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Slip Rate on the Dead Sea Transform Fault in Northern Araba Valley (Jordan)

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Slip Rate on the Dead Sea Transform Fault in Northern Araba Valley (Jordan) Geophys. J. Int. :2000) 142, 755±768 Slip rate on the Dead Sea transform fault in northern Araba valley Jordan) Y. Klinger,1,* J. P. Avouac,2 N. Abou Karaki,3 L. Dorbath,1,4 D. Bourles5 and J. L. Reyss6 1 EOST, UMR CNRS-ULP 7516, 5 rue Rene Descartes, F-67084 Strasbourg, France 2 Laboratoire de GeÂophysique, CEA, BP 12, F-91680 BruyeÁres le ChaÃtel, France 3 Department of Geology, Jordan University, Amman, Jordan 4 IRD, 213 rue La Fayette, F-75480 Paris cedex 10, France 5 CEREGE, EuropoÃle MeÂditerraneÂen de l'Arbois, BP 80, F-13545 Aix en Provence, France 6 CFR, CNRS-CEA, Avenue de la Terrasse, F-91198 Gif sur Yvette, France Accepted 2000 March 13. Received 2000 March 13; in original form 1999 April 6 SUMMARY The Araba valley liesbetween the southern tip of the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. This depression, blanketed with alluvial and lacustrine deposits, is cut along its entire length by the Dead Sea fault. In many placesthe fault iswell de®ned by scarps,and evidence for left-lateral strike-slip faulting is abundant. The slip rate on the fault can be constrained from dated geomorphic features displaced by the fault. A large fan at the mouth of Wadi Dahal has been displaced by about 500 m since the bulk of the fanglomerates were deposited 77±140 kyr ago, as dated from cosmogenic isotope analysis :10Be in chert) of pebblescollected on the fan surfaceand from the age of transgressive lacustrine sediments capping the fan. Holocene alluvial surfaces are also clearly offset. By correlation with similar surfaces along the Dead Sea lake margin, we propose a chronology for their emplacement. Taken together, our observations suggest an average slip rate over the Late Pleistocene of between 2 and 6 mm yrx1, with a preferred value of 4 mm yrx1. This slip rate is shown to be consistent with other constraints on the kinematics of the Arabian plate, assuming a rotation rate of about 0.396uMyrx1 around a pole at 31.1uN, 26.7uE relative to Africa. Key words: Araba valley, Dead Sea fault, slip rate. poorly constrained, however; geological observations suggest 1INTRODUCTION nearly pure strike-slip faulting and estimated rates range Although the Dead Sea transform fault is a major plate between 1 and 20 mm yrx1 :e.g. Freund et al. 1968; Garfunkel tectonic feature, forming the boundary between the African and et al. 1981; Gardosh et al. 1990; Ginat et al. 1998). From the Arabian plates, its slip rate remains poorly constrained. The historical seismicity in the area, Ben-Menahem :1981) inferred fault zone extendsover 1000 km from the Red Sea rift to the a slip rate of about 2 mm yrx1. For comparison, Nuvel1A collision zone in eastern Turkey :Fig. 1, inset). Its morphology :DeMets et al. 1994) predicts transpressive motion, with is well expressed all along its strike, with several major linear 7mmyrx1 of left-lateral slip and 6.8 mm yrx1 of compression stretches separated by extensional pull-apart basins, amongst for a point located at the Dead Sea. Le Pichon & Gaulier which the Dead Sea Basin is the largest. Geological obser- :1988) have also proposed a slip rate of about 9 mm yrx1 for vations:Quennell 1956; Garfunkel et al. 1981) aswell asplate the Wadi Araba, based on gravimetric and magnetic data in the tectonic models:e.g. McKenzie et al. 1970; Joffe & Garfunkel Red Sea. The regional plate model of Jestin et al. :1994) was 1987; DeMets et al. 1994; Jestin et al. 1994) suggest that the forced to accommodate 1 cm yrx1 of pure strike-slip faulting Dead Sea fault accommodatesthe differential motion between along the Dead Sea fault. Africa and Arabia by left-lateral slip. The modern slip rate is Numerousauthorshave describedthe fault zone along the Araba valley between the southern end of the Dead Sea * Now at: Seismological Laboratory, Mail stop #100±23, California and the Gulf of Aqaba :Garfunkel et al. 1981; Bowman & Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. E-mail: Gross1992;Bowman 1995). It cutsthe alluvial ¯oor of the rift [email protected] valley sharply along a particularly straight trace striking N20uE # 2000 RAS 755 756 Y. Klinger et al. Figure 1. Active faultsof Wadi Araba modi®ed from Garfunkel et al. :1981) on the basis of air photos together with SPOT and Landsat images. Only faults affecting Quaternary surfaces have been mapped. DEM adapted from Hall :1994). Box shows location of Fig. 2 and inset depicts regional tectonic setting. :Fig. 1). The fault's geometry at the surface is relatively simple, terrace risers :e.g. Peltzer et al. 1989; Harden & Matti 1989). with only a few subsidiary faults. This area is thus particularly Thisapproach generally suffersfrom the dif®culty of dating favourable for allowing the determination of the slip rate from such features, in particular because organic material is rare in offset geomorphic features such as displaced alluvial fans or thisarid environment. We have taken advantage of the new # 2000 RAS, GJI 142, 755±768 Slip rate on the Dead Sea transform in Jordan 757 possibilities offered by cosmogenic dating :e.g. Molnar et al. We ®rst summarize the tectonic background and the geo- 1994; Ritz et al. 1995; Brown et al. 1998) and of the relatively morphic and sedimentological setting of the Wadi Araba valley. well-constrained chronology of the geomorphic evolution near Next we focuson the Dahal alluvial fan :seebox in Fig. 2), the Dead Sea margin and itsrelation to lake level variations which is a particularly outstanding example of an offset geo- :Klein 1982; Begin et al. 1985; Frumkin et al. 1991; Yechieli morphic feature along the Wadi Araba segment of the Dead et al. 1993; Klinger 1999). Sea fault. We then discuss younger terraces that also show clear (a) (b) Figure 2. :a) SPOT panchromatic image of the northeastern Wadi Araba. See Fig. 1 for location. :b) Schematic geological and geomorphological setting of the area. The fault zone is located in between the mountain front and the Dahal alluvial fan. The location and shape of the Q2 terrace :see topographic contour lines in Fig. 4) suggest that Q2 terraces have been offset left-laterally by the fault since its deposition. Box shows location of Fig. 4. # 2000 RAS, GJI 142, 755±768 758 Y. Klinger et al. offsets :the El Ghor terraces in Fig. 2). Finally, we derive the Frumkin et al. 1991; Frumkin et al. 1994; Klinger 1999). slip rate on that particular segment of the Dead Sea fault and The area is thus particularly interesting because the timing discuss its consistency with other constraints on the kinematics of alluvial aggradation may be in part constrained from the of the Arabian plate. relationships with well-dated lacustrine sediments and shore features. 2 MORPHOTECTONIC BACKGROUND 3 AGE OF GEOMORPHIC FEATURES IN The Dead Sea fault is considered to be a major strike-slip THE STUDY AREA fault that hasaccommodated about 100 km of cumulative left- lateral slip :e.g. Quennell 1956; Garfunkel et al. 1981), probably In this section we discuss the various geomorphic surfaces in the after to the reorganization of regional tectonicsthat took place study area and their assigned ages. The chronological frame- about 15 Myr ago :Courtillot et al. 1987). Along Wadi Araba, work isbasedon new age control, and on a compilation of the fault trace is particularly sharp and straight across the various data from the literature. This material is discussed in alluvium. It is associated with very little relief except locally more detail by Klinger :1999). at small compressional or extensional jogs :Fig. 1). This geo- Due to the degree of weathering and desert varnish develop- metry suggests pure strike-slip faulting, as already inferred by ment, the oldest alluvial surfaces in the study area form dark previousinvestigators:e.g.Garfunkel et al. 1981). The fault patches that are preserved adjacent to active washes on the pattern becomesmore complex where it connectswith the two Dahal alluvial fan :Q2 in Fig. 2). This surface mainly consists large regional pull-apart basins of the Dead Sea in the north of strongly weathered pebbles of limestone and chert that range :e.g. Ten Brink et al. 1993) and the Gulf of Aqaba in the south from 20 to 40 cm in size. The desert pavement is not well :e.g. Ben-Avraham 1985). developed due to episodic cover by aeolian deposits. In order Due to Neogene extension :Freund et al. 1968), the Dead to place some bounds on the age of this surface, we sampled Sea fault zone ismarked by a conspicuousriftvalley, which is chert pebbles on the fan surface and measured their content of particularly well expressed along the Araba valley :Fig. 1). The in situ-produced cosmogenic 10Be. In situ-produced cosmogenic rift ¯anks are still high, even though considerably smoothed nuclides result from nuclear interactions between cosmic rays by erosion. The alluvium in the rift valley mainly consists of and the constituents of super®cial rocks, and their concen- fanglomerate fed from the ephemeral riversincisingthe rift tration istherefore representativeof the length of time that the ¯anks. Locally, extensive dune ®elds cap the fans :Figs 1 and 2). sample has been lying at the surface. The age of a given sample The fansare relatively ¯at and their lateral merging has may not really be representative of the age of the geomorphic formed a continuouspiedmont with little relief. The alluvial surface, however. A sample may have been exposed to cosmic surfaces in the region are generally subdivided into three groups, rays before its latest deposition. In that case its cosmogenic depending on their relative position, degree of desert pave- age overestimates the true age of the geomorphic surface.
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