Tectonic evolution of the Qumram Basin from high-resolution 3.5-kHz seismic profiles and its implication for the evolution of the northern Dead Sea Basin

Ronald K. Lubberts*, Zvi Ben-Avraham

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Dead Sea Basin is a morphotectonic depression along the Dead Sea Transform. Its structure can be described as a deep rhomb-graben (pull-apart) flanked by two block-faulted marginal zones. We have studied the recent tectonic structure of the northwestern margin of the Dead Sea Basin in the area where the northern strike-slip master fault enters the basin and approaches the western marginal zone (Western Boundary Fault). For this purpose, we have analyzed 3.5-kHz seismic reflection profiles obtained from the northwestern corner of the Dead Sea. The seismic profiles give insight into the recent tectonic deformation of the northwestern margin of the Dead Sea Basin. A series of 11 seismic profiles are presented and described. Although several deformation features can be explained in terms of gravity tectonics, it is suggested that the occurrence of strike-slip in this part of the Dead Sea Basin is most likely. Seismic sections reveal a narrow zone of intensely deformed strata. This zone gradually merges into a zone marked by a newly discovered tectonic depression, the Qumran Basin. It is speculated that both structural zones originate from strike-slip along right-bending faults that splay-off from the Jordan Fault, the strike-slip master fault that delimits the active Dead Sea rhomb-graben on the west. Fault interaction between the strike-slip master fault and the normal faults bounding the transform valley seems the most plausible explanation for the origin of the right-bending splays. We suggest that the observed southward widening of the Dead Sea Basin possibly results from the successive formation of secondary right-bending splays to the north, as the active depocenter of the Dead Sea Basin migrates northward with time.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)91-113
Number of pages23
JournalTectonophysics
Volume346
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002

Funding

FundersFunder number
Ministry of Education of Israel
Tel Aviv University
Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

    Keywords

    • Basin formation
    • Dead sea
    • Israel
    • Neotectonics
    • Pull-apart basin
    • Strike-slip

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Tectonic evolution of the Qumram Basin from high-resolution 3.5-kHz seismic profiles and its implication for the evolution of the northern Dead Sea Basin'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this