Mechanism of granitoid emplacement in the Pan-African basement of Northern Ethiopia

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The general aim of the project is to delimit tectonic events in the Ethiopian part of the Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS) by evalution of the tectonic stress conditions which accompanied and governed the emplacement of granitoids in the Northern basement terrain of Ethiopia. We will apply the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibily method (AMS-mapping) coupled with petrological studies which has become the state of the art method for evaluation of intrusion mechanism of plutons and for determining the tectonic regime during magma emplacement. Focus of our investigations will be the geological setting around the Central Steep Zone, an important high strain zone in the Northern basement terrain which has been interpreted as long-lasting active major tectonic lineament in this part of the ANS. Recent studies have given age constraints and geochemical characteristics for the granitoids in this area (near the city of Axum) which will be valuable background information for a comprehensive model on the late-Neoproterozoic tectonomagmatic evolution in this southerly part of the ANS. Data of this study will be linked to tectonic models for the northern continuation into Eritrea and the Eastern desert of Egypt and for the transition into the Mozambique belt in southern Ethiopia.