Tectonic isolation of the Levant basin offshore Galilee-Lebanon – effects of the Dead Sea fault plate boundary on the Levant continental margin, eastern Mediterranean

Schattner, Uri; Ben‐Avraham, Zvi; Lazar, Michael; Hüebscher, C.

doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2006.06.003

Cited by 59 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…A theme of our paper is the link between this crustal monocline and the thin-skinned deformation detaching in the Messinian evaporites. In the Lebanon-Galilee area, these hinges coincide with an arcuate sinistral transpressional fault zone, proposed by Schattner et al (2006), which marks the seaward limit of coast uplift in the central Levant.…”

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…2) shows the main structures and stratigraphy across the Levant continental margin. Controversy continues as to whether the Levant Basin crust is Initiation of gravitational collapse of an evaporite basin margin: The Messinian saline giant, Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean continental (Netzeband et al, 2006a) or oceanic (Schattner et al, 2006). This basement is overlain by 14 km of sediments (Ben-Avraham, 1978).…”

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The basin has been intensively studied for insights into the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), which lasted from 5.96 to 5.30 Ma (Cita, 1973;Hsü et al, 1977;Cohen, 1988;Druckman et al, 1995;Krijgsman et al, 1999). Recent studies have used modern refl ection seismic data, including 3D seismic surveys acquired for petroleum exploration (Bertoni andCartwright, 2005, 2006) and 2D data collected during academic cruises (Gradmann et al, 2005;Netzeband et al, 2006b;Schattner et al, 2006). These papers focus mainly on the gross form and internal stratigraphy of the evaporites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Initiation of gravitational collapse of an evaporite basin margin: The Messinian saline giant, Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean

Cartwright

Jackson

2008

Geological Society of America Bulletin

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Regional 2D and 3D seismic data from the Levant Basin reveal the updip extensional component of thin-skinned gravity tectonics on this continental margin. Because of its youth (5-7 Ma), the earliest stages of deformation of this salt basin are preserved without the severe structural overprinting common on more mature, giant salt-tectonic systems. Extension detaches onto and within Messinian evaporites up to 1800 m thick. By structural restoration, we reconstruct the tectonic evolution of the Messinian evaporites using paleobathymetric constraints from wells and seismic profi les. This analysis suggests that the Mediterranean drawdown during the Messinian Salinity Crisis was ~800 m. The 10-to 15-km-wide extensional domain tracks the landward pinch-out of the mobile Messinian evaporites against an older Late Miocene scarp. Diachronous extension began in the center of the margin in the mid-Pliocene, then spread northward in the late Pliocene, then fi nally southward in the early Pleistocene. Extension continues today on many of the most landward faults. Extensional strain varies greatly along strike from <1 km to as much as 12-15 km. Comparing observations with four end-member conceptual models, we infer that both extension and seaward salt fl ow thinned the evaporite margin and its overburden. Both processes were triggered by a combination of uplift of the continental shoulder of the Dead Sea Rift and subsidence in the Mediterranean Basin. At least three factors controlled variations in extension: (1) degree of tilting of the salt wedge, related to the interplay of coastal uplift and basin subsidence; (2) presence of pre-Messinian canyons overlain by landward salients of salt; and (3) variations in evaporite facies and the proportion of siliciclastic admixture.

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Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Initiation of gravitational collapse of an evaporite basin margin: The Messinian saline giant, Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean

Cartwright

Jackson

2008

Geological Society of America Bulletin

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“…Folding, faulting, uplift and tilting of the Syrian coastal ranges , the Lebanese restraining bend (Walley, 1998), and the northern Galilee (Matmon et al, 2003), extended to the edge of the continental margin where shelf marginal wedges were tilted basinward Schattner et al, 2006). A 40-60 km wide Ntrending arch developed during the early Pleistocene across the Sinai plate in the northern Galilee (Matmon et al, 1999(Matmon et al, , 2003, Samaria and Judea regions Zilberman, 1996, 1997) and the Negev, which as a result was uplifted and tilted (Ginat, 1997;Ginat et al 1998;Avni, 1998;Avni et al, 2000).…”

Section: Sinai Plate and The Easternmost Mediterranean Marginsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seismic data reveals a succession of incised channels that drained land area during its tectonic uplift however today has no trace on the shelf seabed. Offshore, several fault systems re-activated the northern Levant continental margin during the Pleistocene (Schattner and Ben-Avraham, 2007) from the marine extension of the Carmel fault , along the Lebanese continental slope (Daëron et al, 2001Carton et al, 2007Carton et al, , 2009Elias et al, 2007), and were traced to a possible juvenile triple junction with the easternmost part of the Cyprus Arc (Butler et al, 1998;Schattner et al, 2006). These along-margin fault systems originate as westward branches of the Dead Sea fault, which dissect the uplifted folds of the Sinai plate.…”

Section: Sinai Plate and The Easternmost Mediterranean Marginsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early-to-mid Pleistocene Tectonic Transition Across the Eastern Mediterranean Influences the Course of Human History

Schattner¹

2011

New Frontiers in Tectonic Research - At the Midst of Plate Convergence

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Melt instabilities in an intraplate lithosphere and implications for volcanism in the Harrat Ash‐Shaam volcanic field (NW Arabia)

et al. 2015

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We investigate melt generation in a slowly extending lithosphere with the aim of understanding the spatial and temporal relationships between magmatism and preexisting rift systems. We present numerical models that consider feedback between melt generation and lithospheric deformation, and we incorporate three different damage mechanisms: brittle damage, creep damage, and melt damage. Melt conditions are calculated with a Helmholtz free energy minimization method, and the energy equation is solved self-consistently for latent heat and shear heating effects. Using a case of a slowly extending (1-1.5 mm/yr) continental lithosphere with a relatively low surface heat flow (~50 mW/m 2 ), we show that melt-rich shear bands are nucleated at the bottom of the lithosphere as a result of shear heating and damage mechanisms. Upon further deformation, melt zones intersect creep damage zones, thus forming channels that may be used for the melt to migrate upward. If a preexisting structure resides only in the brittle crust, it does not control the path of melt migration to the surface, and melt-filled channels propagate from the bottom upwards, independently of upper crustal structures. In contrast, a preexisting weak structure that reaches a critical depth of 20 km allows fast (~2 Ma) propagation of melt-filled channels that link melt damage from the bottom of the lithosphere to near-surface structures. Our model results may explain the short time scale, volume, and magma extraction from the asthenosphere through a low surface heat flow lithosphere, such as observed, for example, in the Harrat Ash-Shaam volcanic field (northwestern Arabia), which developed in the Arabian Plate and is spatially linked to the Azraq-Sirhan Graben.

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Tectonic isolation of the Levant basin offshore Galilee-Lebanon – effects of the Dead Sea fault plate boundary on the Levant continental margin, eastern Mediterranean

Cited by 59 publications

References 44 publications

Initiation of gravitational collapse of an evaporite basin margin: The Messinian saline giant, Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean

Initiation of gravitational collapse of an evaporite basin margin: The Messinian saline giant, Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean

Early-to-mid Pleistocene Tectonic Transition Across the Eastern Mediterranean Influences the Course of Human History

Melt instabilities in an intraplate lithosphere and implications for volcanism in the Harrat Ash‐Shaam volcanic field (NW Arabia)

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