Lithospheric structure of the West and Central African Rift Zone and links to the Bangui magnetic anomaly

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This project proposal addresses the lithospheric structure underlying the West and Central African Rift System (WCARS) by statistical analysis and integrated modelling of multiple geophysical data sets. In addition, the project aims at a new understanding of the source of the Bangui magnetic anomaly, one of the broadest and most intense magnetic anomalies of the Earth. Different theories of the structure and evolution of both the WCARS and the Bangui anomaly exist, but base often on single geophysical data analysis or on (lithospheric) models with relatively high uncertainty.Therefore, the purpose of this project is to (i) define lithospheric domains by cluster analysis of among other gravity and magnetic data and seismic tomography models, in order to generate a detailed understanding of the structure (ii) of the crust and (ii) upper mantle under the WCARS by joint inversion of satellite gravity data with seismic tomography, which ultimately can be assessed for the thermal and compositional structure of the area. From the models we can derive a Curie isotherm depth as proxy for (iv) analysis of the source of the Bangui anomaly and again, we can use the results of the lithospheric domain analysis to define possible domains for the magnetic inversion.