Please join the Geosciences Department for our annual Lester W.
Strock Lecture on Thursday, April 22 at 6:30 pm. We are welcoming (back) Dr.
Tadesse B. Alemu to share his research and field work in Ethiopia. We hope to
see you there!
IntraCONtinental Sags (ICONS) are a group of sedimentary basins
that lie within the relatively stable continental interiors, showing little to
no deformation, and subsiding for a long period of time. While the mechanisms
for the formation of other types of sedimentary basins are well-known, the
processes that lead to ICONS are not. Understanding their geologic history is
important because the sedimentary rocks within them preserve long-term records
of earth history and can host natural resources including water and hydrocarbons.
In
his talk, Dr. Alemu will address several questions regarding ICONS: What are some examples, and why are they important?
How do we study them? His focus is on sedimentary
basins overlying the Pan-African belt in northern and northeastern Africa, and
particularly in Ethiopia where sedimentary formations and geological
structures associated with ICONS are completely exposed. Results from the study
include a new model for ICONS subsidence and recent discoveries of the first
dinosaur fossils in the region.
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