The formation of graben morphology in the Dead Sea Fault, and its implications

Abstract

The Dead Sea Fault (DSF) is a 1000 km long continental transform. It forms a narrow and elongated valley with uplifted shoulders showing an east‐west asymmetry, which is not common in other continental transforms. This topography may have strongly affected the course of human history. Several papers addressed the geomorphology of the DSF, but there is still no consensus with respect to the dominant mechanism of its formation. Our thermomechanical modeling demonstrates that existence of a transform prior to the rifting predefined high strain softening on the faults in the strong upper crust and created a precursor weak zone localizing deformations in the subsequent transtensional period. Together with a slow rate of extension over the Arabian plate, they controlled a narrow asymmetric morphology of the fault. This rift pattern was enhanced by a fast deposition of evaporites from the Sedom Lagoon, which occupied the rift depression for a short time period.

Did plate tectonic changes lead to the emergence of hominid bipedalism?

“…Within the Kenya Rift, strong faulting and subsidence continued, as indicated by sediments in Lake Turkana and the Baringo-Bogoria basins (Morley et al, 1992;Tiercelin and Lezzar, 2002). To the north, increased subsidence and evaporite deposition occurred on the strike-slip Dead Sea Fault (Joffe and Garfunkel, 1987;ten Brink and Ben-Avraham, 1989;Ben-Avraham and Schubert, 2006;Ben-Avraham and Katsman, 2015;Rozenbaum et al, 2019;Segev and Schattner, 2023). By 4 Ma, rifting had progressed through the Main Ethiopian Rift, Kenya Rift, and Afar, creating high relief and lakes (Trauth et al, 2005;Sepulchre et al, 2006).…”

Ripple Tectonics—When Subduction Is Interrupted

“…At the easternmost end of the Mediterranean, the flood progressed into the shallow and elongated Dead Sea Fault valley. Desiccation of these waters yielded a significant thickness of evaporites [81], that in later stages enhances the vertical subsidence of the fault valley [82], facilitated the formation of lakes and formed hospitable environments for waves of hominin dispersal out of Africa [83].…”