Thanks Ali! Hope you're well!

for a nice summary of the work on the pulsing Afar plume by @wattsvolcanology.bsky.social see this article in @newsweek.com
www.newsweek.com/geology-plat...
@gernon.bsky.social @sorcerinsar.bsky.social

Finally I'd like to draw attention that this study was the hard work of everyone involved and that it couldn't have happened without each and every one of them!
Thanks everyone! Diolch yn fawr iawn!

@gernon.bsky.social @derekkeir.bsky.social @echambersgeo.bsky.social
and others!

To see if these were then linked we did K-means cluster analysis and principle component analysis showing that not only are the rifts linked, but we see a repeating pattern of pulses spreading down both rifts! Due to the different rifting rates in both, the flow from the upwelling is different.

We tested these models on our large dataset using two-deep cross validation of linear and spline models. We found that a singular upwelling that is independent across each rift (Main Ethiopian Rift, Red Sea Rift, and Gulf of Aden Rift) fit best

Following this we combined the geochemical data with geophysics data using statistical methods.

Then we tested previously published models of what the Afar plume looks like in the upper 120 km of the Earth. This included testing for a singular upwelling, plumelets and heterogeneous upwelling(s).

Our study started by gathering new geochemical data from >130 volcanic rocks across the Afar triangle, improving the spatial resolution of data.

Some of these rocks were collected during fieldwork and others were obtained from the Afar Repository at the University of Pisa @sorcerinsar.bsky.social