Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did thermal uplift contribute to the formation of the Ethiopian Plateau?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

continental landform Davis's proposed landscape-development states. The morphology shown is not actually time-indicative. For example, A could be a gully system in soft sediment or a canyon such as the Royal Gorge in Colorado, which is millions of years old. The ridge-ravine topography of B would normally develop under humid conditions, but the river meandering on alluvium indicates a prior or extraneous non-humid aggrading mechanism. The riverine plain of C implies a complex history of planation and aggradation in a current fluvial mode.

The Ethiopian Plateau was formed primarily through the thermal expansion of the lithosphere, a process driven by the upwelling of hot material from the underlying asthenosphere.1

This heating of the uppermost mantle caused the surface to rise, creating a broad, elevated region. This uplift is specifically linked to the presence of a hot spot in the asthenosphere beneath the plateau. While thermal uplift is the primary driver of the plateau's high elevation, the process is often associated with other geologic activity. In the case of the Ethiopian Plateau, Cenozoic volcanism has also played a significant role, with basaltic lava flows covering much of the plateau's surface.123

Consequently, the plateau's current structure is the result of these combined processes, where the heating of the lithosphere provided the necessary uplift, while subsequent volcanic activity further shaped the landscape.12