Professor Atalay Ayele

Atalay Ayele is a professor of Geophysics at the Institute of Geophysics Space Science and Astronomy, Addis Ababa University. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, as part of the Africa Oxford Visiting Fellowship Programme.   

Atalay is the Director of the Institute of Geophysics, Space Science and Astronomy (IGSSA) at Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia. He is a seismologist who studies the seismo-volcanic nature of continental rifting, primarily in East Africa. He has raised awareness of geohazards throughout Africa and has been a key figure in facilitating international science efforts in Ethiopia and surrounding regions. Atalay has made significant local, regional, and internal contributions. He served as the Chairperson of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Seismological Group (ESARSWG) and Founder and President of the African Seismological Commission (AfSc). Ayele was awarded the American Geophysical Union (AGU) international award for outstanding contributions to developing nations in science.    

Atalay is interested in the broader issue of how Africa will achieve net zero in an ethical and equitable manner. His research seeks to process and interpret seismic data better to understand the nature of the hydrothermal system at depth and to guide the exploitation strategy better. His research interests are in seismicity of the East Africa rift system and Ethiopian rifts in particular, fault plane solutions, deep earth studies, probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, applied geophysics, site effect, analysis of ground motion, and analysing accelerogram data.   

While at the University of Oxford, Atalya will research sustainable geothermal energy in Ethiopia. Geothermal energy will be key in East Africa’s quest for a low-carbon future.  Atalay’s work in Oxford focused on the use of geophysical methods in geothermal exploration, which will help to accelerate geothermal exploration in Ethiopia and other African countries.  

Magma-maintained rift segmentation at continental rupture in the 2005 Afar dyking episode TJ Wright, C Ebinger, J Biggs, A Ayele, G Yirgu, D Keir, A Stork

Nature 442 (7100), 291-294

Geophysical constraints on the dynamics of spreading centres from rifting episodes on land TJ Wright, F Sigmundsson, C Pagli, M Belachew, IJ Hamling, ...

Nature Geoscience 5 (4), 242-250

Strain accommodation by magmatism and faulting as rifting proceeds to breakup: Seismicity of the northern Ethiopian rift D Keir, CJ Ebinger, GW Stuart, E Daly, A Ayele Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 111 (B5)

Length and timescales of rift faulting and magma intrusion: The Afar rifting cycle from 2005 to present C Ebinger, A Ayele, D Keir, J Rowland, G Yirgu, T Wright, M Belachew, ... Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 38, 439-466

The nature of the crust beneath the Afar triple junction: Evidence from receiver functions JOS Hammond, JM Kendall, GW Stuart, D Keir, C Ebinger, A Ayele, ...

Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 12 (12)

Evidence for focused magmatic accretion at segment centers from lateral dike injections captured beneath the Red Sea rift in Afar

D Keir, IJ Hamling, A Ayele, E Calais, C Ebinger, TJ Wright, E Jacques, ... Geology 37 (1), 59-62

Capturing magma intrusion and faulting processes during continental rupture: seismicity of the Dabbahu (Afar) rift

CJ Ebinger, D Keir, A Ayele, E Calais, TJ Wright, M Belachew, ... Geophysical Journal International 174 (3), 1138-1152

The volcano–seismic crisis in Afar, Ethiopia, starting September 2005 A Ayele, E Jacques, M Kassim, T Kidane, A Omar, S Tait, A Nercessian, ... Earth and Planetary Science Letters 255 (1-2), 177-187

September 2005 mega‐dike emplacement in the Manda‐Harraro nascent oceanic rift (Afar depression) A Ayele, D Keir, C Ebinger, TJ Wright, GW Stuart, WR Buck, E Jacques, ... Geophysical Research Letters 36 (20)

Comparison of dike intrusions in an incipient seafloor‐spreading segment in Afar, Ethiopia: Seismicity perspectives M Belachew, C Ebinger, D Coté, D Keir, JV Rowland, JOS Hammond, ... Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 116 (B6) 

Shallow axial magma chamber at the slow-spreading Erta Ale Ridge C Pagli, TJ Wright, CJ Ebinger, SH Yun, JR Cann, T Barnie, A Ayele Nature Geoscience 5 (4), 284-288

Dike‐fault interaction during the 2004 Dallol intrusion at the northern edge of the Erta Ale Ridge (Afar, Ethiopia) A Nobile, C Pagli, D Keir, TJ Wright, A Ayele, J Ruch, V Acocella Geophysical Research Letters 39 (19)

Volcanism in the Afar Rift sustained by decompression melting with minimal plume influence CA Rychert, JOS Hammond, N Harmon, J Michael Kendall, D Keir, ... Nature Geoscience 5 (6), 406-409

Geodetic observations of the ongoing Dabbahu rifting episode: new dyke intrusions in 2006 and 2007 IJ Hamling, A Ayele, L Bennati, E Calais, CJ Ebinger, D Keir, E Lewi, ... Geophysical Journal International 178 (2), 989-1003

Mantle upwellings, melt migration and the rifting of Africa: Insights from seismic anisotropy JM Kendall, S Pilidou, D Keir, ID Bastow, GW Stuart, A Ayele

Geological Society, London, Special Publications 259 (1), 55-72

Mantle upwelling and initiation of rift segmentation beneath the Afar Depression JOS Hammond, JM Kendall, GW Stuart, CJ Ebinger, ID Bastow, D Keir, ... Geology 41 (6), 635-638

Local earthquake magnitude scale and seismicity rate for the Ethiopian rift D Keir, GW Stuart, A Jackson, A Ayele Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 96 (6), 2221-2230

Crustal tomographic imaging of a transitional continental rift: The Ethiopian rift E Daly, D Keir, CJ Ebinger, GW Stuart, ID Bastow, A Ayele Geophysical Journal International 172 (3), 1033-1048

Geophysical project in Ethiopia studies continental breakup PKH Maguire, CJ Ebinger, GW Stuart, GD Mackenzie, KA Whaler, ... EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union 84 (35), 337-343

Seismicity during lateral dike propagation: Insights from new data in the recent Manda Hararo–Dabbahu rifting episode (Afar, Ethiopia) R Grandin, E Jacques, A Nercessian, A Ayele, C Doubre, A Socquet, ... Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 12 (4)