Anatomy of the Dead Sea transform: Does it reflect continuous changes in plate motion?

Brink, Uri S. ten; Rybakov, Michael; Al-Zoubi, A.; Hassouneh, M.; Frieslander, U.; Batayneh, Awni T.; Goldschmidt, V.I.; Daoud, Mohamad; Rotstein, Y.; Hall, John K.

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0887:aotdst>2.3.co;2

Cited by 79 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For the DST, a major shift in the direction of plate motion around 5 Ma ago was suggested by Joffe and Garfunkel (1987). ten Brink et al (1999) on the other hand, proposed continuous small variations in plate motion to be responsible for the observed geometry of the DST.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Combining satellite and seismic images to analyse the shallow structure of the Dead Sea Transform near the DESERT transect

Kesten

Weber

Haberland

et al. 2007

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

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The left-lateral Dead Sea Transform (DST) in the Middle East is one of the largest continental strike-slip faults of the world. The southern segment of the DST in the Arava/Araba Valley between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, called Arava/ Araba Fault (AF), has been studied in detail in the multidisciplinary DESERT (DEad SEa Rift Transect) project. Based on these results, here, the interpretations of multi-spectral (ASTER) satellite images and seismic reflection studies have been combined to analyse geologic structures. Whereas satellite images reveal neotectonic activity in shallow young sediments, reflection seismic image deep faults that are possibly inactive at present. The combination of the two methods allows putting some age constraint on the activity of individual fault strands. Although the AF is clearly the main active fault segment of the southern DST, we propose that it has accommodated only a limited (up to 60 km) part of the overall 105 km of sinistral plate motion since Miocene times. There is evidence for sinistral displacement along other faults, based on geological studies, including satellite image interpretation. Furthermore, a subsurface fault is revealed %4 km west of the AF on two %E-W running seismic reflection profiles. Whereas these seismic data show a flower structure typical for strike-slip faults, on the satellite image this fault is not expressed in the post-Miocene sediments, implying that it has been inactive for the last few million years. About 1 km to the east of the AF another, now buried fault, was detected in seismic, magnetotelluric and gravity studies of DESERT. Taking together various evidences, we suggest that at the beginning of transform motion deformation occurred in a rather wide belt, possibly with the reactivation of older %N-S striking structures. Later, deformation became concentrated in the region of today's Arava Valley. Till %5 Ma ago there might have been other, now inactive fault traces in the vicinity of the present day AF that took up lateral motion. Together with a rearrangement of plates %5 Ma ago, the main fault trace shifted then to the position of today's AF.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Combining satellite and seismic images to analyse the shallow structure of the Dead Sea Transform near the DESERT transect

Kesten

Weber

Haberland

et al. 2007

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

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“…The western shoulder of WAF does not expose basement, and studies of slip distribution are not available, but at least two strands strike parallel to WAF within the rift, and are likely to absorb some of the geological deformation (see also Frieslander, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the Aqaba segment of the DST (between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea basin), the rift valley is further divided into a series of smaller sub-basins (ten Brink et al, 1999). The sediments of the Evrona playa basin just North of the Gulf of Aqaba formed by Plio-Pleistocene sand and silt, alternating with clay layers 5 a c c e p t e d and gravel lenses, are crossed by the transform/strike-slip fault forming wide (1 km) flower structures (Shtivelman et al, 1998).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shallow architecture of the Wadi Araba fault (Dead Sea Transform) from high-resolution seismic investigations

et al. 2007

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In a high-resolution small scale seismic experiment we investigated the shallow structure of the Wadi Araba Fault (WAF), the principal fault strand of the Dead Sea Transform System between the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat and the Dead Sea. The experiment consisted of 8 sub-parallel 1 km long seismic lines crossing the WAF. The recording station spacing was 5 meters and the source point distance was 20 m.The first break tomography yields insight into the fault structure down to a depth Often the superficial sedimentary layers are bent upward close to the WAF. Our results indicate that this section of the fault (at shallow depths) is characterized by a transpressional regime. We detected a 100 to 300 m wide heterogeneous zone of deformed and displaced material which, however, is not characterized by low seismic velocities at a larger scale. At greater depth the geophysical images indicate a blocked cross-fault structure. The structure revealed, fault cores not wider than 10 m, are consistent with scaling from wear mechanics and with the low loading to healing ratio anticipated for the fault.

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“…[]. The Evrona and Timna basins are mapped from gravimetric and magnetic data [ ten Brink et al ., ; Frieslander , ; ten Brink et al ., ]. The red dashed box at the northern GEA outlines the study area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(b) Schematic models of the deep section of the basins (modified after Ben Avraham [] and ten Brink et al . []). The marine basins of the GEA are deeper (3–5 km) than the on‐land basins of the southern Arava Valley (<1 km).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quaternary tectonic evolution of the Northern Gulf of Elat/Aqaba along the Dead Sea Transform

et al. 2014

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The northern Gulf of Elat/Aqaba is located in the transition between the deep marine basins of the gulf and the shallow onland basins of the Arava Valley. Interpretation of 500 km of high-resolution seismic reflection data collected across the northern shelf reveals the tectonic structure and evolution of this transition. Six NNE-trending faults and one E-W trending transverse fault are mapped. Slip rates are calculated based on measured offsets and age determination based on a radiocarbon-calibrated sedimentation rate and a Quaternary age model. The most active fault is the Evrona Fault that absorbs most of the left lateral slip within the basin with an average sinistral slip rate of 0.7 ± 0.3 mm/yr through the Late Pleistocene and 2.3-3.4 mm/yr during the Holocene. Two intrabasin faults east of the Evrona Fault that have been inactive for the last several tens of thousands of years were mapped, and motion from these faults has likely transferred to the Evrona Fault. The basin is flanked on the west by the Elat Fault and on the east by the Aqaba Fault. Both faults are marked by large bathymetric escarpments. Based on displaced seismic reflectors, we calculate a Holocene vertical slip rate of 1.0 ± 0.2 and 0.4 ± 0.1 mm/yr for the Elat and Aqaba Faults, respectively. The geometry, slip rates, and slip history of the northern Gulf of Elat/Aqaba faults show that during the Late Pleistocene several intrabasin faults became dominant across the basin but that during the Holocene the Evrona Fault accommodates most of the strike slip.

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Anatomy of the Dead Sea transform: Does it reflect continuous changes in plate motion?

Cited by 79 publications

References 23 publications

Combining satellite and seismic images to analyse the shallow structure of the Dead Sea Transform near the DESERT transect

Combining satellite and seismic images to analyse the shallow structure of the Dead Sea Transform near the DESERT transect

Shallow architecture of the Wadi Araba fault (Dead Sea Transform) from high-resolution seismic investigations

Quaternary tectonic evolution of the Northern Gulf of Elat/Aqaba along the Dead Sea Transform

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