Active faults' geometry in the Gulf of Aqaba, southern Dead Sea fault, illuminated by multi beam bathymetric data
Type
PreprintAuthors
Ribot, Matthieu
Klinger, Yann
Jonsson, Sigurjon

Avsar, Ulas
Pons-Branchu, Edwige
Matrau, Rémi
Mallon, Francis L
KAUST Department
Crustal Deformation and InSAR GroupEarth Science and Engineering Program
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
KAUST Grant Number
OSR-2016-CRG6-3027-01Date
2020-11-07Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/665920
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Detailed knowledge of fault geometry is important for accurate seismic hazard assessments. The Gulf of Aqaba, which corresponds to the southern termination of the 1200-km-long Dead Sea fault system, remains one of the least known parts of this plate boundary fault, in large part due to its location offshore. Classically, the Gulf of Aqaba has been described as a succession of three pull-apart basins. Here, building on a new multibeam bathymetric survey of the Gulf of Aqaba, we provide details about the geometry of the faults at the bottom of the gulf that controls its morphology. In particular, we identify a 50 km-long fault section that shows evidence of recent activation. We associate this fault section (Aragonese fault) with the section that ruptured during the 1995 magnitude Mw7.3 Nuweiba earthquake. In the southern part of the gulf, bathymetry emphasizes the strike-slip nature of the Arnona fault, while dip-slip motion seems to be accommodated mostly by faults located along the eastern edge of the gulf. Considering the simple linear geometry of the Arnona fault and the absence of any large earthquake for several centuries, despite an average slip-rate of ~5 mm/yr, this fault should be considered as a significant candidate for an earthquake rupture of magnitude 7 or above in the near future.Citation
Ribot, M., Klinger, Y., Jónsson, S., Avsar, U., Pons-Branchu, E., Matrau, R., & Mallon, F. L. (2020). Active faults’ geometry in the Gulf of Aqaba, southern Dead Sea fault, illuminated by multi beam bathymetric data. doi:10.1002/essoar.10504675.1Sponsors
This study was funded by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), under award number OSR-2016-CRG6-3027-01. We thank Brian C. Hession (CMOR, KAUST) for the help with the multibeam data acquisition and initial processing, and the crew on R/V Thuwal for their work during the May-June 2018 research cruise.Publisher
WileyAdditional Links
http://www.essoar.org/doi/10.1002/essoar.10504675.1ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/essoar.10504675.1