Ethiopia-Yemen Continental Flood Basalts

[1] They are associated with the Afar Plume and the initiation of rifting in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

[2] In Ethiopia flood basalts cover an old erosion surface with occasional flat areas or peneplains.

[3][4] Burial of old surfaces by lava has preserved laterite soils in both Yemen and Ethiopia.

[4] The lavas of the Ethiopia-Yemen CFB show systematic variations in composition both vertically and laterally.

The sequence is also an example of bimodal volcanism and the uppermost part typically contains significant amounts of rhyolitic lavas.