The Dead Sea rift (DSR), known by a variety of other names (Levant fault, Jordan rift, or the archaeic Syrian-African rift) had played a prominent role in the development of plate tectonics theory (Quennel, 1959; Wilson, 1965). Significant gaps persist in our knowledge of basic properties of the fault. The physiographic features created by fault activity, sighted so vividly since early space missions (cover), do coincide with political boundaries that hamper research in general and international collaboration in particular. Nevertheless, the fundamental tectonic framework has been outlined: the rift can be attributed to a small divergence component across this dominantly left-lateral plate boundary, the junction of the Arabia Plate with the Sinai block (a sub-plate coupled with the Africa Plate) (Freund, 1970; Freund et al., 1968; Garfunkel, 1981). Earthquake activity along the DSR has been low since the 1927 M6.2 Dead Sea earthquake (Salamon et al., 2003). A surge of activity during the two decades ending the millennium has culminated with the M 7.2 Gulf of Aqaba earthquake in 1995. This event sparked renewed efforts to understand rift tectonics and associated seismic hazard. Some of these studies involved ground breaking international collaborations. These include Amit et al. (1996), Hofstetter et al. (1996), Ellenblum et al. (1998), Ben Avraham et al. (1999), Baer et al. (1999), Klinger et al. (2000), Al Zoubi and ten-Brink, (2001), Gomez et al. (2001), Ken-Tor et al. (2001), Niemi et al. (2001), Rojay et al., (2001), Haberland et al. (2003), Migowski et al. (2004), Wdowinski et al. (2004), Weber et al. (2004), Chorowitcz et al. (2005), Marco et al. (2005), Matmon et al. (2005), Mechie et al. (2005), Mohsen et al. (2005), LeBeon et al. (2008), Neumann et al. (2009), Porat et al. (2009), and several others.
Introduction: The Dead Sea Rift as a natural laboratory for neotectonics and paleoseismology
MICHETTI, ALESSANDRO MARIA
2009-01-01
Abstract
The Dead Sea rift (DSR), known by a variety of other names (Levant fault, Jordan rift, or the archaeic Syrian-African rift) had played a prominent role in the development of plate tectonics theory (Quennel, 1959; Wilson, 1965). Significant gaps persist in our knowledge of basic properties of the fault. The physiographic features created by fault activity, sighted so vividly since early space missions (cover), do coincide with political boundaries that hamper research in general and international collaboration in particular. Nevertheless, the fundamental tectonic framework has been outlined: the rift can be attributed to a small divergence component across this dominantly left-lateral plate boundary, the junction of the Arabia Plate with the Sinai block (a sub-plate coupled with the Africa Plate) (Freund, 1970; Freund et al., 1968; Garfunkel, 1981). Earthquake activity along the DSR has been low since the 1927 M6.2 Dead Sea earthquake (Salamon et al., 2003). A surge of activity during the two decades ending the millennium has culminated with the M 7.2 Gulf of Aqaba earthquake in 1995. This event sparked renewed efforts to understand rift tectonics and associated seismic hazard. Some of these studies involved ground breaking international collaborations. These include Amit et al. (1996), Hofstetter et al. (1996), Ellenblum et al. (1998), Ben Avraham et al. (1999), Baer et al. (1999), Klinger et al. (2000), Al Zoubi and ten-Brink, (2001), Gomez et al. (2001), Ken-Tor et al. (2001), Niemi et al. (2001), Rojay et al., (2001), Haberland et al. (2003), Migowski et al. (2004), Wdowinski et al. (2004), Weber et al. (2004), Chorowitcz et al. (2005), Marco et al. (2005), Matmon et al. (2005), Mechie et al. (2005), Mohsen et al. (2005), LeBeon et al. (2008), Neumann et al. (2009), Porat et al. (2009), and several others.
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