3-D density modelling of underground structures and spatial distribution of salt diapirism in the Dead Sea Basin

Abstract

A new compilation of Bouguer gravity data stemming from airborne, shipborne and terrestrial data set in the entire Dead Sea Basin (DSB) was reinterpreted by applying 3-D density modelling that incorporated independent information on other geophysical researches allowing for regional and residual filtering in the gravity field, carrying out curvature analysis and Euler deconvolution of the combined gravity field. 3-D density modelling enables us to detailed resolution of upper crustal structures from the southern to the northern subbasin below the saline Dead Sea. 3-D gravity modelling led to the identification of three salt structures, which are found beneath the Sedom area, the Lisan Peninsula and the Dead Sea. In the vicinity of the western margin of the Dead Sea, a salt diapir segment with a thickness of about 4 km has been identified at a top depth of about 2 km, which has not been recognised by any other geophysical interpretations. The thickness of the sedimentary infill overlying the basement in the DSB decreases from 14 km in the vicinity of the Lisan Peninsula to 8 km in the northern and the southern subbasins. Large negative gravity anomalies (lower than –100 × 10−5 m s−2) observed in the DSB correspond with the spatial distribution of salt diapirism with an average density of 2 100 kg m−3. The shallower microearthquakes registered in the DSB are related to the movement of salt diapir in the DSB.