About

Eliot Atekwana is a professor affiliated with the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on Foodomics, specifically in the isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds, glycoprotein chemistry, and glycomics and peptidomics. His work involves analyzing food and biological samples, including those derived from simulated gastrointestinal digestion or clinical studies, with an emphasis on discovering and utilizing bioactive components from food streams and waste products to improve health and reduce environmental impact. His contributions include the development of advanced separation science techniques and the integration of proteomics, glycomics, and peptidomics to identify novel bioactive milk components, which have potential applications in functional foods, infant formulas, and therapeutic products. He has assembled comprehensive databases such as MilkOligoDB and contributed datasets to USDA FoodData Central, facilitating broader access to information on milk and plant-based oligosaccharides. His research aims to develop processes that recover valuable bioactive compounds from agricultural and industrial waste streams, promoting sustainability and health. His work is supported by various projects exploring plant-based bioengineering, microalgae-derived ingredients, dairy product characterization, and the health-promoting roles of food bioactive phenolic compounds.

Research topics

• Geology
• Seismology
• Paleontology
• Petrology

Selected publications

• Landscape–Tectonic Interactions in Continental Rifts: A Modeling Perspective from the East African Rift System

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• How do Propagating Rifts Breach Cratons? Insights from the Northwestern Branch of the East African Rift.

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Magnetotelluric Investigation of the Southernwestern terminus of the East African Rift System reveals Spatial Transition from Deep Melt-Assisted to Melt-Deficient Rift Initiation Mechanisms

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• A magnetotelluric investigation of the Okavango Rift Zone, northern Botswana

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• A Gravity Study of the Crustal Structure Beneath the Young Amagmatic Rukwa‐Tanganyika Rift Zone

  Tectonics · 2025-07-31 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The Rukwa‐Tanganyika Rift Zone (RTRZ), experiencing multiphase rifting, forms the nonvolcanic southern part of the Western Branch of the East African Rift. We investigate the crustal structure beneath the RTRZ to understand how strain migrates beneath multiphase rifts. We use power spectral analysis of Bouguer gravity data from the World Gravity Map 2012 and 2‐D forward modeling to estimate the crustal thickness beneath the RTRZ. We find thin crust (∼30–36 km) beneath the Tanganyika Rift and the Rukwa Rift, separated by a region of thick crust (∼38–46 km) beneath the Ufipa and Mbozi Horsts that extends southward beneath the Bangweulu Craton (∼40–46 km) and the Rungwe Volcanic Province (∼40 km). The eastern flank of the Rukwa Rift is characterized by a broad zone of shallow Moho (∼32–34 km). Our 2‐D forward models indicate that the crust beneath the eastern part of the Ufipa Horst is significantly thinner, suggesting it is tilted to the west. We argue that extension in the RTRZ is mainly accommodated by slip along border faults of the southern Tanganyika Rift, producing the westward tilting of the Ufipa Horst. Part of the extension is accommodated by active deformation of the Ufipa Horst, particularly at its transition to the Rukwa Rift, where the crust is thinnest. We conclude that the crustal thinning facilitates strain transfer from the Tanganyika Rift to the Rukwa Rift by enabling the infiltration of metasomatic fluids into the lower crust, which increases the crustal buoyancy, lubricates, and reactivates pre‐existing structures within the Ufipa Horst.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Density perturbations in the crust indicate potential for blind magmatism beneath magma-poor rifts

  Tectonophysics · 2025-08-19 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Lithospheric weakening mechanisms in non-volcanic segments of continental rifts remain poorly understood, raising important questions about the geodynamic processes that initiate rifting. Here, we investigate the crustal and uppermost mantle structure beneath the non-volcanic Albertine-Rhino Graben (ARG) and the adjoining magma-rich Edward-George Rift (EGR), East Africa. The ARG exhibits anomalous focusing of intra-rift tectonic strain typically associated with magma-rich, early-stage rifts. Through field observations of rift structures, combined with 3D inversions and 2D forward modeling of gravity data, we investigate the potential controls on tectonic strain in a setting with little to no magmatism. Field ground-truthing in the southern ARG reveals prominent rift-axial basement-rooted faulting that post-dates the establishment of border faults. Gravity inversion results show low-density anomalies extending from the surface to about 50 km depth beneath both the EGR and ARG, with the strongest anomalies under the ARG at around 15 km. 2D gravity modeling suggests that the lower crust and uppermost mantle are both thinned and less dense beneath these rift segments. In the EGR, crustal thinning and low-density anomalies align with low P-wave velocity zones, suggesting the presence of melt. Given the similar degree of crustal thinning and de-densification in the ARG, we infer that trapped lower-crustal melts may also exist beneath the ARG, potentially contributing to the early focusing of intra-rift strain. We propose that in non-volcanic rifts, deep, unexposed (‘blind’) melts may play a key role in mechanically weakening the lithosphere, enabling continued tectonic extension even in the absence of significant surface volcanism. • The northern Western Branch of the EARS consists of volcanic and non-volcanic rifts. • Atypical intra-rift faulting with anomalous uplift occurs in the non-volcanic rift. • Negative density anomalies underlie both the volcanic and non-volcanic rift segments. • Lower crustal melts beneath the non-volcanic rifts facilitate atypical rift faulting. • ‘Blind’ melt enables strain localization in both volcanic and nonvolcanic rifts.

  PublisherDOI

• Documenting Quaternary Fault Slip using High Resolution Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Photogrammetry Dataset: Insights from the Albertine Rift, East African Rift System

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• The Arctic Kobuk Dunes: Significant Harbors of Water and Implications for Solar System Dunes

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Constraining the Kinematics of the Victoria Microplate and the Northern Western Branch of the East African Rift System

  Geophysical Research Letters · 2025-10-14

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The fragmentation of continents results in microplates that rotate to accommodate the lateral propagation of bounding rifts. Yet, the relationships between microplate rotation rates, fault slip, and kinematics at propagating rift tips remain unknown. Here, we analyze new Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data and structural geology data from the northern Western Branch of the East African Rift System that defines part of the boundary between the Nubian plate and the Victoria microplate. We resolve 0.0583 ± 0.0293°/Myr (6.48 ± 3.26 mm/yr) counterclockwise rotation of the Victoria microplate, consistent with previous studies, but with significant northwestward shift in the Euler pole relative to earlier work. Strain is largely localized on microplate‐bounding faults with 1.8–2.2 mm/yr slip rates, 7.2 × 10 −8 –1.28 × 10 −7 y −1 strain rates, NE‐directed extension, and oblique‐normal fault kinematics. Most GNSS velocities are consistent with block rigidity, but three sites in the NW region of the Victoria microplate indicate possible internal deformation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• How do propagating rifts breach Cratons? Insights from the northwestern branch of the East African Rift, Uganda

  Geophysical Journal International · 2025-06-14

  articleOpen access

  SUMMARY Here, we investigate how continental rifts initiate and propagate across cratons by exploring the crustal structure of northwestern tip of the East African Rift System (EARS), hosting the volcanic-rich Edward-George and non-volcanic Albertine-Rhino rifts, and their termination at the Precambrian Aswa Shear Zone. We conducted a derivative analysis of magnetic data, utilized power spectral analyses and implemented a 2-D forward modelling of gravity data constrained by the seismic results obtained from the region. A magnetic derivative map indicates that the border faults of the Albertine Rift, at regional-scale, trend parallel to the Mesoproterozoic Madi-Igisi fold belt (MIFB) structures, representing the suture zone between two Archean microcratons. Our results show a pronounced thinned crust (∼24–30 km) beneath the southern segments of the rift zone, particularly the Edward-George rift, the Rwenzori Mountains and the southern Albertine graben, consistent with previous seismic studies. In general, we observe that: (1) the rift system follows the boundary between a broadly thinner crust (21–41 km) to the southeast in Uganda, and thick crust (34–41 km) to the northwest in Congo, and (2) within the rifts, the crustal thickness along the axes exhibits a strong gradient that attenuates northwards beneath the Albertine-Rhino graben. We supplement the geophysical results with field observations of an exhumed Permian ‘Karoo’ rift (Entebbe Graben) in central Uganda, indicating the possible source of inherited thinner crust to the southeast of the Albertine-Rhino Rift. We propose that the northwestern tip of the EARS exploited a cratonic crustal thickness-gradient, assisted by structural inheritance from crustal metamorphic fabrics, and potentially, thermomechanical weakening of the deeper crust by partial melts beneath some of the rift segments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative research: Integrated studies of early stages of continental extension: From incipient (Okavango) to young (Malawi) rifts

  NSF · $542k · 2011–2016

• Collaborative Research: Investigating how transient electrical and magnetic signals relate to changes in recharge-driven redox state and iron mineral transformations

  NSF · $116k · 2018–2022

• Collaborative Research: Investigating the impact of microbial interactions with geologic media on geophysical properties: Implications for assessing geomicrobiological processes

  NSF · $114k · 2006–2008

• IRES US-Botswana: Research Opportunities to Investigate Carbon Cycling in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana for US Undergraduate & Graduate Geoscience Students

  NSF · $150k · 2009–2013

• AGU Chapman Conference on Biogeophysics

  NSF · $73k · 2008–2010

Frequent coauthors

• Folarin Kolawole

  56 shared

• Lee Slater

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  44 shared

• Eliot A. Atekwana

  Planetary Science Institute

  33 shared

• Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis

  30 shared

• Mohamed G. Abdelsalam

  27 shared

• Silvia Rossbach

  Western Michigan University

  26 shared

• A. Revil

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  25 shared

• Dale Werkema

  23 shared

Education

• PHD, EARTH SCIENCES

  Dalhousie University

  1991