Large Igneous Province- Dyke Swarm (LIP-IDC 2026) Conference

3-7 August 2026 | Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Nyeri, Kenya

Source to Resource: Exploring Large Igneous Provinces and Dyke Swarms

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About the Conference

We invite the global research community interested in Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) and their mafic dyke swarms to join us in Kenya in August 2026 for the Joint LIP9 - IDC9 conference.

In addition to being the 'cradle of humankind', this region is part of the very young African-Arabian LIP/Rift system, and nearby to impressive mafic dyke swarms.

This Conference joins two long-running international conference series:

• International Dyke Conferences (IDC) started in 1985
• Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) conference series started in 2007

This builds on the previous joint IDC8 - LIPs8 - Rodinia 2023 conference held in June 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Key Dates

Pre-conference field trips : TBD

Main Conference August 3-7, 2026 (Monday-Friday) Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT), Nyeri

Mid-conference field trip August 5, 2026 Excursion to Mount Kenya

Post-conference field trip August 8-12, 2026 Rift Valley exploration and wildlife safari

Conference Themes

• African-Arabian LIP and East African Rift System
• LIPs and implications for metallogeny, oil/gas and aquifers
• LIPs and their links with rifting and continental breakup
• LIPs and their links with climate change events
• LIP architecture and insights into the magmatic plumbing system from geochemistry and geophysics
• Silicic LIPs (SLIPs), and LIP-related carbonatites and kimberlites
• Giant radiating, circumferential and linear mafic swarms and links with mantle plumes and rifting
• Dyke swarms (mafic, ultramafic, and felsic) of all settings
• Planetary analogues of LIPs and dyke swarms (particularly on Venus and Mars)

Location

Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT) Nyeri, Kenya

Located approximately 3 hours by vehicle from Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.

Organizing Committee

Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Kenya

• Nicholas Mariita - nicholas.mariita@dkut.ac.ke
• Dennis M. Njagi - dennis.njagi@dkut.ac.ke
• Patrick Kariuki - patrick.kariuki@dkut.ac.ke
• Patrick Gevera - patrick.gevera@dkut.ac.ke
• Sophie Kipkwony - sophy.kipkwony@dkut.ac.ke
• Purity Kamau - purity.kamau@dkut.ac.ke

Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

• Richard Ernst - richardernst@cunet.carleton.ca
• Hafida El Bilali - hafidaelbilali@cunet.carleton.ca

Michigan State University, USA

• Tyrone Rooney - rooneyt@msu.edu

Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

• Daniel Mege - dmege@cbk.waw.pl

Stellenbosch University, South Africa

• Martin Klausen - klausen@sun.ac.za

University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

•  Gerald Chuwa - gerald7chuwa@gmail.com

Interested in helping with conference organization?

Please contact any of the organizers listed above.

Conference Language

The official language of the conference will be English.

Conference Series History

Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) Conference Series

The Large Igneous Provinces conference series was launched in 2007 in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia by Prof. Alexander Borisenko and colleagues:

• LIP1 (2007) - Novosibirsk, Russia
• LIP2 (2009) - Novosibirsk, Russia
• LIP3 (2011) - Irkutsk, Russia
• LIP4 (2013) - Hanoi, Vietnam
• LIP5 (2015) - Irkutsk, Russia
• LIP6 (2017) - Chengdu, China
• LIP7 (2019) - Tomsk, Russia
• LIP8 (2023) - Marrakech, Morocco (joint with IDC8 and Rodinia 2023)

The early conferences (2007-2017) focused on the LIP record of Asia, but subsequent conferences have become fully global.

International Dyke Conference (IDC) Series

The International Dyke Conference series was started in Toronto, Canada in 1985 by Prof. Henry C. Halls (University of Toronto):

• IDC1 (1985) - Toronto, Canada
• IDC2 (1990) - Adelaide, Australia
• IDC3 (1995) - Jerusalem, Israel
• IDC4 (2001) - Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
• IDC5 (2006) - Rovaniemi, Finland
• IDC6 (2010) - Varanasi, India
• IDC7 (2016) - Beijing, China
• IDC8 (2023) - Marrakech, Morocco (joint with LIP8 and Rodinia 2023)

Related Publications

Key publications linked to the LIPs and IDC series:

• Srivastava, R. K., Ernst, R. E., Buchan, K. L., & De Kock, M. (eds.). 2022. Large Igneous Provinces and their Plumbing Systems. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 518, p. 600.
• Ernst, R.E., Dickson, A., & Bekker, A. (eds.). 2021. Large Igneous Provinces: A Driver of Global Environmental and Biotic Changes. American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph 255, 508 p.
• Peng, P., Ernst, R.E., Söderlund, U., & Hamilton, M. (eds.). 2019. Dyke Swarms: Keys for Precambrian Paleogeographic Reconstruction. Precambrian Research (Special Issue) v. 329 (21 papers).
• Ernst, R., Vrublevskii, V.V., & Tishin, P. (eds). 2019. Geological Tour of Devonian and Ordovician Magmatism of Kuznetsk Alatau and Minusinsk Basin Altay-Sayan Region, Siberia. GeoGuide. Springer, 232 p.
• Srivastava, R.K., Ernst, R.E., & Peng, P. (eds.). 2019. Dyke Swarms of the World – A Modern Perspective. Springer, 492 p.
• Soderlund, U., Klausen, M., Ernst, R.E., & Bleeker, W. (eds.). 2016. New advances using Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) to reconstruct ancient supercontinents. GFF Special Issue, v. 138.
• Kuzmin, M., & Ernst, R.E. (eds.). 2016. Mantle Plumes and their Role in the Formation of Lithosphere Structure, Large Igneous Provinces, and Metallogeny. Russian Geology and Geophysics Special Issue, v. 57.
• Ernst, R.E. 2014. Large Igneous Provinces. Cambridge University Press, 653 p.
• Ernst, R.E., Söderlund, U., & Bleeker, W. (eds.). 2013. LIPs and Supercontinents. Lithos Special Issue, v. 174, p. 1-348.
• Srivastava, R.K. (ed.). 2011. Dyke Swarms: Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation. Springer, 605 p.
• Srivastava, R.K., Ernst, R., Bleeker, W., & Hamilton M.A. (eds.). 2010. Precambrian Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) and their dyke swarms: new insights from high-precision geochronology integrated with paleomagnetism and geochemistry. Precambrian Research Special Issue, v. 183, no. 3.
• Dobretsov, N.L., Ernst, R.E., & Izokh, A.E. (eds.). 2008. Large Igneous Provinces of Asia, Mantle Plumes, and Metallogeny. Russian Geology and Geophysics Special Issue, v. 49, no. 7.
• Hanski E., Mertanen, S., Ramo, T., & Vuollo, J. (eds.) 2006. Dyke Swarms: Time Markers of Crustal Evolution. Taylor and Francis, London.
• Ernst, R.E., & Buchan, K.L. (eds.) 2001. Mantle Plumes: Their Identification Through Time. Geological Society of America Special Paper 352, 593 p.
• Parker, A.J., Rickwood, P.C., & Tucker, D.H. (eds.) 1990. Mafic Dykes and Emplacement Mechanisms. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 541 p.
• Baer, G., & Heimann, A. (eds.) 1995. Physics and Chemistry of Dykes. A.K. Balkema, Rotterdam, 339 p.
• Halls, H.C., & Fahrig, W.F. (eds.) 1987. Mafic Dyke Swarms. Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 34, 503 p.

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