Gas fire from mud volcanoes as a trigger for the appearance of high-temperature pyrometamorphic rocks of the Hatrurim Formation (Dead Sea area)

Abstract

Rock complexes of the Hatrurim Formation are largely confined to axial parts of gentle anticlinal uplifts. The rocks are partly localized in the complicating synclines on near-horizontal Campanian strata (Mishash Formation). The platform cover of this area is crosscut by a young rift valley and is divided by faults into blocks. The Hatrurim basin hosted in one of the blocks associates with the synclinal structure (8 × 5 km), the eastern limb of which is bordered by listric walls of the Dead Sea Rift valley (Fig. 3). The block is surrounded by anticlines with small gas (Zoar, Kidod, and Haqanaim) and oil (Zuk-Tamrur and Gurim) traps. The rift valley is characterized by salt diapirism (Sdom Dome). Asphaltene, bitumen, and oil occurrences are observed in coastal areas of the Dead Sea [8]. Numerous natural cataclysms related to bitumen burning and gas explosions are mentioned in biblical history. The landscapes of the Hatrurim, Ma’ale Adummim, Jabel Harmun, and Hyrcania complexes are distinguished in the surrounding cuesta topography characteristic of sedimentary sequences of the Judea Mountains and the Negev Desert. The relief of the Hatrurim basin is marked by several hundred newly formed cones largely composed of mud breccia. In some places, the breccias are characterized by vague bedding discordant with that of host sedimentary rocks. In the southern part of the basin, small individual cones and their chains are located on the eroded surface of the phosphorite and cherty Mishash Formation. In the north, large cones crown the mud breccia. The Ma’ale Adummim and Hyrcania complexes are characterized by a specific relief (truncated cones a few kilometers across at the base and an order of magnitude lower in height). The MZ complexes (particularly, Maqarin) in Jordan are feebly marked. Breccias are distributed through the entire section of the Hatrurim basin (Fig. 4). Rock fragments are composed of chalk, marl, and dolomite with subordinate cherts and phosphorites of the Mishash Formation.