TRANSVERSE FAULTS AT THE NORTHERN END OF THE SOUTHERN BASIN OF THE DEAD-SEA GRABEN

Classical models for pull-apart basins along strike-slip faults predict normal motion along the transverse faults which cross the basin. A detailed geophysical investigation was carried out across the northern end of the southern sub-basin of the Dead Sea depression. The study included analysis of newly obtained 3.5 kHz seismic profiles, and reinterpretation of existing single channel sparker seismic profiles and multichannel seismic profiles. The unique combination of very shallow and deep seismic profiles reveals the recent activity of a transverse fault in the study area and helps trace its direction. The northern end of the southern sub-basin was probably characterized by normal movement during the Miocene-Early Pleistocene. Thereafter, during the Late Pleistocene-present, the mode of its activity changed to strike-slip movement. © 1990.