Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42026064›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Necking of the active Turkana Rift Zone and the priming of eastern Africa for continental breakup.

Christian M Rowan, Folarin Kolawole, Anne Bécel, Paul Betka, John Rowan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Christian M RowanDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. crowan@ldeo.columbia.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-7151-0958
Folarin KolawoleDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5695-2778
Anne BécelDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7803-5949
Paul BetkaGeology Department of Western Washington University, Bellingham, WT, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3239-3155
John RowanDepartment of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5062-4044

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Continental rifting initiates the transition to breakup when the crust is necked and deformation localizes at the rift axis. However, the slow crustal-stretching rates and >20-km deep mantle beneath many active rifts worldwide suggest that present-day breakup may not be imminent. High-resolution seismic data from the Turkana Rift Zone of the East African Rift System (EARS) reveal the rift's subsurface structure. Here, we show that Turkana's crystalline crust has thinned to ~13 km along the rift axis, revealing an active rift undergoing crustal necking. Onset of necking is constrained to ~4 Ma and facilitated the accumulation of Turkana's world-famous fossil record of human evolution. Identification of necking in the EARS indicates that eastern Africa is primed for continental breakup.

Identifiers

PMID42026064
PMCPMC13106691

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.