Seismic study of pull-apart-induced sedimentation and deformation in the Northern Gulf of Aqaba (Elat)

Ehrhardt, A.; Hübscher, Christian; Ben‐Avraham, Zvi; Gajewski, Dirk

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2004.10.011

Cited by 44 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…1b) provide evidence for ongoing active tectonic processes (Ben-Avraham et al, 1979;Ehrhardt et al, 2005;Makovsky et al, 2008). It appears that in some parts of the Gulf of Aqaba, the sedimentation rate cannot compensate for the rapid subsidence of the sea floor (Ten Brink et al, 1993).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A very similar transition occurs in the Gulf of California at the southern edge of the San Andreas Fault. Many researchers (Joffe and Garfunkel, 1987;Ehrhardt et al, 2005) accept that the opening of the Gulf of Aqaba occurred simultaneously with the initiation of the DST 20-15 Ma ago. The DST can be traced for more than 1000 km from the Red Sea to the westernmost end of the Zagros collision zone in eastern Turkey; it cuts the continental crust along the eastern margin of the Mediterranean Sea.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most scholars associate the origin of deep linear depressions along the DST, such as the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea, with the pullapart mechanism (Mann et al, 1983;Makovsky et al, 2008;Petrunin and Sobolev, 2008;Hartman et al, 2014). In this context, lateral displacements along a non-straight fault line should lead to the origin of compression and extension zones at the vicinity of the fault, and many studies have used both numerical modeling (Petrunin and Sobolev, 2008;Petrunin et al, 2012) and geological evidence (Ehrhardt et al, 2005) to demonstrate the possibility of such a scenario. Alternatively, the origin of the present depressions along the DST can be explained by the relative transform-normal extension (Ben-Avraham and Zoback, 1992;Smit et al, 2010) due to relocation of the pole of rotation for the DST at about 5 Ma (Garfunkel, 1981).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seismic structure beneath the Gulf of Aqaba and adjacent areas based on the tomographic inversion of regional earthquake data

et al. 2016

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Abstract. We present the first 3-D model of seismic P and S velocities in the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Gulf of Aqaba and surrounding areas based on the results of passive travel time tomography. The tomographic inversion was performed based on travel time data from ∼ 9000 regional earthquakes provided by the Egyptian National Seismological Network (ENSN), and this was complemented with data from the International Seismological Centre (ISC). The resulting P and S velocity patterns were generally consistent with each other at all depths. Beneath the northern part of the Red Sea, we observed a strong high-velocity anomaly with abrupt limits that coincide with the coastal lines. This finding may indicate the oceanic nature of the crust in the Red Sea, and it does not support the concept of gradual stretching of the continental crust. According to our results, in the middle and lower crust, the seismic anomalies beneath the Gulf of Aqaba seem to delineate a sinistral shift (∼ 100 km) in the opposite flanks of the fault zone, which is consistent with other estimates of the left-lateral displacement in the southern part of the Dead Sea Transform fault. However, no displacement structures were visible in the uppermost lithospheric mantle.

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Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seismic structure beneath the Gulf of Aqaba and adjacent areas based on the tomographic inversion of regional earthquake data

et al. 2016

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“…Nemer et al (2008) recently studied the evolution of the Yammouneh sedimentary basin along the main active branch of the DSF within the Lebanese restraining bend and showed a very similar situation to that of the Hula Basin. In the south, Ehrhardt et al (2005) and Tibor et al (2010) described a similar situation in the northern Gulf of Elat. How then were the deep basins along the DSF and other shear zones formed, when the tendency of the fault zone is to become smooth and localized?…”

Section: Processes Of Basin Formationmentioning

confidence: 67%

Geophysical Studies of the Crustal Structure Along the Southern Dead Sea Fault

Ben‐Avraham

2014

Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences

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The Dead Sea Fault (DSF) is an active transform fault linking opening in the Red Sea with collision in the Taurus/Zagros Mountains. Motion is left-lateral and estimated at approximately 5-7 mm/year. The fault is seismically active. The extensional regime combined with the dominant lateral motion along the DSF resulted in the formation of a series of deep pull-apart basins. These basins are among the largest and deepest in the world. The crustal structure of the DSF and its surroundings played a significant role in the development of the physiography and the architecture of the basins. The subsurface structure of the southern DSF has been studied quite intensively by various geophysical methods over the past few decades. This review summarizes the main geophysical findings of the crustal structure under the deep basins along the southern DSF, comparing the three deep basins against each other in contexts of various geophysical properties, and discussing their tectonic implications. A simulation of faulting processes along the northern DSF and the Levant margin suggested that the formation of the DSF could be explained as a result of simultaneous propagation from the north and south. Normally most basins are bordered only on one side by a strand of the DSF, leading to their asymmetry. Where asymmetry occurs basins do not extend to great depth. In areas where the deep basins occur, two strands of the DSF overlap in an en-echelon pattern. This situation is quite rare along the DSF. It is suggested that in these places an isolated block of lithosphere has dropped into the mantle. Simulations of this mechanism indicate that the resulting basin is rhomb-shaped and that with time it grows by the addition of distinct segments to its edges.

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“…The majority of the length of the DST is marked by prominent, fault-controlled morphotectonic depressions that vary in depth and are often filled with Neogene to Quaternary sediments many kilometers thick (Garfunkel, Zak, & Freund, 1981). Aqaba is situated at the transition from the offshore basins of the Gulf of Aqaba and the northeastern extension of the basin into the Wadi 'Arabah, which drains down into the coastal zone of Aqaba (Ben-Avraham, 1985;Ehrhardt et al, 2005).…”

Section: Coastal Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal sediments adjacent to archaeological ruins in Aqaba, Jordan

Allison

Niemi

2010

Geoarchaeology

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Stratified cultural remains from the Early Roman/Nabataean to Byzantine periods in the coastal zone of Aqaba, Jordan, and analyses of thirteen sediment cores provide evidence for changes in the depositional environment during the Holocene. The overall trend in subsurface sediments is a basal marine transgressive layer overlain by a regressional sequence of embayment lagoonal sediments identified from microfossil analyses, and backshore pond, alluvium, and eolian deposits until the 1st century B.C., when mudbrick structures appear. Based on two radiocarbon dates, a brackish water coastal embayment formed prior to ca. 5900-5700 B.C. and was subsequently filled by siltation. Local tectonic subsidence along faults of the Dead Sea transform may have helped form the lagoon. Freshwater Candona sp. ostracods found in sand layers in the lagoon facies show signs of having been transported and redeposited. These data indicate that lakes or marshes were likely located inland of the study area. Supporting faunal and floral evidence for wetter climatic conditions, wetland habitats, and extensive water diversion and agricultural terraces has been excavated at late Chalcolithic (4000-3500 B.C.) sites in the Aqaba region (Khalil & Schmidt, 2009). By the 8th century B.C., the depositional environment along the coastal plain of Aqaba was dominated by distal alluvial fan and eolian sedimentation and the shoreline had prograded about 400 m seaward. The migration of human settlements since the 8th century B.C. from the center of the valley toward the southeast may be driven by the changing course of Wadi Yutim and conditions along the coastal plain.

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Seismic study of pull-apart-induced sedimentation and deformation in the Northern Gulf of Aqaba (Elat)

Cited by 44 publications

References 29 publications

Seismic structure beneath the Gulf of Aqaba and adjacent areas based on the tomographic inversion of regional earthquake data

Seismic structure beneath the Gulf of Aqaba and adjacent areas based on the tomographic inversion of regional earthquake data

Geophysical Studies of the Crustal Structure Along the Southern Dead Sea Fault

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal sediments adjacent to archaeological ruins in Aqaba, Jordan

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