The Aswa Dislocation, also called the Aswa mylonite belt, Aswa Lineament or Aswa Shear Zone, is a north-west trending ductile shear zone that runs to the east of
Lake Victoria in East Africa.[1]
Extent
The lineament dates to the
Precambrian era and thus is much older than the
East African Rift System. It probably extends northwest to
Darfur in Sudan, perhaps along the
Abu Gabra Rift, and perhaps southeast to the
Lindi fault zone on the Indian Ocean coast, passing through the
Kilimanjaro and
Elgon volcanic centers.[2]
Connection to the East African rift system
The fault seems to have been partly reactivated during the
Neogene in the section between the
Albertine and
Gregory rifts, and along its southern extension towards the Indian Ocean.[3]
The reactivated section of the Aswa lineament connects the eastern and western branches of the East African rift system.[4] It seems also to truncate the Nyanza rift, which extends ENE from Lake Victoria.[1]
The section of the Aswa Dislocation between the two rifts forms part of the boundary between the
Somali Plate and the
African Plate.[5]
Chorowicz, Jean; Le Fournier, Jacques; Vidal, Gerard (Winter 1987). "A model for rift development in Eastern Africa". Geological Journal. 22 (Supplement S2): 495–513.
doi:
10.1002/gj.3350220630.