| The Gulf of Aden is a young, obliquely opening, oceanic basin where tectonic structures can easily be followed and correlated from the passive margins to the active mid-oceanic ridge. It is an ideal laboratory for studies of continental lithosphere breakup from rifting to spreading. The northeastern margin of the Gulf of Aden offers the opportunity to study on land the deformation associated with oblique rifting over a wide area encompassing two segments of the passive margin, on either side of the Socotra fracture zone, exhibiting distinct morphologic, stratigraphic, and structural features. The western segment is characterized by an elevated rift shoulder and large grabens filled with thick synrift series, whereas the eastern segment exhibits low... |
