Interferogram showing deformation around 2008 dyke

An interferogram showing the deformation associated with a dyke intrusion emplaced in October 2008. The black line shows the location of the rift axis.

Scientists from the UK, US and Ethiopia produced the interferogram using ‘Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry’ on Envisat ASAR data acquired around a volcanic event in the Afar Desert between 2005 and 2009.

The interferograms allowed them to document whether an initial dyke event led to 12 other dykes in the area.