Seismic experiment reveals rifting of craton in Tanzania

Abstract
A research project in Tanzania, East Africa, is being conducted to examine seismic velocities within the crust and upper mantle in an area where cratonic lithosphere is experiencing extensional tectonism. The results will be used to evaluate models of cratonic structure. Waveforms from several hundred teleseismic earthquakes and over 10,000 regional and local earthquakes recorded in 1994 and 1995 by the Tanzania Broadband Seismic Experiment are not only yielding new insights into deep continental structure, but are also helping to determine the tectonic stability of cratons by identifying the locus of rifting within northeastern Tanzania.