Alkaline Rocks and Carbonatites of the World

Setup during HiTech AlkCarb: an online database of alkaline rock and carbonatite occurrences

Moussa Alli (Musa Alli)

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Occurrence number: 
054-00-009
Country: 
Ethiopia
Location: 
Longitude: 42.4, Latitude: 12.47
Carbonatite: 
No

Moussa Alli is a large strata volcano nearly 1500 m in height and 25 km in diameter the eastern part of which is in Djibouti. There is a large, complex caldera on the upper part of the volcano. The earliest flows were of basalt and hawaiite and these were followed by mugearite, trachyte and rhyolite. There followed the caldera-forming event which was post-dated by development of trachytic and rhyolitic domes and finally by emission of alkali olivine basalt flows, frequently ankaramitic, from numerous small centres. Eleven rock analyses (Fino et al., 1973) indicate the volcanic series to be slightly alkaline with a little normative acmite in rhyolites. Trachytes contain phenocrysts of green pyroxene, anorthoclase and fayalite. A further suite of analyses is in Piguet and Vellutini (1991).

Age: 
Piguet and Vellutini (1991) report a K-Ar age on the earliest products of 0.87±0.1 Ma.
References: 

FINO. M.DE, VOLPE, I.L.A., LIRER, L. and VARET, J. 1973. Geology and petrology of Manda-Inakir Range and Moussa Alli volcano, central eastern Afar (Ethiopia and T.F.A.I.). Revue de Geographie Physique et de Geologie Dynamique, Paris, 15: 373-86.PIGUET, P. and VELLUTINI, P. 1991. Données nouvelles sur le volcan Moussa Ali (République de Djibouti). Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. Paris, Serie 2, 313: 1611-8.

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