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Paleoseismic Records of the Dead Sea Reveals Climatic Modulation of Seismicity Along the Continental Transform Faults

Description: 

Seismite-based paleoseismic records show that earthquakes are clustered in time. The longest records – 220-kyr-long, which was recovered from the Dead Sea depocenter and outcrops around the lake, exhibit clusters that last several millennia. The clustering phenomenon has yet to be explained. It can either be a feature of the earthquake generation process, or it might be an artifact of the recording process. The 220-ka record is recognized as subaqueous deformation in lake deposits which allows us to test the hypothesis that the temporal distribution is modulated by lake level fluctuations. The levels are influenced by climate – the levels of the Dead Sea and its predecessors were high during glacial periods and low during interglacials. Low stands expose large erosion-prone surface around the lake and promote incision of gullies. The sediments in the lake are modified as well, possibly affecting their stability and susceptibility to earthquake shaking. At the same time, the lithostatic pressure is reduced, perhaps affecting the normal stresses on fault planes at the seismogenic depths. Our preliminary comparison spanning the last 220 kyrs shows a strong correlation between earthquake frequency and lake levels. Quantifying the contributions of the varying stresses and the climate-induced changes in the sedimentary system is the goal of our ongoing research.

Session: Earthquake Shaking and the Geologic Record: Triggered Phenomena and Preserved Fragile Geologic Features - I

Type: Oral

Date: 4/17/2025

Presentation Time: 02:15 PM (local time)

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Student Presenter: No

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