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

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 2049-2066 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Schattner ◽  
Z. Ben-Avraham ◽  
M. Lazar ◽  
C. Hüebscher
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Levant Basin

Fragmentation of the Sinai Plate indicated by spatial variation in present-day slip rate along the Dead Sea Fault System

2020 ◽  
Vol 221 (3) ◽  
pp. 1913-1940
Author(s):  
Francisco Gomez ◽  
William J Cochran ◽  
Rayan Yassminh ◽  
Rani Jaafar ◽  
Robert Reilinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Slip Rate ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Slip Rates ◽  
Dead Sea Fault System ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Gps Velocities ◽  
Splay Faults

SUMMARY A comprehensive GPS velocity field along the Dead Sea Fault System (DSFS) provides new constraints on along-strike variations of near-transform crustal deformation along this plate boundary, and internal deformation of the Sinai and Arabian plates. In general, geodetically derived slip rates decrease northwards along the transform (5.0 ± 0.2 to 2.2 ± 0.5 mm yr−1) and are consistent with geological slip rates averaged over longer time periods. Localized reductions in slip rate occur where the Sinai Plate is in ∼N–S extension. Extension is confined to the Sinai side of the fault and is associated with prominent changes in transform geometry, and with NW–SE striking, left-lateral splay faults, including the Carmel Fault in Israel and the Roum Fault in Lebanon. The asymmetry of the extensional velocity gradients about the transform reflects active fragmentation of the Sinai Plate along the continental margin. Additionally, elastic block modelling of GPS velocities requires an additional structure off-shore the northern DSF segment, which may correspond with a fault located along the continental margin, suggested by prior geophysical studies.

Changes in hydroclimate during last deglaciation lake-level fall in the Dead Sea sediment record

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus J. Schwab ◽  
Daniela Müller ◽  
Ina Neugebauer ◽  
Rik Tjallingii ◽  
Yoav Ben Dor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Sediments ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Laminated Sediments ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Sediment Record ◽  
Deep Lake ◽  
The Dead

<p>The drainage basin of the Dead Sea is the largest hydrological system in the Levant and spans across the boundary between the sub-humid to semi-arid Mediterranean and the arid to hyper-arid Saharo-Arabian climate zones. As a terminal lake, precipitation changes due to climatic variations result in extensive fluctuations of lake level and sediment deposition.</p><p>A unique sediment record from the deepest part of the Dead Sea Basin was obtained as part of the ICDP Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project. Here we analyze the partially annually laminated sediments of Core 5017-1-A between 88.5-99.2 m core depth, which comprise the period between ~16.5 and ~11 ka and document a lake level drop of ca 160 m. In the sediments of Core 5017-1-A, this marks the transition from MIS2 aad (alternating aragonite and detritus) sediments to MIS1 halite deposits and ld (laminated detrital marl) sediments, coinciding with increased drying in the Dead Sea watershed.</p><p>Microfacies analyses show the occurrence of several lithological facies that accumulated during MIS2: aad, gd (massive gypsum deposit within marl), native sulfur concretions (associated with greenish colored aad), mtd (mass-transport deposits, typically graded) and homogenites consisting of clay and silt. Further, flood layers have been identified, potentially indicating rainstorms associated with specific eastern Mediterranean synoptic systems. To complement the microfacies analyses, XRF scanning provides continuous Ti/Ca and S/Ca records to reconstruct relative detrital input and gypsum occurrence, respectively. Additionally, to study potential early signs of hydroclimatic change, the deep lake sediments are correlated to the Lisan Formation of the marginal Masada outcrop using distinct gypsum marker layers, indicative of pronounced lake level drops. However, due to a significant lake level decline, the Masada outcrop sediments terminate at around 14.5 ka and the subsequent lake level lowering is solely recorded in the deep lake sediments.</p><p>This study was funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG Grant BR 2208/13-1/-2). Further, it is a contribution to the Helmholtz Association (HFG) climate initiative REKLIM Topic 8 “Abrupt climate change derived from proxy data”.</p>

Fluctuations of Lake Lisan (the Dead Sea) during the last glacial: Implications for paleoclimatic changes of the Levant.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahrazad Abu Ghazleh ◽  
Stephan Kempe
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Lake Water ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Xrd Analysis ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Fresh Water Input ◽  
The Dead

<p> </p><p>Calcareous stromatolite crusts overgrowing beach gravels and stabilising piles of rocks were observed on shoreline terraces of Lake Lisan along the eastern coast of the Dead Sea. The stromatolite crusts are thick, massive and hard, with a dark-grey or white-grey finely-laminated structure, indicating that they are mostly calcareous organic build-up of cyanobacterial origin. Samples from these stromatolites have been analyzed using Stable Isotopes (δ13C & δ18O), AAS and XRD analysis. The samples range in altitude between -350 m and -19 m, representing the time interval of Lake Lisan (~ 80-19 ka BP) according to our U/Th dating. Since stromatolites grow in shallow water, they are very sensitive to minor shifts in rainfall and evaporation and therefore an excellent tool to track small changes in hydrology, in climate and in paleoenvironmental conditions of the lake basin.</p><p> </p><p>Oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of these stromatolites show a linear covariant trend with a strong positive correlation (r = 0.8) and large ranges of 7.85 and 6.78‰, respectively. This trend is most typical of primary carbonates formed in closed lakes. Isotopes analyses show low negative values of stromatolites from the lake highest stands at -76 m to -19 m, reflecting fresh water conditions of the lake basin at the last interglacial-glacial boundary (80-76 ka BP). The lowest values were derived from stromatolites at -103 to -119 m associated with the transgression of the lake to these high stands between 55 and 33 ka BP. The heaviest values were derived from stromatolites at -137 to -160 m indicating a change to dry climatic conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean that caused a subsequent drop of the lake level during MIS 2 (31-19 ka BP).</p><p> </p><p>The Mg/Ca ratio and the XRD analysis of the stromatolites correlate also with transgression-regression phases of the lake. Dominance of calcite in stromatolites at -76 to 0 m and inferred low Mg/Ca ratios of the lake water (i.e. ~2) imply a high fresh water input of the lake during the   highest stands period. A high Mg/Ca ratio of the lake water of >7 inferred from low-level stromatolite at -350 m and the existence of aragonite as the sole mineral reflect low fresh water input and high evaporation rates that caused a lake level regression during H6, ~ 60 ka BP.</p><p> </p><p>Inferred low Mg/Ca ratios of stromatolites at -247 to -101 m and the existence of calcite as a main mineral phase indicate wet climatic conditions of the eastern Mediterranean and lake level transgression to higher than -137 during MIS 3. The appearance of more aragonite in stromatolites at -137 to -154 m and the inferred high Mg/Ca ratio of the lake water points to a return to dry climatic conditions that caused a regression of Lake Lisan between 32 to 22 ka BP (MIS 2). However, the change in the mineral composition to pure calcite at -160 m in addition to the inferred low Mg/Ca ratio correlates well with the transgression of the lake to this level by the end of the LGM.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Relationships between lake-level changes and water and salt budgets in the Dead Sea during extreme aridities in the Eastern Mediterranean

2017 ◽  
Vol 464 ◽  
pp. 211-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Kiro ◽  
Steven L. Goldstein ◽  
Javier Garcia-Veigas ◽  
Elan Levy ◽  
Yochanan Kushnir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Lake Level Changes ◽  
The Dead

Long-term (7 Ma) strain fluctuations within the Dead Sea transform system from high-resolution U-Pb dating of a calcite vein

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Craddock ◽  
Perach Nuriel ◽  
Andrew R.C. Kylander-Clark ◽  
Bradley R. Hacker ◽  
John Luczaj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Deformation Zone ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Mechanical Twinning ◽  
Fault Activity ◽  
Dead Sea Transform ◽  
Calcite Veins ◽  
The Dead

The onset of the Dead Sea transform has recently been reevaluated by U-Pb age-strain analyses of fault-related calcite taken from several fault strands along its main 500-km-long sector. The results suggest that the relative motion between Africa and Arabia north of the Red Sea was transferred northward to the Dead Sea transform as early as 20 Ma and along a ∼10-km-wide deformation zone that formed the central rift with contemporaneous bounding sinistral motion. The Gishron fault is the western bounding fault with normal and sinistral fault offsets that placed Proterozoic crystalline rocks and a cover of Cambrian sandstones in fault contact with Cretaceous-Eocene carbonates. Fault-related calcite veins are common in the Gishron fault zone, and we report the results of a detailed study of one sample with nine calcite fillings. Low fluid inclusion entrapment temperatures <50 °C, stable isotopes values of −3.3−0‰ (δ13C) and −15 to −13‰ (δ18O), and low rare earth element (REE) concentrations within the nine calcite fault fillings indicate that a local, meteoric fluid fed the Gishron fault zone over ca. 7 Ma at depths of <2 km. Laser ablation U-Pb ages within the thin section range from 20.37 Ma to 12.89 Ma and allow a detailed fault-filling chronology with the oldest calcite filling in the middle, younging outward with shearing between the oldest eight zones, all of which are finally crosscut by a perpendicular (E-W) vein. All nine calcite fillings have unique mechanical twinning strain results (n = 303 grains). Shortening strain magnitudes (−0.28% to −2.8%) and differential stresses (−339 bars to −415 bars) vary across the sample, as do the orientations of the shortening (ε1) and extension (ε3) axes with no evidence of any twinning strain overprint (low negative expected values). Overall, the tectonic compression and shortening is sub-horizontal and sub-parallel to the Gishron fault (∼N-S) and Dead Sea transform plate boundary. Most strikingly, the 7 m.y. period of vein growth correlates exactly with the timing of fault activity as evident within the 10-km-wide deformation zone in this evolving plate boundary (between 20 Ma and 13 Ma).

Miocene to sub-Recent magmatism at the intersection between the Dead Sea Transform and the Ash Shaam volcanic field: evidence from the Yarmouk River gorge and vicinity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Amit Segev ◽  
Itay J. Reznik ◽  
Uri Schattner
Keyword(s):  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Volcanic Field ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
River Morphology ◽  
Dead Sea Transform ◽  
Aerial Photos ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Yarmouk River ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Lower Cover

Abstract The Yarmouk River gorge extends along the Israel–Jordan–Syria border junction. It marks the southern bound of the Irbid–Azraq rift and Harrat Ash Shaam volcanic field at their intersection with the younger Dead Sea Transform plate boundary. During the last ∼13 Ma, the gorge has repeatedly accumulated basaltic units, chronologically named the Lower, Cover, Yarmouk and Raqqad Basalt formations. We examined their origin and distribution through aerial photos, and geological and geophysical evidence. Our results define a southern Golan magmatic province, which includes exposed Miocene (∼13 Ma) basalts, gabbro–diabase intrusions below the gorge and the adjacent Dead Sea Transform valley, and numerous Pliocene–Pleistocene volcanic sources along the gorge. Cover Basalt (∼5.0–4.3 Ma) eruptions formed two adjacent 0–100 m thick plateaus on the transform shoulder before flowing downslope to fill the topographically lower Dead Sea Transform valley with ∼700 m thick basalts. Later incision of the Yarmouk River and displacement along its associated fault divided the plateaus and formed the gorge. The younger Yarmouk (0.8–0.6 Ma) and Raqqad (0.2–0.1 Ma) basalts erupted in the upper part of the gorge from volcanos reported here, and flowed downstream toward the Dead Sea Transform valley. Consequently, eruptions from six phreatic volcanic vents altered the Yarmouk River morphology from sinuous to meandering. Our results associate the ∼13 Ma long southern Golan volcanism with the proposed SW-trending extensional Yarmouk Fault, located east of the Dead Sea Transform. Hence, the Yarmouk volcanism is associated with the ongoing Harrat Ash Shaam activity, which is not directly linked to the displacement along the Dead Sea Transform.

CryptoTEPHras in the ICDP Dead Sea deep core to synchronise past eastern MEditerranean hydroclimate (TEPH-ME)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Neugebauer ◽  
Markus J. Schwab ◽  
Simon Blockley ◽  
Christine S. Lane ◽  
Birgit Plessen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Lag Phase ◽  
Deep Basin ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Global Comparison ◽  
The Dead

<p>The hypersaline Dead Sea is a key palaeoclimate archive in the south-eastern Mediterranean region, situated at a critical position between more humid Mediterranean climate and the hyper-arid Saharo-Arabian desert belt. The ca 450 m long ICDP drill core 5017-1, recovered from the deepest part of the Dead Sea, spans the last ~220,000 years as constrained by radiocarbon, U-Th dating and floating δ<sup>18</sup>O stratigraphy methods. Nevertheless, an independent dating method is much needed because (i) radiocarbon dating is limited to the last ~40,000 years; (ii) U-Th dating of authigenic carbonates requires a complex correction procedure leading to large age uncertainties; and (iii) wiggle matching of oxygen isotope data is not independent and, hence, does not allow the identification of lead- and lag-phase relationships of changing hydroclimate in comparison to other palaeoclimate records.</p><p>Tephrochronology has been demonstrated a powerful tool for dating and synchronisation of palaeoclimate records for regional and global comparison. Due to a lack of visible tephra layers in the Dead Sea sediment record, direct links with the eastern Mediterranean tephrostratigraphical lattice are still absent. Recently, the first cryptotephra ever identified in Dead Sea sediments has been associated with the early Holocene S1-tephra from central Anatolia. This discovery encouraged a systematic search for tephra time-markers in the ICDP deep-basin core 5017-1, with the aim of improving the chronology of the deep record significantly and providing a tool for precise regional synchronisation of proxy records.</p><p>In the first phase of the TEPH-ME project focusing on the early last glacial (ca 100-110 ka) and lateglacial (ca 11-15 ka) time intervals in the ICDP core, we have identified more cryptotephra layers than expected. First glass geochemical data suggest that the majority of volcanic ash in the Dead Sea sediments originates from Anatolian volcanic provinces. Even though proximal Anatolian tephra data for comparison are still limited, the identification of cryptotephra in the long Dead Sea record provides novel opportunities to advance the tephrostratigraphical framework in this region, e.g. through synchronising the Dead Sea and Lake Van (eastern Anatolia) sediment records, but also with archaeological and palaeoenvironmental sites that are currently investigated in the Levant and in Arabia.</p>

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