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Shallow aseismic deformation along the central Dead Sea pull-apart basin

Hamiel Y. (1), Piatibratova O. (1), Bilham R. (2)

(1) Geological Survey of Israel, 32 Yesha'ayahu Leibowitz, Jerusalem 9692100, Israel

(5) Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

We use creepmeter, GNSS, InSAR, airborne LiDAR and field observations to characterize transient aseismic deformation along the central Dead Sea pull-apart basin. A biaxial creepmeter was installed in early 2021 across a previously unmapped oblique-slip fault, a combination of dip-slip and strike-slip, showing first evidence for creep events along the Dead Sea Fault. The creepmeter records predominantly normal faulting, at an average dip-slip creep rate of 22.2 mm/yr, among the highest in the world. These large rates are consistent with the ~30 cm of subsidence recorded between 2017-2019 using differential LiDAR data. The data reveal seasonally variable dip-slip on the fault with a maximum rate of ~0.5 µm/hour starting in August/September and approaching zero in April. The creepmeter also records sinistral slip with an average rate of 1.3 mm/yr, about half of the total rate that was observed for the western side of the basin. Analysis of InSAR data indicate up to 13 mm/yr of line-of-sight deformation across the inferred fault. GNSS and InSAR data reveal high subsidence rate within the basin, between the western inferred fault and the Lisan salt diapir at the east and mostly along the shores of the lake. Our results indicate that deformation within the Dead Sea basin is not solely controlled by active tectonics. The observed vertical deformation is apparently modulated by the thermo-elastic response of sediments and variations in local conditions, such as sediment compaction and fluid-pressure changes.

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