A network of 11 continuous GPS stations was constructed in Israel between 1996 and 2001 to monitor current crustal movements across the Dead Sea Fault (DSF). Analysis of the GPS measurements with respect to the ITRF2000 Reference Frame yields time series of daily site positions containing both secular and seasonal variations. Horizontal secular variations (station velocities) are evaluated with respect to the main tectonic element in the region, the DSF. We use six velocity vectors west of the DSF to define the ITRF2000 pole of the Sinai sub‐plate, and rotate the velocity field for all stations into the Sinai reference frame (SRF). The velocity vectors reveal that (1) relative station movements are less than 4 mm/yr; (2) the nine stations located west of the DSF show no statistically significant motion with respect to the SRF; and (3) the two stations located in the Golan Heights (KATZ and ELRO) and a station in Damascus, Syria (UDMC) show 1.7–2.8 mm/yr northward motion with respect to Sinai, indicating a left‐lateral motion along the DSF. Using locked‐fault models, we estimate the current slip rate across the DSF as 3.3 ± 0.4 mm/yr. If we exclude the northern sites (ELRO and UDMC), which are located adjacent to the compressional jog of Mount Hermon, our estimate increases to 3.7 ± 0.4 mm/yr. The calculated ITRF2000 Sinai, Eurasia, and Nubia poles and a published pole for Arabia allow us to calculate the current relative plate motion of Sinai‐Arabia and Sinai‐Nubia.

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Wdowinski, S., Bock, Y., Forrai, Y., Melzer, Y., and Baer, G. 2001. The GIL network of continuous GPS monitoring in Israel for geodetic and geophysical applications. Isr. J. Earth Sci. 50: 39-47.GIL (GPS in Israel) is a network of 12 continuous GPS stations, of which 11 stations are fully operational and one station is to be installed in 2002. The network provides a reference frame for precise GPS measurements in Israel and serves basic and applied geophysical research, including (1) monitoring plate motion and crustal deformation across the Dead Sea Fault, (2) mapping atmospheric water vapor content, and (3) monitoring ionospheric total electron content. Results from 36 months of continuous GPS measurements reveal that the current displacement rate within the State of Israel is 1-4 mm/yr, reflecting interseismic deformation across the Dead Sea Fault due to 2-4 mm/yr of relative motion between Sinai and Arabia and possibly post-seismic deformation induced by the 1995 Nuweiba earthquake.

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