Active tectonics of the Amman-Hallabat and shueib structures (NW of Jordan) and their implication in the quaternary evolution of the dead sea transform fault system

Abstract

The Dead Sea Transform Fault (DSTF) constitutes the transform plate boundary between Africa and Arabia plates and it is one of the biggest strike-slip faults in the world (ca. 1000 km long). This fault formed by mid-Cenozoic breakup of a region that had been stable until that moment; and, therefore this breakup has not been complicated by a previous history. There are still some open questions regarding this strike-slip fault. The links between its two southern segments (Wadi Araba Fault and Jordan Valley Fault), the deformation along the Lebanon and Syrian in its northern part, or the differences in offset between its southern and northern parts remain poorly known. Moreover, active tectonic studies are scarce in some areas as in the Jordanian part of the Dead Sea Transform, which has been considered tectonically inactive in Pleistocene Times. The southern part of this fault is divided in two main segments, the Wadi Araba Fault (WAF) and the Jordan Valley Fault (JVF) connected through the Dead Sea continental pull-apart basin. Active tectonic studies in NW Jordan have traditionally focused on these DSTF structures and have discarded other prominent structures in the region like the Amman Hallabat (AHS) and the Shueib (SHS) faults system, as they have been considered inactive from the Cretaceous. However some recent studies have suggested a possible local reactivation of the northern parts of these structures. In this Thesis I carried out a detailed geological study in the NW Jordan in order to analyze the Quaternary activity of the AHS and SHS based on landscape anlysis trhought geomorphic indexes, field observations, structural analyses and archaeological evidences of recent earthquakes.