Geological map of the Afar Depression

Content

This dataset contains a geological map of the Afar Depression (1:1’000’000), including all the associated data.

This dataset includes:

• The map in JPEG, PDF, and GeoTIFF format
• The shapefiles of the map
• One document listing all sources used for the compilation of this map (Source_Material_Afar Depression.pdf)
• One document describing the uncertainty of the map (Reliability_geol_map.pdf)
• One dating database compiling published datings from the literature in .txt and shapefile formats. This database has been reviewed and mistakes in coordinates were corrected (see comments column). The precision of the position is also evaluated (1 = poor - possibly up to more than 10km uncertainty; 2 = average - no precise GPS measurement of the coordinates but good localisation on map or description of the outcrop; 3 = very good - most of the time GPS measurement or very precise descriptions/map).

This database is an additional complement to the paper ‘Rime, V., Foubert, A., Ruch, J. & Kidane, T. (2023), Tectonostratigraphic evolution and significance of the Afar Depression, Earth-Science Reviews, 244, 104519, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104519 ’.

Note that a smaller-scale map of the region is available as 'Rime, V., Foubert, A., Atnafu, B. and Kidane, T. (2022) Geological map of the southern Red Sea & western Gulf of Aden region. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7351765 '

References

The map was developed by compiling a large number of published maps, descriptions, datings and other studies, complemented by fieldwork and remote sensing. All sources and references are mentioned in the Source_Material_Afar_Depression. Material and methods of mapping have been described in detail within the paper.

Citation

When using the data, please cite the data as ‘Rime, V., Foubert, A., Atnafu, B. & Kidane, T. (2022) Geological map of the Afar Depression. Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7351643’ and refer to the accompanying paper as ‘Rime, V., Foubert, A., Ruch, J. & Kidane, T. (2023), Tectonostratigraphic evolution and significance of the Afar Depression, Earth-Science Reviews, 244, 104519, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104519 ’.

The map and additional data are given without any guarantee of correctness. Any use of these are under the user’s full responsibility. The authors decline any responsibility.

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF project SERENA – SEdimentary REcord of the Northern Afar 200021_163114). We are grateful to the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), the University of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Ethiopian Geological Survey, Circum Minerals, former Allana Potash and Yara Dallol for their support. We particularly acknowledge Samuel Getachew that helped us to access some of the geological maps. We thank David Jaramillo-Vogel, Jean-Charles Schaegis, Haileyesus Negga, Addis Endeshaw, Ermias Gebru, Eva de Boever, Juan-Carlos Braga, Pia Wyler, Xenia Haberditz, the Ethioder team as well as the regional and local administration of the Afar for their help and support during fieldwork.