Abstract
SUMMARYAlthough the Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system has been extensively studied in the past, little has been known about the present-day kinematics of its southernmost portion that is offshore in the Gulf of Aqaba. Here, we present a new GPS velocity field based on three surveys conducted between 2015 and 2019 at 30 campaign sites, complemented by 11 permanent stations operating near the gulf coast. Interseismic models of strain accumulation indicate a slip rate of $4.9^{+0.9}_{-0.6}~\mathrm{ mm}\,\mathrm{ yr}^{-1}$ and a locking depth of $6.8^{+3.5}_{-3.1}~\mathrm{ km}$ in the gulf’s northern region. Our results further indicate an apparent reduction of the locking depth from the inland portion of the DST towards its southern junction with the Red Sea rift. Our modelling results reveal a small systematic left-lateral residual motion that we postulate is caused by, at least in part, late post-seismic transient motion from the 1995 MW 7.2 Nuweiba earthquake. Estimates of the moment accumulation rate on the main faults in the gulf, other than the one that ruptured in 1995, suggest that they might be near the end of their current interseismic period, implying elevated seismic hazard in the gulf area.
Highlights
The highest seismic hazard in Saudi Arabia and Egypt belongs to the areas bordering the Gulf of Aqaba (Fig. 1)
This hazard is due to earthquakes on the offshore extension of the Dead Sea Transform (DST), a major fault system that accommodates left-lateral motion between the Arabian plate and the Sinai-Levant
This is supported by the good fit to SC the data on the Arabian side of the gulf obtained by imposing full interseismic U locking to the Arnona fault in the first model scenario (Fig. 6a) and the small but coherent southward residuals obtained in the second scenario, where creeping
Summary
The highest seismic hazard in Saudi Arabia and Egypt belongs to the areas bordering the Gulf of Aqaba (Fig. 1) This hazard is due to earthquakes on the offshore extension of the Dead Sea Transform (DST), a major fault system that ac-. This series of pull-apart basins formed by left-lateral shear along left-stepping en échelon fault segments, which results in rhomb-shaped grabens. INdamages to the monastery of St Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula (Ambraseys, 2009) This event was identified in a trench close to the village of Qatar in RIG 3 O southern Jordan (Klinger et al, 2015), and a brecciated layer associated with this earthquake was reported by Kagan et al (2011) in the Dead Sea basin. Some of them show significant normal motion, as evidenced
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