Sequence stratigraphic interpretations in the southern Dead Sea basin, Israel

Abstract

A chronostratigraphic framework has been developed to date the late Tertiary and Pleistocene fill of the southern Dead Sea basin. This framework is based on a sequence stratigraphic interpretation of seismic data tied to eustatic sea-level curves. The limited biostratigraphic data available for the Dead Sea basin stratigraphy make this chronostratigraphy tentative, but nine third-order sequence boundaries have been identified and related to climatically driven lake-level falls that appear to correlate with eustatic events. In contrast, higher-order sequence boundaries were interpreted to reflect changes in both climate and local tectonics and the consequent sediment supply. The seismic stratigraphic interpretation indicates that fan-delta sediments accumulated at the southern and northern ends of the basin, while lacustrine clastic sediments filled the rest. Interfingering of southern and northern source sediments has been recognized in the northern part of the basin. The changing position of interfingering was interpreted as a response to lake-level changes, the lake-level falls inducing increased sediment flux from the northern source, and lake-level highstands favoring the influx and progradation of sediments from the south.