007) and migrated to depth with the input velocity model to model the
receiver function representative of the Earth’s impulse response. This method provides weak
constraints on absolute velocity but gives a good picture of the velocity changes. A phase is
considered significant if the bootstrap limit is above or below zero in case of positive or
negative polarity, respectively.

3 Results

3.1 Major discontinuities

To understand the significant lithospheric features beneath the northern EARS, we produced
images of lithospheric structures as cross-sections of the migrated receiver functions at
representative locations along and across the rift zones (Figure 4). The shallowest
discontinuity that we image is at 17-35 km depth and characterized by a positive polarity. The
depth of this increase in seismic velocity with depth is consistent with previous estimates of
the Moho depth based on H-κ stacking of Ps receiver functions (Hammond et al., 2011) and
joint inversions of surface waves and Ps receiver functions (Dugda et al., 2007). The other
feature besides the Moho is a negative polarity at around 65 km beneath the Ethiopian
plateau, with little variability in depth. This interface is clearly imaged beneath the plateau
but is generally absent or low amplitude in most places beneath the rift zones (Figure 4b-d).
The depth of this negative discontinuity is broadly consistent with the 75 km deep LAB
imaged by Sp receiver functions (C. A. Rychert et al., 2012) and also with the gradual drop in
velocity from 40 to 150 km from surface waves (Fishwick, 2010). The discontinuity is
observed in regions where generally higher velocities exist, in comparison to the rift, in
regional surface waves (Gallacher et al., 2016), even if this study found less evidence for a
velocity decrease with depth in the areas of our cross-sections (Figure 4d). In order to discuss
the spatial variability of those two interfaces, the Moho and the LAB, we compute maps of
their depth in the study area (Figures 6 and 8b). The error bars for the depth of each interface
are standard deviations by region.

3.2 Moho
Cross sections 1 to 3 (Figure 4b-d) show a major positive feature at a depth of 35 to 17 km.
The observed Moho depth beneath the Ethiopian plateau varies from 31±6 km in the south to
26±3 km in the north (Figure 6). Beneath the rift, the Moho thins to 26±3 km in southern
Afar and to 23±2 km in northern Afar (Figure 6). Going further than previous studies we
extended our analysis further south along the MER to constrain and image the crust to be
28±3 km thick (Figure 6). The Moho signal is strong beneath the Ethiopian plateau but
weaker beneath the rift in the MER and Afar. In cross-section 3 a larger positive signal is
visible beneath the rift valley and west of the MER (Figure 4d).

3.3 Lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary

Cross-section 3 (Figure 4d) shows a seismic velocity decreasing with depth at 67±3 km
beneath the Ethiopian plateau, consistent with the gradual decrease in seismic velocity at the
base of the seismic fast lid from surface waves (Gallacher et al. 2016). However, its existence
is discontinuous beneath the overall region: though it is present beneath the Ethiopian and
Somalian plateaux (cross-sections 2 and 3, Figures 4c and d), it is not imaged beneath
northern and central Afar (cross-sections 1 and 2, Figures 4b and c) and beneath the rift
valley of the MER (cross-section 1 and 3, Figures 4b and d). In cross-sections 1 and 3

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

(Figures 4b and d), the absence of an imaged LAB correlates with the slowest shear velocities
from Gallacher et al., 2016. There is less correlation in cross-section 2 (Figure 4c). The
absence of an imaged LAB in the cross-sections can be linked either to a velocity decrease
too gradual to be imaged by Sp receiver functions or a low amplitude to non-existent LAB
signal. We tested those hypotheses with waveform modelling.

3.4 Waveform modelling

In order to get an insight into the velocity changes responsible for the structures of the
northern EARS, we computed three synthetic forward models for three representative areas
(Figure 5a). The three velocity profiles in Figure 5b to d (left graphs) show the observed
waveforms and their 95 % confidence limit (right graphs) for Afar (Figure 5b), the MER
(Figure 5c) and the Ethiopian plateau (Figure 5d), respectively. Standard deviation error bars
(dashed black lines, Figure 5) showing the 95 % confidence limit are calculated from
bootstrap tests. A wide range of velocity contrasts (sharp and gradual contrasts from 0 to 50%
velocity change) and crustal structures (multiple or single boundaries at different interval,
structural models proposed in previous studies) were tested to strengthen the results and the
best fitting model for each representative region is shown in red. Very different velocity
changes are required to explain each waveform. Error bars in depth/magnitude of the velocity
gradient are determined by the depth/amplitude shift of the synthetic model at which the
modelled waveform intersects with the bootstrap error bar.

In Afar (Figure 5b), a positive peak representative of the Moho depth is observed, centred at
18 km, best fitted with a gradual Moho. The best fit crustal model has a shear velocity
increasing by 11±1 % from 14 to 26 km then by 2±1 % from 26 to 37 km. The range 14-26
km for the Moho depth fits with the range 21-25 km of crustal thicknesses found in this study
(solid and dashed-dotted red lines). A second deeper positive phase at 49 km requires a 4±1
% velocity increase from 37 to 56 km. It could be related to frozen-in basaltic intrusions or
the base of a melt rich layer (C. A. Rychert et al., 2012). Beside the Moho, there is a negative
peak at 72 km (blue dashed line), not significant in term of velocity change and primarily an
artefact caused by the sidelobe of the shallower positive phase, with potential smearing from
the nearby flank. The other negative phase at 112 km is also not significant in velocity
change and is possibly related to complex lateral variability.

Beneath the MER (Figure 5c), we can see a very large peak centred at 29 km depth. There is
no negative peak visible at LAB depth, the synthetic model fits the data by a side lobe linked
to the large Moho peak. There is an 5±1 % increase in velocity with depth at 91 km (red
dashed line), which may be related to the base of melt, as suggested in previous studies
(Armitage et al., 2015; C. A. Rychert et al., 2012). However, we see no evidence for this
discontinuity in our cross-sections and in addition there is another negative phase at greater
depth (112 km). Therefore, this stack may be affected by waveform interference, lateral
smearing of off-rift structure and/or dipping structures. Indeed double phases such as those
seen in the data waveforms are indicative of dipping structures (Lekić & Fischer, 2017), and
a topic of future work.

The Ethiopian plateau crustal structures (Figure 5d) are described by a complicated positive
structure starting at very shallow depth with a peak centred at 33 km depth. The negative
peak is stronger with a 3±2 % drop at 69±2 km. This is consistent with the depth of our
interpreted LAB on the above cross-sections (solid and dashed-dotted blue lines).

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

4 Discussion

4.1 Crust compared to previous studies

The range of crustal thicknesses of 17-35 km in our study is broadly consistent with previous
models, for example 15-45 km (Hammond et al., 2011) and 36-42 km (Cornwell et al., 2010)
based on H-κ stacking of Ps receiver functions and 25-45 km based on joint inversion of
surface waves and Ps receiver functions (Dugda et al., 2007). A direct comparison of crustal
thickness (Figure 7) shows good agreement in Afar, with northern and southern Afar results
particularly consistent. However, the main discrepancies in the results are beneath the
Ethiopian plateau (Figure 7).

Beneath the Ethiopian plateau, our Moho depths range from 20 to 35 km (Figure 6 and 7) and
Hammond et al. (2011) depths from 32 to 45 km. Therefore, our crust is 12±6 km shallower
than imaged by Ps receiver functions. However, discrepancies between P-to-S and S-to-P
Moho depths are not uncommon, and might even be expected in volcanic regions the crust
may contain multiple layers and complexities (e.g., Rychert et al., 2018; Rychert et al., 2014;
Rychert et al., 2013). Waveform modelling (Figure 5) suggests a complicated crustal
structure beneath the plateau that explains the wide range of thicknesses. In particular we
require a 22-km gradual increase in shear-velocities across the lower crust, rather than a sharp
boundary, to model the transition from the crust to the mantle. Given previous evidence from
seismology and gravity studies for an up to 10 km thick high velocity-high density layer in
the lower crust beneath the Ethiopian plateau near the MER (Mackenzie et al., 2005;
Cornwell et al., 2006), the gradual shear velocity structure of the crust in this region is likely
caused by the presence of lower crustal intrusions widely distributed beneath the Ethiopian
plateau. Though the Moho depth map (Figure 6) represents the depth of the signal’s peak
amplitude, cross-sections show the structure of the crust. In cross-section 3 (Figure 4d), we
can see that while the top of our interpreted Moho phase thins beneath the MER and
westward beneath the plateau, the bottom part of the signal is flat throughout the cross-
section. The images are consistent with the waveform modelling and provide evidence for the
presence of a gradational Moho. Such a character to the lower crust is especially pronounced
around 9°N where it correlates with Miocene to recent volcanic centres near the MER margin
and on the plateau (Figure 6). The combination of our seismic images and waveform
modelling suggest the surface expression of volcanism on the Ethiopian plateau and parts of
the rift are associated with significant thickness of lower crustal intrusions. These intrusions
are thought to be emplaced by the flood basalt volcanism ~30 Myrs ago and from Miocene to
on-going rift flank magmatism (Whaler et al. 2006; Keir et al. 2009). The observations are
similar to the mafic intrusions in the lower crust at the Baikal rift, extending to the northwest
side of the rift valley (Thybo & Artemieva, 2013; Thybo & Nielsen, 2009). In Siberia
magmatic intrusions compensate the Moho uplift expected from lithosphere stretching, which
could explain the base of the gradual velocity contrast interpreted to be the Moho being flat at
the location of lower crustal intrusions. Hammond et al. (2011) also suggest that their wide
range of thicknesses beneath the Ethiopian plateau could be explained by highly intruded
lower crust. There are similar lower crustal intrusion creating a major velocity contrast above
the Moho beneath central Afar (Stab et al., 2016; Hammond et al., 2011; Makris & Ginzburg,
1987), particularly beneath the Dabbahu-Manda Harraro magmatic segment. That can explain
the few differences between our crustal thicknesses and those estimated by Hammond et al.
(2011) in central Afar (Figure 7).

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

 4.2 LAB beneath northern EARS
Lithospheric thickness and behaviour of the LAB show evidence for a magmatic component
as mechanism of rifting in the northern EARS. The sharp LAB phase observed beneath the
Ethiopian plateau in our cross-sections and waveform modelling suggests a variation in bulk
composition, volatile content or melt (Hopper et al., 2014). Indeed, effects of temperature and
pressure alone would create velocity gradients over broad depth ranges (>50 km), as observed
for cratonic lithosphere (Hopper et al., 2014). For the Ethiopian plateau, partial melt ponding
at the base of the lithosphere is a plausible cause of this sharp LAB. GPS measurements show
direct evidence for 1-2 mm/yr of on-going extension across the Ethiopian plateau (Birhanu et
al., 2016; Doubre et al., 2017), providing a mechanism to generate partial melt (Birhanu et
al., 2016). Such a hypothesis is consistent with the low velocity anomaly imaged in the
uppermost mantle beneath the Ethiopian plateau, and with presence of Holocene to recent
volcanism (Civiero et al., 2015, 2016).

The locations where there is no LAB signal beneath the rift valley in Afar and the MER
correlate with the presence of Quaternary to recent volcanism which lavas are thought to
derived by melting at lithospheric depth (Furman et al., 2006; Furman, 2007). They also
correlate with where the surface waves model of Gallacher et al. (2016) shows the slowest
shear velocities Vs (Figures 4b, 4c and 4d and Figure 8) and agrees with P-wave tomography
studies (Hammond et al., 2013), receiver functions (Rychert et al., 2012) and surface waves
and receiver functions inversions (Dugda et al., 2007). Gallacher et al. (2016) found an
absolute Vs of 3.85-4.0 km/s beneath Afar and the MER. Those velocities would require
mantle temperatures of 1650-1700°C with a temperature only model. However, Gallacher et
al. (2016) showed evidence that presence of partial melt is another way of matching their
observations and is more consistent with petrological estimations (Rooney et al., 2012). They
interpreted their locations of slowest shear velocities as regions of retained melt. The
presence of partial melt in the sub crustal mantle beneath the rift would explain the absence
of an imaged LAB in our study, since the melt would likely reduce seismic velocity
(Hammond & Humphreys, 2000) and eliminate any velocity decrease with depth associated
with the fast lid. If melt is retained in these regions it would also likely reduce mantle
viscosity (Hirth & Kohlstedt, 1996; Jackson et al., 2006; C. A. Rychert et al., 2005). Such a
weakened layer may be an important factor in facilitating rifting (Huismans & Beaumont,
2007).

We observe less evidence for the subtle velocity increase at ~75 km depth previously imaged
by S-to-P receiver functions and interpreted as the base of a melt rich region (Rychert et al.,
2012). This feature was previously imaged beneath the MER as a low amplitude phase just
above the noise level from migrated Sp receiver functions at lower frequency. Our large
waveform stack from the MER (Figure 5c) may support a velocity increase, with waveform
modelling suggesting a gradual velocity increase from 40 to 60 km depth and a subtle
increase at 90 km depth. This could be related to the velocity increase imaged by Rychert et
al. (2012) and related to the base of a melt rich layer suggested by petrology and
geochemistry (Ferguson et al., 2013; Rooney et al., 2005) and supported by geodynamic
modelling (Armitage et al., 2015). However, the waveforms are complicated and the increase
at 90 km in the large waveform stack could also be caused by waveform interference and/or
lateral complexity making strong interpretation tenuous.

The reason for the discrepancy may be related to the higher frequency contents of the
waveforms in our study and a gradual velocity gradient in depth. Gradual velocity gradients
can be imaged by S-to-P receiver functions if relatively strong filtering is applied to the data

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

(e.g. low pass of 0.06 Hz; Mancinelli et al., 2017). The low-pass filter applied by Rychert et
al., (2012) was lower (0.175 Hz) in comparison to that used in this study (0.25 Hz).
Moreover, inspecting our dataset, we find that because we used this higher frequency content,
we also picked more impulsive S-waves with generally shorter dominant periods, and used
shorter source windows overall. These shorter period waveforms start to lose significant
amplitude when gradients occur over more than 20 – 30 km (Rychert et al., 2010). This kind
of amplitude loss (> 25%) would mean that the phase that was barely significant in Rychert et
al., 2012, would not necessarily be significant from zero amplitude in our study. This
suggests that the velocity gradient may be gradual, which is also generally consistent with the
results from our large waveform bin from the region, and also reasonably expected for a
phase from the base of melting (Rychert et al., 2012).

4.3 Models of rifting

Assuming the Arabian platform is unaffected by extensional processes (Hansen et al., 2007)
we can use it as a reference point to estimate the Oligocene to Recent extension of the
northern EARS. Using the undeformed crust of 40-45 km beneath the Arabian platform from
Hansen et al. (2007) and the crustal thicknesses from our waveform modelling results, we
find stretching factors (i.e. original crustal thickness divided by final thickness) of 1.2-1.4 for
the Ethiopian plateau, 1.4-1.5 for the MER and 2.2-2.5 for Afar. There is greater thinning of
the crust beneath Afar than beneath the rest of the region. We notice a crustal stretching
factor >1 beneath the Ethiopian plateau. This can potentially be explained by our study
underestimating crustal thickness because we image the higher velocity contrast created from
continental mid-crust to mafic lower crust, rather than the lower velocity contrast between
mafic lower crust and mantle. Our waveform modelling shows a gradational Moho beneath
the plateau and when we consider the base of the velocity increase (~40 km) it is more
consistent with a stretching factor of 1. This implies that crustal thinning beneath the
Ethiopian plateau is fully compensated by magmatic intrusions in the lower crust.

Estimated stretching factors for the crust beneath the rift overlap with the lower end of the
range of extension predicted in plate reconstructions models (1.2-3 Eagles et al., 2002; 2-4
Redfield et al., 2003). These low values could again be explained by intrusion compensated
crustal thinning. However, in this case, our waveform modelling supplemented by previous
controlled source images of the crust (e.g. Mackenzie et al., 2005) suggests that intrusions are
distributed through a range of crustal depths, causing the highest observed velocity contrast to
still be the base of the intruded crust. Our estimates of the stretching factor include the
presence of new intruded material and are therefore under-estimates. This magma-
compensated crustal thinning is supported in Afar by structural analysis and radiodating (Stab
et al., 2016) and by refraction and gravity study (Makris & Ginzburg, 1987), providing
evidence of the involvement of mafic intrusions in the lower crust during crustal stretching.

The lithosphere beneath the Arabian platform has been resolved at 160 km (Hansen et al.,
2007) and our LAB depth at 66 km beneath the Ethiopian plateaux. Assuming the lithosphere
beneath Ethiopia had a similar thickness to that of Arabia prior to rifting and flood basalt
volcanism, this shows evidence that there has been plate thinning over the last 35 Myrs.
Taking the current 1-2 mm/yr extension observed across the Ethiopian plateau (Birhanu et al.,
2016) as representative of the broad extension since rifting initiated, the plateaux should have
extended by 35-70 km. Considering the plateau ~400 km wide at the present, the stretching
factor for the plateau is 1.1-1.2, which represents a 130-145 km-thick lithosphere. This does
not correlate with the 66 km-thick lithosphere currently observed beneath the Ethiopian

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

plateau. We therefore appeal to our previous interpretations that the lithosphere has probably
undergone thermal thinning on a regional scale from the impact of the plume associated with
flood basal volcanism (e.g. Dugda et al., 2007).

We do not resolve thinning of the lithosphere beneath the rift but instead we cannot resolve a
significant LAB, suggesting presence of partial melt in the mantle. This favours a magma
assisted rifting mechanism (Buck et al., 1999; Kendall et al., 2005) with the lithosphere
heavily modified by melt infiltration, rather than by mechanical stretching.

Our observations beneath the Ethiopian plateau are similar to lithospheric structure beneath
the rift sides of the Salton Trough in the Gulf of California (Lekic et al. 2011). The LAB
beneath the flanks of the Salton Trough is imaged at around 70 km depth, similar to our
results beneath the Ethiopian plateau. However, Lekic et al. (2011) do image a well-defined
LAB beneath the rift itself at around 40 km. The thinning of the lithosphere in this region
differs from our observations of a weak but flat LAB beneath the northern EARS. Lekic et al.
(2011) interpret the rifting of the Salton Trough as either a greater thinning of the mantle
lithosphere compared to the crust or as a weakening of the mantle lithosphere by melt
intrusion. In our case, we show evidence for a melt intrusion mechanism beneath the northern
EARS. No LAB imaged beneath a zone of magmatic activity has also been observed beneath
the active Yellowstone caldera (Hopper et al., 2014). They interpreted that elevation in
temperatures and partial melt infiltrating the lithosphere have destroyed the velocity lid,
similar to our own interpretation in the MER and localized areas in Afar.

5 Conclusions
This S-to-P receiver functions study provides new estimates of lithospheric structures in the
northernmost EARS. The new high-resolution images suggest that the crust has significantly
thinned beneath the rift with greater thinning towards the Afar depression. We show that the
crust is 31±6 km thick beneath the Ethiopian plateau, 28±3 km thick beneath the rift valley of
the MER and 23±2 km thick beneath the Afar depression, consistent with the amount of
extension in the region. We also provide evidence for lower crustal intrusions beneath
localized areas of the Ethiopian plateau. The LAB is clearly imaged at around 67±3 km
beneath the Ethiopian plateau but it is not well resolved beneath the rift. Partial melt in the
asthenosphere percolates through the lithosphere, masking the reduction in shear velocity
representative of the LAB. Our observations and modelling of Sp receiver functions provides
evidence that the lithosphere is deformed by magma injection and infiltration, suggesting a
magma assisted rifting as mechanism of extension in the northernmost EARS.

Acknowledgments
The majority of seismic data was downloaded from the IRIS-DMC. Much of the data from
Ethiopia, Yemen and Eritrea was collected using the facilities of SEIS-UK supported by the
Natural Environment Research Council under Agreement R8/H10/64. D.K. is supported by
NERC grant NE/L013932/1. The instruments deployed in Djibouti belong to the French
national pool of portable seismic instruments Sismob-RESIF. We acknowledge funding from
the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/K000985/1 and NE/M003507/1) and the
European Research Council (GA 638665). We acknowledge our primary in-country
collaborators, Atalay Ayele, Berhe Goitom, and Abdulhakim Ahmed.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

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Figure 1: Map of the northern East African Rift with network distribution.
Green triangles are the stations used in this study. Red triangles are Quaternary-recent volcanoes.
Orange shades are active magmatic segments. Red lines are border faults.
Left insert: teleseismic earthquakes locations (red stars) used in this study. Blue rectangle: study area.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Figure 2: Models used for the migration plotted on the conversions points (80 km) of Sp receiver
functions. a) Crustal thickness and b) Vp/Vs ratio from Hammond et al. (2011). The model uses a thin
crust beneath Afar and the MER and a higher Vp/Vs ratio beneath the rifts than beneath the adjacent
plateaux.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Figure 3: Hit count maps at 30 km (a) and 65 km (b) showing the data coverage for this study.
Number of waveforms that contribute to each 50x50 km bin. This shows a high coverage for the
MER, Afar and the adjacent Ethiopian plateau.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Figure 4: Cross-sections. a) Cross-sections locations. b) Cross-section 1 along the rift. c) and d)
Cross-sections 2 and 3 across northern Afar and MER, respectively.
Positive polarity amplitudes, in red, represent velocity increasing with depth. Negative polarity
amplitudes, in blue, represent velocity decreasing with depth. Black circles at 150 km depth show 100
km intervals. Red triangles are Quaternary-recent volcanoes. Green triangles are the stations used.
Bins with less than 3 waveforms are not shown. Pink contours are shear velocity (3.85-4.15 km/s,
from Gallacher et al. 2016). Only major features are interpreted.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Figure 5: Synthetics waveforms modelling.
a) Locations of the three representative bins. b) Afar, c) MER, d) Ethiopian plateau waveform
modelling. Left graph is the shear velocity model with a sharp moho model (green) and the best fitting
model (red). Right graph is the waveform modelling showing data (black line) with 95 % confidence
limits from bootstrap test (dashed black lines) and synthetic waveform from the best fitting model (red
line).
Red and blue lines represent an increase and a decrease in velocity, respectively. Average depths of
interfaces from Sp receiver functions results (full lines) are represented with standard deviation error
(dashed-dotted lines). Dashed lines represent depth of interface from best fitting model.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Figure 6: Map of Moho depth from Sp receiver functions results.
Bins represent a 50 by 50 km grid. Only bins with more than 3 waveforms are plotted. Red triangles
are Quaternary-recent volcanoes.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Figure 7: Graph comparing Moho depth estimates beneath seismic stations from this study and
Hammond et al., 2011 study. Error bars for this study are calculated by region. The black dashed line
represents perfect agreement. See text for further discussion.

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.

Figure 8: Map of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary depths from the Sp receiver functions
results a) amplitude and b) depth. Only depths where amplitude < -0.03 are plotted. Bins represent a
50 by 50 km grid. Only bins with more than 3 waveforms are plotted. Red triangles are Quaternary-
recent volcanoes. Pink contours are slowest (3.85-3.95 km/s) shear velocity at 40-100 km (from
Gallacher et al. 2016).

© 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.