The Mekelle basin (area ~ 5500 km²) is located at the immediate western margin of the Afar Depression, which has a history of collision, subsidence, uplift, magmatism and now rifting. The evolution of such small to medium size basins as the Mekelle in a complicated geodynamic set-up is a subject of debate, because several different mechanisms of basin formation could apply. To address the possible basin evolution scenarios, we combine structural and dynamic analyses of northern Ethiopia, with strong emphasis on the basin and basin bounding basement rocks. The northern basin bounding block is uplifted by about 1500 m compared with the western and southwestern basin-bounding blocks. In the basin, superposition of large-scale orthogonal brittle shear fabrics and the development of young, parallel to subparallel extensional fractures and domino faulting have produced a total of ~ 2200 m vertical displacement. These observations, coupled with the absence of gradual roll-down of the internal basin (i.e., absence of bending/folding of an elastic beam supported at both ends), imply that Mekelle basin is not an IntraCONtinental Sags (ICONS) or plate interior basin, as previously described, but is instead a multi-tectonic triggered basin. Integrated satellite images using ground-controlled measurements and deep borehole data were used to decipher the entire evolution of the basin starting from the late-collisional deformation through the regional up-doming to the sills/dikes injection and basin formation.

梅克尔盆地（面积〜5500 km ²）位于阿法尔洼地的紧邻西部边缘，该地区具有碰撞，沉陷，隆升，岩浆活动和裂谷的历史。像Mekelle这样的中小型盆地在复杂的地球动力学构造中的演化是一个争论的话题，因为可以应用几种不同的盆地形成机制。为了解决可能的盆地演化情况，我们结合了埃塞俄比亚北部的结构和动力分析，重点是盆地和盆地边界的基底岩石。与西部和西南盆地边界块相比，北部盆地边界块抬高了约1500 m。在盆地中，大型正交脆性剪切织物的叠加和年轻，平行于次平行的伸展性裂缝和多米诺骨断层共产生了约2200 m的垂直位移。这些观察结果，再加上内部盆没有逐渐下倾（即，两端没有支撑的弹性梁没有弯曲/折叠），意味着Mekelle盆不是大陆内凹陷（ICONS）或板状内部盆如前所述，但取而代之的是多构造触发盆地。利用地面控制的测量值和深孔数据的综合卫星图像，可以解释盆地的整个演化过程，从后期碰撞变形到区域向上支配，再到基石/堤坝注入和盆地形成等方面。两端没有支撑的弹性梁没有弯曲/折叠），这意味着Mekelle盆地不是先前描述的洲际凹陷（ICONS）或板块内部盆地，而是多构造触发盆地。利用地面控制的测量结果和深孔数据的综合卫星图像，可以解释盆地的整个演化过程，从后期的碰撞变形到区域向上支配，再到基石/堤坝注入和盆地形成。两端没有支撑的弹性梁没有弯曲/折叠），这意味着Mekelle盆地不是先前描述的洲际凹陷（ICONS）或板块内部盆地，而是多构造触发盆地。利用地面控制的测量值和深孔数据的综合卫星图像，可以解释盆地的整个演化过程，从后期碰撞变形到区域向上支配，再到基石/堤坝注入和盆地形成等方面。