TheBlue Nile rift is a major geological structure in theSudan, arift with a NW trend that terminates on theCentral African Shear Zone.[1]It was formed through crustal extension during the break-up ofGondwana.
The rift, and other rifts in the area such as theBahr El Arab rift andWhite Nile rift, appears to have been activated several times since thePaleozoic era, which ended about 250 Ma.[fn 1] During periods of rapid uplift and subsidence, the rifts accumulated sediments of different ages, origins and methods of deposition.[2]LateJurassic rifting occurred in the Blue Nile rift, with east-westhalf-graben extension connected by large-scale shear zones and pull-apart basins, and earlyCretaceous rifting re-activated the Jurassic basin.[3]
TheBlue Nile Basin inEthiopia may be a southeastern extension of the rift.[4]Further to the southeast, the late Palaeozoic-MesozoicOgaden Rift is aligned with the Blue Nile rift.[5]
