Flood Basalt photos
Flood Basalts
Flood basalts (25-15Ma) in the Affara Dara region of the Afar Depression just to the north of the peralkaline granites. The top photograph shows columnar jointing within a lava flow. The basalts are heavily weathered and individual lava flows are difficult to pick out. Basalts are generally black/grey in colour, but here the surfaces of the rocks are shades of orange. This is due to the oxidation of iron in the basalts during weathering - the rocks have rusted. Photographs by Lorraine Field, University of Bristol.
