Stress field during early magmatism in the Ali Sabieh Dome, Djibouti, SE Afar rift

The so-called Ali Sabieh range, SE Afar rift, exhibits an atypical antiform structure occurring in the overall extensional tectonic context of the Afar triple junction. We dynamically analyzed the brittle deformation of this specific structural high using four different methods in order to better constrain the tectonic evolution of this key-area in the Afar depression. Paleostress inversions appear highly consistent using the four methods, which a posteriori validates this approach. Computed paleostress fields document two major signals: an early E-W extensional field, and a later transcurrent field, kinematically consistent with the previous one. The All Sabieh range may have evolved continuously during Oligo-Miocene times from large-scale extensional to transcurrent tectonism, as the result of probable local stress permutation between sigma 1 and sigma 2 stress axes. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.