early hydrothermal carbon uptake by the upper oceanic crust insight from in situ u pb dating it is widely thought that continental chemical weathering provides the key feedback that prevents large fluctuations in atmospheric co2 and hence surface temperature on geological time scales however low temperature alteration of the upper oceanic crust in off axis hydrothermal systems provides an alternative feedback mechanism testing the latter hypothesis requires understanding the timing of carbonate mineral formation within the oceanic crust here we report the first radiometric age determinations for calcite formed in the upper oceanic crust in eight locations globally via in situ u pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis carbonate formation occurs soon after crustal accretion indicating that changes in global environmental conditions will be recorded in changing alteration characteristics of the upper oceanic crust this adds support to the interpretation that large differences between the hydrothermal carbonate content of late mesozoic and late cenozoic oceanic crust record changes in global environmental conditions in turn this supports a model in which alteration of the upper oceanic crust in off axis hydrothermal systems plays an important role in controlling ocean chemistry and the long term carbon cycle

the origin of the dead sea rift abstract the dead sea rift is considered to be a plate boundary of the transform type several key questions regarding its structure and evolution are does sea floor spreading activity propagate from the red sea into the dead sea rift did rifting activity start simultaneously along the entire length of the dead sea rift or did it propagate from several centres why did the initial propagation of the red sea into the gulf of suez stop and an opening of the gulf of elat start using crustal structure data from north africa and the eastern mediterranean and approximating the deformation of the lithosphere by a deformation of a multilayer thin sheet that overlies an inviscid half space the regional stress field in this region was calculated using this approach it is possible to take into account variations of lithospheric thickness and the transition from a continental to an oceanic crust by application of a strain dependent visco elastic model of a solid with damage it is possible to describe the process of creation and evolution of narrow zones of strain rate localization corresponding to the high value of the damage parameter i e fault zones mathematical simulation of the plate motion and faulting process suggests that the dead sea rift was created as a result of a simultaneous propagation of two different transforms one propagated from the red sea through the gulf of elat to the north the other transform started at the collision zone in turkey and propagated to the south

geometric changes of plate boundaries along part of the northern dead sea transform geochronologic and paleomagnetic evidence the korazim block an elevated pressure ridge along with the faults bounding the sea of galilee and hula pull apart basins are internal structures of the dead sea transform plate boundary k ar dates and paleomagnetic data from basalt flows and sedimentary strata are utilized to determine the stratigraphy and the deformation of the region the integration of the two methods together with structural data yield high resolution age determination of the stratigraphic sequence and provides insight into the timing and style of deformation the korazim block is covered in its southern and central areas by pliocene basalt flows the cover basalt 5 1 3 6 ma and ruman basalt 2 9 2 2 ma formations and in its northern area by basalts yarda basalt 0 9 0 8 ma and sediments 3 0 2 3 and 1 6 0 9 ma of plio pleistocene age the magnetic polarity of a total of 29 lava flows and intercalated sedimentary strata is mixed the mean magnetic declination of the 29 sites shows an anomalous direction which yields 11 4 4 0 counterclockwise rotation with respect to the expected field the mean inclination of 46 0 4 1 does not significantly deviate from the expected field the anomalous declination is interpreted as the consequence of faulting and block rotation accommodating internal deformation this deformation did not begin before late pliocene to early pleistocene probably not before 0 9 ma and may still be active simultaneous right lateral slip of 50 175 m with a small reverse component of 30 90 m along nw trending faults and 11 counterclockwise rotation created internal deformation of the korazim pressure ridge this deformation is the consequence of left lateral slip along the almagor strand of the dead sea transform subparallel to the plate slip vector thus a compression component was formed which presumably led to the internal deformation of the korazim block the recent deformation of the korazim block in relation to the age of adjacent structures and to the age of the dead sea transform permits temporal resolution of geometric changes which must typify transform boundaries such as the dead sea transform internal structures within transforms may change along with the transform internal geometry and become inactive while new structural features may develop

u th dating of striated fault planes direct dating of brittle fault activity is of fundamental importance to tectonic reconstructions and paleoseismic studies one way to address this issue is by constraining the timing of fault striations but this requires a better understanding of the striation formation mechanism and associated mineralization we present results from a microstructural geochemical and geochronological study of calcite precipitates associated with striated fault planes from the dead sea fault zone in northern israel we recognize four types of coexisting calcite precipitates including calcite cement in dilation breccia calcite in striated groove morphology calcite gouge associated with hydraulic fracturing and pressure solution and calcite coating of the fault surface carbon oxygen isotopes 87sr 86sr ratios and rare earth element and yttrium rey patterns indicate various precipitation mechanisms associated with formation of syntectonic calcite cement and striations coseismic calcite gouge and interseismic calcite coating precipitates in the fault zone using u th dating of samples from three adjacent fault planes we delineate four welldefined deformation ages in the period from 220 to 60 ka we conclude that these ages constrain the timing of activity along the dead sea fault zone in northern israel and argue that a similar methodological approach could potentially shed light on the timing of deformation in other brittle fault zones

high thermal maturity in the lower saxony basin intrusion or deep burial abstract the lower saxony basin lsb is situated at the southern rim of the northern permian basin the most important hydrocarbon bearing province in europe in its southern part areas of high thermal maturation up to 6 rr occur which were previously explained as being caused by magmatic intrusions of turonian to santonian age that affected carboniferous to lower cretaceous rocks in this area 2d numerical basin modelling was carried out in order to reconstruct the temperature histories along two parallel n s trending seismic sections along these sections new data about maturity distribution and temperature history were obtained by vitrinite reflectance measurements and apatite fission track analysis for the areas with highest maturity values low coalification gradients were established which agree well with earlier published data on wells further towards the west this new information does not support previous hypotheses on high heat flows from magmatic intrusions even if lateral heat transport is taken into account instead comparisons with a recently published map of the subsurface structure of the lsb indicate that maturity distribution may be closely related to major tectonic structures deep burial of individual structures of the lsb which are bordered by deep e w to ese wnw trending faults is further suggested by a rapidly increasing thicknesses of preserved cretaceous strata towards the south and b structural restoration of one of the seismic sections to achieve a fit between measured and calculated palaeo temperature and vitrinite reflectance data deep burial of carboniferous source rocks during cretaceous time has to be assumed due to an inversion phase in the early and middle upper cretaceous major amounts of sediment were removed and further uplift occurred in tertiary times in contrast the northern part of the lsb experienced maximum burial and temperatures during tertiary times

u pb geochronology of calcite mineralized faults absolute timing of rift related fault events on the northeast atlantic margin constraining the timing of brittle faulting is critical in understanding crustal deformation and fluid flow but many regional scale fault systems lack readily available techniques to provide absolute chronological information calcite mineralization occurs in crustal faults in many geological settings and can be suitable for u pb geochronology this application has remained underutilized because traditional bulk dissolution techniques require uncommonly high u concentration because u and pb are distributed heterogeneously throughout calcite crystals high spatial resolution sampling techniques can target domains with high u and variable u pb ratios here we present a novel application of in situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms to basaltic fault rock geochronology in the faroe islands northeast atlantic margin faults that are kinematically linked to deformation associated with continental break up were targeted acquired ages for fault events range from mid eocene to mid miocene and are therefore consistently younger than the regional early eocene onset of ocean spreading highlighting protracted brittle deformation within the newly developed continental margin calcite geochronology from la icp ms u pb analysis represents an important and novel method to constrain the absolute timing of fault and fluid flow events

mesozoic and cenozoic deformation inferred from seismic stratigraphy in the southwestern intracontinental palmyride fold thrust belt syria this paper was published in the geological society of america bulletin the geological society of america retains the copyright to this paper geological society of america p o box 9140 boulder co 80301 9140 usa see also http www geosociety org http atlas geo cornell edu syria chaimov gsa bull 1992 html

strain partitioning of active transpression within the lebanese restraining bend of the dead sea fault lebanon and sw syria this material has been published in the journal of the geological society of london the only definitive repository of the content that has been certified and accepted after peer review copyright and all rights therein are retained by the geological society of london copyright 2001 the geological society of london see also http atlas geo cornell edu deadsea publications gomez2007 gsl htm

the morphology structural evolution and significance of push moraines abstract push moraines glaciotectonic ice marginal moraines have a restricted distribution at modern glacier margins and consequently are of potential value in reconstructing pleistocene ice sheets providing data both on former glaciodynamics and on the palaeoenvironment of the glacial foreland to the wider earth science community push moraines are of interest as analogues for thin skin tectonics within orogenic belts this paper reviews the morphology structural geology formation and significance of push moraines the morphological and structural characteristics of small seasonal push moraines through to large multi crested examples produced by sustained glacier advances are reported before the primary controls on push moraine formation are examined these controls include the nature of the applied glacial stress field the presence and properties of decollement horizons and the shear strength and rheology of the glacial foreland a conceptual model of push moraine formation is introduced in which the range of observed morphological and structural forms are viewed within a matrix defined by the main variables which control their formation the absence of consensus over which of these variables is of greatest importance currently limits the significance of push moraines in palaeoglaciological research as a consequence this review emphasises the need for future research in order to realise the true potential of push moraine in the reconstruction of pleistocene environments

activity along the osning thrust in central europe during the lateglacial ice sheet and lithosphere interactions abstract the osning thrust is one of the major fault systems in central europe with a length of approximately 115 km it underwent a polyphase tectonic evolution in the mesozoic that ranged from extensional movements in the jurassic to reverse faulting and thrusting during inversion in the late cretaceous a series of complex metre scale faults and related fold structures are developed within the upper pleistocene alluvial aeolian complex of the upper senne 1 km away from the thrust the faults dip towards the north and show offsets in a range of several decimetres growth strata indicate a two fold evolution of the structures the faults began as normal faults and were later transformed into reverse faults which resulted in the formation of small scale inversion structures with a typical harpoon shape glaciotectonics can be ruled out as the driving mechanism for these structures because new optically stimulated luminescence osl ages imply that the sedimentary succession was deposited during the late pleistocene between 29 3 2 9 ka and 13 1 1 5 ka at which time the ice margin was much further to the northeast we believe the inversion structures were caused by movement on the osning thrust due to generation of a forebulge of the late pleistocene weichselian ice sheet this led to normal faulting as a consequence of extension in the forebulge area during glaciation the osl ages for the normal fault related growth strata are in a range of 16 13 ka later reverse movements occurred during deglaciation due to the n s directed compressional stress field in northern germany numerical simulations of the deglaciation seismicity point to seismic events with a thrust mechanism in the study area between 15 5 and 12 3 ka bp although normal faulting is also possible in this time period numerous soft sediment deformation structures imply that movement on the osning thrust caused earthquakes with a significant magnitude in the autumn of 1612 an earthquake took place in this area it is very likely that this event is related to background seismicity on this fault although movement due to the influence of the ongoing glacial rebound in fennoscandia is also possible

progressive proglacial to subglacial deformation and syntectonic sedimentation at the margins of the mid pleistocene british ice sheet evidence from north norfolk uk abstract detailed analysis and interpretation of the stratigraphy and structures developed within polydeformed sediments exposed in the coastal section between west runton and sheringham eastern england has allowed the characterisation of the glacitectonic signature associated with the advance of a major mid pleistocene anglian ice sheet the sequence of pre glacial deposits and glacial sediments laid down during earlier southerly directed ice advances d1 d2 is deformed and disrupted by an ice advance from the west southwest that marks a major change in ice flow dynamics in northern east anglia the simplest interpretation of this deformation event d3 is in terms of a progressive proglacial to subglacial deformation model proglacial deformation occurred in advance of the ice margin and was dominated by thrusting positive topographic features which developed above the propagating thrusts controlled sediment dispersal patterns within outwash sandur leading to the formation of small sub basins between these morainic ridges the accretion of the wedge shaped proglacial thrust moraines to the main push moraine formed at the margin of the advancing glacier may have temporarily stalled forward motion of the ice thrusting and large scale folding associated with ice marginal deformation led to the stacking of material excavated from further up ice onto the stoss side of these accreted thrust related moraines that allowed the glacier to override the obstruction subglacial deformation was highly variable in its style and intensity ranging from heterogeneous folding and thrusting through to more pervasive ductile shearing associated with the formation of a subglacial shear zone the thickness and complexity of this shear zone increases up ice where it is characterised by a thick glacitectonic melange the pore water content of the deforming sediments controlled the pattern of deformation within the shear zone however an increase in the efficiency of the drainage system towards the front of the glacier would have led to a rapid thinning of this water enhanced zone of ductile shear evidence from north norfolk suggests that zones of preferential pore water flow within the glacier bed are a major controlling factor on the location of the subglacial shear zone consequently the bulk of the forward motion of the glacier may not be accommodated by shearing within the sediments immediately below its base but occur at a deeper level within the deforming bed

stress field fluctuations along the dead sea rift since the middle miocene the dead sea transform dst is the suture between the african and the arabian plates both of which subduct northward under the eurasian plate the collision of these plates with eurasia and their relative motion are the source for their internal deformation especially in the vicinity of the dead sea transform geological observations indicate that two distinct paleostrain regimes operated adjacent to the dead sea rift and in the sinai israel subplate 1 wnw shortening less than 10 and nne extension beginning in the turonian is associated with the development of the syrian arc fold belt and attributed to the syrian arc stress field sas and 2 middle miocene to recent nnw shortening and ene extension associated with the 105 km sinistral displacement along the dead sea transform and the opening of the red sea is attributed to the dead sea stress field dss it was originally suggested that the sas terminated during the middle miocene with initiation of the dss however trend and age analysis of many structures shows that formation of sas compatible structures continued after the middle miocene up to the recent in some middle miocene and younger rocks structures such as faults dikes volcanic lineaments and tectonic stylolites compatible with both stress fields were reported in a few locations structures compatible with both stress fields crosscut each other it is suggested that the movements which resulted in the development of the syrian arc and other sas compatible structures are continuing to the recent and that dss movements are superimposed upon them the overlapping of sas and dss structures adjacent to the dst results from spatial and temporal fluctuations in the overall stress state we propose that such variations could be caused by the superposition of large earthquake stress drops associated with movements along the dst on a steady background plate scale stress regime associated with the sas thus dss compatible structures should form in preseismic activity periods when dst related elastic strain is high on the other hand the sas compatible structures should form during interseismic activity times subsequent to large local stress release along the dst

structure and quantification of processes controlling the evolution of the inverted ne german basin abstract a ne sw reflection seismic transect crossing the entire ne german basin negb was investigated in detail to study the interaction between tectonics and sedimentation during the multiphase evolution of the region by restoring a geological section across the post rotliegend the kinematic evolution was reconstructed and rates of important geological processes such as erosion or basin shortening were quantified the present day structural style of the negb is the result of several major deformation events 1 regional subsidence accompanied by local thin skinned e w extension during the permo triassic jurassic was followed by basin inversions at the 2 jurassic cretaceous and at the 3 cretaceous tertiary boundary zechstein salt played an important role since mobile zechstein evaporites decoupled the supra salt from the sub salt succession and allowed the transmission of deformation over a large distance of major significance to the late cretaceous structural development was the crustal scale upthrusting of the calfoerde block along the gardelegen fault at the southern basin margin the accompanying horizontal shortening has a minimum value of 9 km and led to the development of thrusts and folds within the post zechstein succession

structure and tectonic development of the ghab basin and the dead sea fault system syria we examine the structure and evolution of the ghab basin that formed on the active yet poorly understood northern segment of the dead sea transform fault system the basin formed in plio quaternary time at a complex step over zone on the fault subsidence occurred along cross basin and transform parallel faults in two asymmetric depocentres the larger depocentre in the south of the basin is asymmetric towards the east the margin along which most active transform displacement apparently occurs the syrian coastal ranges located directly west of the ghab basin are a consequence of late cretaceous and cenozoic regional compression heavily modified by the dead sea fault system and ghab basin formation we prefer a model whereby the dead sea fault system in northwest syria developed in plio quaternary time consistent with previously proposed models of two phase dead sea fault system movement and red sea spreading

the onset of the dead sea transform based on calcite age strain analyses the onset and evolution of the dead sea transform are re evaluated based on new in situ u pb dating and strain analyses of mechanically twinned calcites direct dating of 30 syn faulting calcites from 10 different inactive fault strands of the transform indicates that the oceanic to continental plate boundary initiated between 20 8 and 18 5 ma within an 10 km wide distributed deformation zone in southern israel ages from the northern dead sea transform 17 1 12 7 ma suggest northward propagation and the establishment of a well developed 500 km long plate bounding fault in 3 m y the dominant horizontal shortening direction recorded in the dated twinned calcites marks the onset of left lateral motion along the evolving plate boundary the observed changes in the strain field within individual fault strands cannot be simply explained by local weakening effects along strands of the dead sea transform or by gradual changes in the euler pole through time

cenozoic evolution of neotethys and implications for the causes of plate motions africa north america eurasia plate circuit rotations combined with red sea rotations and new estimates of crustal shortening in iran define the cenozoic history of the neotethyan ocean between arabia and eurasia the new constraints indicate that arabia eurasia convergence has been fairly constant at 2 to 3 cm yr since 56 ma with slowing of africa eurasia motion to 1 cm yr near 25 ma coeval with the opening of the red sea ocean closure occurred no later than 10 ma and could have occurred prior to this time only if a large amount of continental lithosphere was subducted suggesting that slowing of africa significantly predated the arabia eurasia collision these kinematics imply that africa s disconnection with the negative buoyancy of the downgoing slab of lithosphere beneath southern eurasia slowed its motion the slow steady rate of northward subduction since 56 ma contrasts with strongly variable rates of magma production in the urumieh dokhtar arc implying magma production rate in continental arcs is not linked to subduction rate

temporal and spatial relations between large scale fault systems evidence from the sinai negev shear zone and the dead sea fault abstract in the major zones of crustal deformation within the arabia sinai nubia plates the interactions between the sinai negev shear zone snsz and the dead sea fault system dsf shed light on the interplay between neighboring large scale fault systems the snsz is composed of several e w to ene wsw trending mainly normal and dextral strike slip faults that are tens to hundreds of kilometers long these faults form a 120 km wide shear zone in the sinai sub plate on reaching the plate bounding dead sea fault system dsf individual lineaments of the snsz are observed in the arabian plate offset left laterally by 105 km which is the total estimated offset of the dsf in this contribution we review the geologic setting of the snsz and its complex relations with the dsf in light of newly obtained age strain analyses for this we use in situ u pb geochronology in conjunction with twin analysis of syn faulting calcite from both systems the results indicate that the deformation along the snsz initiated in the campanian maastrichtian or earlier as the oldest dates are 73 71 ma the main phase of fault activity began in the late oligocene early miocene 27 22 ma as documented by numerous dates that were obtained along several lineaments of the snsz the activity continued until 10 ma after which no direct ages have been obtained the dominant phase of activity along the snsz at 27 22 ma preceded the timing of initiation of lateral faulting along the dsf at 20 18 ma by a few myr for the overlapping period of activity between 20 and 10 ma episodes of fault activity along the snsz followed by episodes of fault activity along the dsf moreover dominant episodes of activity along one fault system were associated with a decrease in activity along the other system the temporal relations between the snsz and dsf highlight the possibility that these fault systems are mechanically interrelated but the exact mechanism for this fault interaction needs further study we consider the paleo strain or paleo stress that control the evolution and style of the snsz and assess them at the central sinai negev region during the cenozoic we show that the formation of new plate boundaries at the region i e the red sea suez rift and the dsf affected the strain field within the snsz the proximity of the two systems indicates that the dsf related stress originated within the snsz and possibly caused structural and style changes in the latter system syn faulting calcite twins analyses within the snsz show pronounced spatial and temporal variations of the principal strain directions between and along individual faults this observation demonstrates that the imposed stress within the central sinai negev were not uniform over time the high angle 70o between the traces of the snsz and the direction of the dsf related maximum shortening likely suppressed the dextral motion along the snsz post 20 ma field evidence u pb dates and recent seismicity shows that the current snsz is a long lived structure that has been active during the miocene alongside the dominantly dsf and may still be sporadically active today

internal structure of the dead sea leaky transform rift in relation to plate kinematics abstract the structures along the dead sea transform rift are related to the motions of the sinai and arabia plates which border it and to the irregularities of their boundaries the total slip was 105 km left lateral but the present structures were formed mainly during the last 40 km of slip which probably occurred in the plio pleistocene along the southern half of the transform the strike slip motion takes place on en echelon faults this produces rhomb shaped grabens or pull aparts which are sometimes composite and in which there is local crustal separation thus much of the transform is leaky these structures occur in a morpho tectonic rift valley delimited by normal faults which express a small component of transverse extension along a few segments the shape of the transform is such that lateral motion produces local transverse compression the geometric relations of the structures along the transform define an eulerian pole of relative plate motions at 32 8 n 22 6 e 0 5 the older motion was somewhat different and is described by a pole located about 5 west of the above then the component of transverse extension and crustal separation was much smaller than now while local transverse compression was more important the northern half of the dead sea transform has an irregular shape and the bordering plates did not remain rigid as lateral motion continued here transverse compression is often important

intraplate deformation by block rotation and mesostructures along the dead sea transform northern israel combined analysis of mega and meso structures yield the strain inferred stress and tectonic history of the margin of the sinai sub plate in northern israel along the dead sea transform three major stress regimes were developed and have affected the region since the middle miocene one is regional and controlled the left lateral shear along the dead sea transform this one has been active since post early miocene is characterized by 1 trending c 345 and deformed the plate margin by horizontal shear and contemporaneous block rotation this style of deformation is similar to simple shear the second one was local and may be subdivided into distinct stress and strain domains it was characterized by 1 trending e w and 3 trending n s which produced a conjugate set of strike slip faults the region underwent n s elongation by horizontal shear and block rotation similar to the pure shear mechanism this stress regime was active in late miocene to early pliocene time the third and youngest stress regime is extentional with 1 vertical and 3 oriented n s this one has been active since post middle pliocene time producing e w normal faults and minor n s elongation the second and third stress regimes show local distribution and developed as a consequence of the bent geometry of the transform vis a vis the plate slip vector finite element and photoelastic models predict the development of local stress fields and elongation of the plate margin parallel and subparallel to the transform plate boundary the strain of the plate margin in northern israel and southern lebanon indicate remarkable elongation parallel to the dead sea transform by a factor of 1 5 2 1 since the miocene this process of intraplate deformation and the consequent strain is unique to the parts of the plate margin which are adjacent to the bent segment of the transform

fission track evidence on the initial rifting of the red sea two pulses no propagation fission track analyses indicate that the red sea initially opened simultaneously along its entire length two distinct pulses of uplift and erosion characterized the early stages of rifting in the red sea throughout egypt and in southwestern saudi arabia the first pulse began at 34 million years ago ma the second pulse began in the early miocene 21 to 25 ma and marked the start of the main phase of extension these data support a rigid plate model for continental extension these results also indicate that the initiation of rift flank uplift and therefore rifting and volcanism occurred nearly simultaneously this conflicts with classical models of active and passive extension that predict sequential development of these features

a calcite reference material for la icp ms u pb geochronology u pb dating of calcite is an emerging but rapidly growing field of application in geochronology with great potential to inform problems in landscape basin and mountain belt evolution through age determination of diagenetic cements vein mineralisation and geological formations difficult to date otherwise in this brief we present isotope dilution u pb isotope measurements on a sample of calcite wc 1 that has been and will continue to be used as a reference material for in situ u pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms dating and which is suitable to be distributed to the geochronological community we present in situ measurements using la icp ms to demonstrate the suitability of wc 1 for use as a u pb dating reference material in spite of it not being isotopically homogeneous the wc 1 calcite sample is 254 4 6 4 ma old and comprised of 85 to 98 radiogenic lead it presents a suitable reference material that can facilitate dating of calcite ranging in age from precambrian to late neogene age

late cenozoic uplift along the northern dead sea transform in lebanon and syria an edited version of this paper was published in earth and planetary science letters by elsevier science elsevier science retains the copyright to this paper copyright 2006 elsevier science see also http dx doi org 10 1016 j epsl 2005 10 029 http atlas geo cornell edu deadsea publications gomez2006 epsl htm

on the origin of the southern permian basin central europe abstract a detailed study of the structural and stratigraphic evolution of the southern permian basin during latest carboniferous to early jurassic times supported by quantitative subsidence analyses and forward basin modelling for 25 wells leads us to modify the conventional model for the rotliegend zechstein development of this basin the late permian early jurassic tectonic subsidence curves are typical for a permian to early triassic extensional stage that is followed by thermal subsidence however a purely extensional model is extremely problematic because active faulting during this time is minor and generally hard to document using inverse techniques to model the subsidence curves we quantitatively show that a significant component of late permian and triassic tectonic subsidence can be explained by thermal relaxation of early permian lithospheric thinning and by delayed infilling of paleo topographic depressions that developed during the early permian in this interpretation stephanian autunian wrenching resulted in thermal destabilisation of the lithosphere deep fracturing of the crust disruption and erosion of its sedimentary cover and regional uplift of the area of the future southern permian basin upon termination of wrench tectonics and associated volcanism towards the end of the autunian the southern permian basin began to subside in response to thermal contraction of the lithosphere the evolving basin was isolated from the world oceans and had subsided possibly up to some 700 m below their level at the beginning of upper rotliegend sedimentation after catastrophic flooding of this paleo topographic depression at the beginning of the zechstein changing sea level sedimentation and subsidence rates remained essentially in balance although the effects of triassic rifting overprinted parts of the southern permian basin its overall subsidence pattern persisted well into the jurassic in contrast to the remainder of the southern permian basin permian and triassic crustal extension contributed significantly to the subsidence of the polish trough

thermo mechanical model of the dead sea transform abstract we employ finite element thermo mechanical modelling to study the dynamics of a continental transform boundary between the arabian and african plates marked by the dead sea transform dst that accommodated ca 105 km of relative transform displacement during the last 20 myr we show that in the initially cold lithosphere expected at the dst shear deformation localizes in a 20 40 km wide zone where temperature controlled mantle strength is minimal the resulting mechanically weak decoupling zone extends sub vertically through the entire lithosphere one or two major faults at the top of this zone take up most of the transform displacement these and other modelling results are consistent with geological observations and lithospheric structures imaged along the desert seismic line suggesting that the arava valley segment of the dst is an almost pure strike slip plate boundary with less than 3 km of transform perpendicular extension modelling suggests that the location of the arava valley segment of the dst has been controlled by the minimum in lithospheric strength possibly associated with margin of the arabian shield lithosphere and or by regionally increased crustal thickness models also show that heating of the arabian shield mantle adjacent to the dst inferred independently by petrological and seismological studies is required to explain asymmetric late cenozoic uplift in the area

40ar 39ar geochronology of the charnockites and granulites of the kan nack complex kon tum massif vietnam abstract the truong son belt forms the eastern rim of the indochina block in southeast asia the age of the metamorphism mainly along nw se mylonitic shear zones that affects this belt has been formerly determined at about 240 250 ma this age corresponds to the indosinian tectonometamorphic episode the kon tum massif situated to the south of this belt comprises high temperature rocks the kan nack complex including charnockites and granulites the main charnockitic outcrops restricted to the song ba valley establish the intrusive nature of these magmatic rocks within granulite facies material basic charnockitic rocks are mainly quartz enderbites to norites and hornblende pyroxene granulite facies rocks the 40 ar 39 ar age of intrusion cooling of charnockitic magmas is determined from primary magmatic biotites at about 245 ma in the east of the kan nack complex some granulite facies rocks exhibit relicts of primary granulite facies parageneses whereas others show evidence of overprinting by a retrogressive low grade metamorphism ar ar dating confirm this evolution giving ages of 400 ma for primary relict granulite facies phases and 260 270 ma from the most retrogressed samples establishing the youngest limit for the granulite facies metamorphism granulites intruded by charnockites in the song ba valley yield ages of about 250 ma equivalent to the ages of the charnockites and have evidently been completely reset by these high temperature intrusions therefore the kan nack complex of the kon tum massif is not an independent unit with respect to the indosinian orogen but represents the deep crustal part of this belt

different modes of the late cretaceous early tertiary inversion in the north german and polish basins several selected seismic lines are used to show and compare the modes of late cretaceous early tertiary inversion within the north german and polish basins these seismic data illustrate an important difference in the allocation of major zones of basement thick skinned deformation and maximum uplift within both basins the most important inversion related uplift of the polish basin was localised in its axial part the mid polish trough whereas the basement in the axial part of the north german basin remained virtually flat the latter was uplifted along the sw and to a smaller degree the ne margins of the north german basin presently defined by the elbe fault system and the grimmen high respectively the different location of the basement inversion and uplift within the north german and polish basins is interpreted to reflect the position of major zones of crustal weakness represented by the wnw ese trending elbe fault system and by the nw se striking teisseyre tornquist zone the latter underlying the mid polish trough therefore the inversion of the polish and north german basins demonstrates the significance of an inherited basement structure regardless of its relationship to the position of the basin axis the inversion of the mid polish trough was connected with the reactivation of normal basement fault zones responsible for its permo mesozoic subsidence these faults zones inverted as reverse faults facilitated the uplift of the mid polish trough in the order of 1 3 km in contrast inversion of the north german basin rarely re used structures active during its subsidence basement inversion and uplift in the range of 3 4 km was focused at the elbe fault system which has remained quiescent in the triassic and jurassic but reproduced the direction of an earlier variscan structural grain in contrast n s oriented mesozoic grabens and troughs in the central part of the north german basin avoided significant inversion as they were oriented parallel to the direction of the inferred late cretaceous early tertiary compression the comparison of the north german and polish basins shows that inversion structures can follow an earlier subsidence pattern only under a favourable orientation of the stress field a thick zechstein salt layer in the central parts of the north german basin and the mid polish trough caused mechanical decoupling between the sub salt basement and the supra salt sedimentary cover resultant thin skinned inversion was manifested by the formation of various structures developed entirely in the supra salt mesozoic cenozoic succession the zechstein salt provided a mechanical buffer accommodating compressional stress and responding to the inversion through salt mobilisation and redistribution only in parts of the ngb and mpt characterised by either thin or missing zechstein evaporites thick skinned inversion directly controlled inversion related deformations of the sedimentary cover inversion of the permo mesozoic fill within the mid polish trough was achieved by a regional elevation above uplifted basement blocks conversely in the north german basin horizontal stress must have been transferred into the salt cover across the basin from its sw margin towards the basins centre this must be the case since compressional deformations are concentrated mostly above the salt and no significant inversion related basement faults are seismically detected apart from the basin margins this strain decoupling in the interior of the north german basin was enhanced by the presence of the elbe fault system which allowed strain localization in the basin floor due to its orientation perpendicular to the inferred late cretaceous early tertiary far field compression

sea level change glacial rebound and mantle viscosity fornorthern europe northwestern europe remains a key region for testing models of glacial isostasy because of the good geological record of crustal response to the glacial unloading since the time of the last glacial maximum models for this rebound and associated sea level change require a detailed knowledge of the ice sheet geometry including the ice thickness through time existing ice sheet reconstructions are strongly model dependent and inversions of sea level data for the mantle response may be a function of the model assumptions thus inverse solutions for the sea level data are sought that include both ice and earth model parameters as unknowns sea level data from fennoscandia the north sea the british isles and the atlantic and english channel coasts have been evaluated and incorporated into the solutions the starting ice sheet for fennoscandia is based on a reconstruction of a model by denton hughes 1981 that is characterized by quasi parabolic cross sections and symmetry about the load centre both global northwestern europe as a whole and regional subsets of the data solutions have been made for earth model parameters and ice height scaling parameters the key results are as follows 1 the response of the upper mantle to the changing ice and water loads is spatially relatively homogenous across scandinavia the north sea and the british isles 2 this response can be adequately modelled by an effective elastic lithosphere of thickness 65 85 km and by an effective upper mantle viscosity from the base of the lithosphere to the 670 km depth seismic discontinuity of about 3 4 1020 pa s the effective lower mantle viscosity is at least an order of magnitude greater 3 the ice thickness over scandinavia at the time of maximum glaciation was only about 2000 m much less than the 3400 m assumed in the denton hughes model 4 the ice profiles are asymmetric about the centre of the ice sheet with those over the western part being consistent with quasi parabolic functions whereas the ice heights over the eastern and southern regions increase much more slowly with distance inwards from the ice margin

lithospheric strength variations as a control on new plate boundaries examples from the northern red sea region abstract the complex plate boundary between arabia and africa at the northern end of the red sea includes the gulf of suez rift and the gulf of aqaba dead sea transform geologic evidence indicates that during the earliest phase of rifting the red sea propagated nnw towards the mediterranean sea creating the gulf of suez subsequently the majority of the relative movement between the plates shifted eastward to the dead sea transform we propose that an increase in the strength of the lithosphere across the mediterranean continental margin acted as a barrier to the propagation of the rift a new plate boundary the dead sea transform formed along a zone of minimum strength we present an analysis of lithospheric strength variations across the mediterranean continental margin the main factors controlling these variations are the geotherm crustal thickness and composition and sediment thickness the analysis predicts a characteristic strength profile at continental margins which consists of a marked increase in strength seaward of the hinge zone and a strength minimum landward of the hinge zone this strength profile also favors the creation of thin continental slivers such as the levant west of the dead sea transform and the continental promontory containing socotra island at the mouth of the gulf of aden calculations of strength variations based on changes of crustal thickness geotherm and sediment thickness can be extended to other geologic settings as well they can explain the location of rerifting events at intracratonic basins of backarc basins and of major continental strike slip zones

coseismic displacements along the serghaya fault an active branch of the dead sea fault system in syria and lebanon examination of the serghaya fault a branch of the dead sea fault system in western syria and eastern lebanon documents late quaternary and recent left lateral fault movements including the probable remnant of a historic coseismic surface rupture carbon 14 dating and the presence of fault scarp free faces in soft late pleistocene lake deposits suggest coseismic slip during the past two or three centuries possibly corresponding with one of the well documented earthquakes of 1705 or 1759 with an estimated holocene slip rate of 1 2 mm a 1 the serghaya fault accommodates a significant part of the active deformation along the arabian african plate boundary these results suggest that multiple active fault branches are involved in the transfer of strain through the lebanese restraining bend

the evolution of barahta rhomb shaped graben mount hermon dead sea transform abstract mount hermon forms part of a ne trending anticlinal structure formed during compression resulting from sinistral movement along the dead sea rift transform at the northern end of the hula valley the dead sea transform branches into five faults one of which the rachaya fault crosses the hermon on its western side with about 1000 m of left lateral displacement the rachaya fault comprises two left stepping segments the southern si on fault and the northern shab a fault as a result of this stepping a rhomb shaped graben was formed two of the bordering faults of the barahta valley are dip slip faults the northern and the western whereas the other two are strike slip faults kinematic calculations reveal that horizontal displacement of about 800 m was transferred from the si on fault to the shab a fault mainly along the eastern diagonal faults the formation of the barahta rhomb shaped graben resulted from a local stress field formed due to the fault configuration and the motion of the arabian block and not due to the regional stress field the structure of the barahta graben can be largely explained by the rotational model rather than by the classic pull apart model it is concluded that stepover of strike slip faults is essential for development of rhomb grabens but the mode of formation is different in each case and depends on the fault configuration and direction of block motion

late cretaceous intraplate thrusting in central europe effect of africa iberia europe convergence not alpine collision a well established event of intraplate basin inversion and basement thrusting affected central europe in late cretaceous time it is widely accepted to have resulted from the collision of the alpine orogen with europe s margin at that time an early alpine orogen located on the leading edge of the adria microplate still lay far southeast of its present day position and had entered a phase of extension after a first orogenic event characterized by w to nw directed thrusting this configuration is not likely to have induced ssw nne directed thrusting and folding in the future european foreland that was still separated from the alpine wedge by a strip of oceanic lithosphere by contrast the onset of intraplate contraction coincides with an important change in relative motion between the european and african plates at ca 90 ma africa s sse directed sinistral transform motion relative to europe changed to ne directed convergence this agrees well with the timing and kinematics of intraplate thrusting in central europe structures of similar age and kinematics occurring in southern france spain and north africa suggest that the late cretaceous pulse of contraction was caused by pinching west central europe s thin lithosphere between baltica and africa only since the onset of n directed thrusting in the alps in paleocene or eocene time are the kinematics of the alps and their european foreland compatible indicating that mechanical coupling between africa europe and the adria microplate had been achieved

indosinian nw trending shear zones within the truong son belt vietnam 40ar39ar triassic ages and cretaceous to cenozoic overprints abstract several nw trending ductile and partly mylonitic shear zones cross the truong son belt of central vietnam along the song ma and song ca valleys and north of the kontum block from da nang to aluoi and khe sanh high grade metamorphic rocks of amphibolite facies showing a retrograde evolution and consisting of ortho and paragneisses metavolcanics amphibolites marbles and quartzites are exposed along these structures they display a homogeneous deformation pattern characterized by a generally steeply dipping foliation and a near horizontal to gently plunging mineral stretching lineation indicating a strike slip tectonic regime of deformation along the southernmost fault zone at least various and consistent kinematic indicators including s c structures asymmetric tails of porphyroclasts prove that the strain and metamorphism have been generated by a phase of dominantly non coaxial deformation with a dextral sense of shear 40ar 39ar dating applied on the high grade metamorphic rocks minerals occurring along these zones provide plateau cooling ages closely around 245 ma establishing that this event took place in the lowermost triassic as an early phase of the indosinian orogeny the existence of indosinian movements in vietnam as they have been defined by previous authors during the early century is now accurately confirmed and this is the first insight in the occurrence of ductile strike slip tectonics of indosinian age along nw se fault zones well expressed in central vietnam is a cretaceous thermal and deformational overprint marked by epimetamorphism which took place between 90 and 120 ma as attested by low temperature degassing ages this cretaceous event is not found further north in the song ma zone where younger ages appear as a result of the influence of cenozoic shear movements along the red river fault which displays 20 30 ma ages on the northern flank of song ca in the bu khang phu hoat core complex comparable oligocene lower miocene ages 20 35 ma yielded by biotite and phlogopite reflect a strong overprinting and attest to a rapid uplift of the basement

u pb dating of high temperature metamorphic episodes in the kon tum massif vietnam abstract in vietnam recent studies demonstrated that the kon tum massif was part of the indosinian mountain system together with the truong son belt one sector of the kon tum massif song ba valley is a granulite facies terrain for which ar ar and u pb ages cluster around 245 250 ma in the area of song bien river also metamorphosed under granulite facies conditions ar ar ages of 410 ma are displayed by biotite in this study u pb dating of monazite and zircon has been used to understand the reason for these two groups of ages taking into account the metamorphic mineral assemblages related to granulite facies metamorphism in the two districts for granulites of song ba valley ages of 245 250 ma are confirmed from monazites in the song bien district ages of 465 470 ma displayed by monazites are interpreted to correspond to the metamorphic climax zircons from one of these samples record the age of anatexis that has affected the granulitic rocks the younger age recorded in the song ba valley is considered to reflect high temperature related to charnockitic intrusions emplaced near the end of the indosinian orogeny overprinting the earlier formed granulites and resetting the u pb and ar ar ages for the first time two ht events are dated in the kon tum massif one occurring during the ordovician and the other during the permo triassic

continental transforms a view from the alpine fault abstract continental transform faults are dominantly highly localized strike slip shear zones hundreds of kilometers long that accumulate tens to hundreds of kilometers of displacement from work on the alpine fault we pose the questions what is the deep structure of a continental transform and how does the displacement become localized we review research on the alpine fault and propose a model in which the fault partitions at depth into a steep zone extending into the mantle with largely fault parallel motion and a flat ductile decollement in the lower crust the fault localizes around two thirds of the plate motion within a 100 km wide zone of distributed deformation a review of other active continental fault systems suggests that variation between them may reflect their tectonic origins the nature of the crust in which they develop the presence of a significant oblique component of motion and the displacement rate all however have evidence for the development of a single principal fault zone that carries 50 of the total displacement and extends as a localized zone of shear into the upper mantle we review mechanisms of strain weakening and suggest that localization of a principal fault may be initiated in the seismogenic crust and through a series of positive feedbacks eventually extend through the lower crust into the upper mantle

some outstanding issues in the geology of lebanon and their importance in the tectonic evolution of the levantine region abstract the concept of pervasive and disruptive late neogene quaternary strike slip tectonics in lebanon has made establishing a satisfactory pre neogene palaeogeographic and palaeotectonic history for the area difficult research has allowed clarification of three fundamental issues that permit the setting of lebanon against its adjacent regions to be more firmly assigned the first issue is the identification of the significance of the 100 km long nne ssw trending monocline of the western lebanon flexure this feature is interpreted as a modified and rejuvenated early mesozoic hinge line that is presumed to be the northern continuation of the carmel sinai hinge line to the south the second issue is the correlation of the mount lebanon bekaa and anti lebanon complex with the adjacent intracontinental palmyride fold belt of syria through recognition in each of common divisions in structural style between a higher northern zone dominated by broadly spaced box folds and a lower southern zone with more numerous closely spaced and more internally complex folds the third issue involves the identification of major two stage late cretaceous to palaeogene syrian arc tectonism within lebanon resolution of these issues suggests a tectonic model for the region whereby the levantine region formed in two main phases the first of these was the multiphase late palaeozoic early mesozoic rifting of the area which imposed a fundamental extensional fabric over much of the region the second tectonic phase was the subsequent inversion of these extensional structures in the two stage syrian arc deformation of senonian and late palaeogene age which gave rise to the main lebanon structures it is this syrian arc tectonism rather than the late cenozoic strike slip that was probably the main structuring agent which affected the lebanon area the transpression from the braided dead sea fault motion although locally complex is an essentially neotectonic overprint on an already existing fabric offset of syrian arc structures in lebanon suggests that the total sinistral motion of the yammouneh fault segment of the dead sea fault is around 47 km

three dimensional numerical modeling of slip rate variations on normal and thrust fault arrays during ice cap growth and melting 1 changes in the volumes of ice caps considerably alter the stress state of the lithosphere by generating a transient signal that is added to the tectonic background stress field these stress field changes in turn affect crustal deformation and in particular the slip behavior of existing faults here we use three dimensional finite element models to investigate how arrays of normal and thrust faults near a growing and subsequently melting ice cap are influenced in their slip evolution the results show that regardless of fault dip both types of faults experience a decrease in their slip rate during ice cap advance and an increase in their slip rate during ice cap retreat if they are located beneath the ice cap in contrast faults outside the ice cap that are loaded on their footwall or hanging wall only show the opposite pattern their slip rate increases during glacial loading and decreases during subsequent unloading if the load is located along strike of the fault that is at one of its tips the slip behavior of normal and thrust faults is different the normal fault shows a slip rate increase during unloading the thrust fault during loading our results explain the location and timing of deglaciation induced paleoearthquakes in scandinavia and the contrasting slip histories reported from normal faults in the basin and range province which are located at different positions relative to the former yellowstone ice cap more generally our findings imply that a uniform slip behavior of faults in formerly glaciated regions should not be expected

intense earthquakes and seismotectonics as a function of glacial isostasy abstract old shields and plate interiors have often been assumed to exhibit a high crustal stability during the last decade or two we have learnt more and more about the fragility not to say untenability of this concept however high magnitude earthquakes and large scale fault movements have been recorded where they were not supposed to be able to occur within formerly glaciated areas like northern europe scotland and northern north america a rapidly increasing number of field observations indicates that the glacial isostatic readjustment process was linked to intense seismotectonic activity we will here investigate the fennoscandian situation and propose a novel causation model for the high deglaciation seismicity in comparison with the present day situation

the early triassic indosinian orogeny in vietnam truong son belt and kontum massif implications for the geodynamic evolution of indochina new structural field data at various scale and 40ar 39ar geochronological results from the basement rocks in the truong son belt and kontum massif of vietnam confirm that ductile deformation and high temperature metamorphism were caused by the early triassic event of the indosinian orogeny in the range of 250 240 ma a compilation of isotopic data obtained in other countries along the sibumasu indochina boundary broadly indicates same interval of ages this tectonothermal event is interpreted as the result of a synchronous oblique collision of indochina with both sibumasu and south china inducing dextral and sinistral shearing along e w to nw se and n s fault zones respectively the collision along song ma follows the northwards subduction of indochina beneath south china and the subsequent development of the song da zone which in turn was affected by the late triassic indosinian phase of shortening within the indochina plate internal collisions occurred coevally in the early triassic as along the poko suture at the western border of the kontum massif

tectonic analysis of the dead sea rift region since the late cretaceous based on mesostructures we have measured the orientations of small faults slickensides tectonic stylolites vein with secondary mineralization small folds and dikes in israel and sinai these structures are indicators of paleo stress or strain and provide the pattern of tectonic deformation data were collected at 130 stations most with tens of separate measurements most stations showed consistent deformation stations were located on exposures ranging from precambrian crystalline rocks to pleistocene sediments we have defined two tectonic stress fields each relatively uniform in both time and space one stress field with dominating maximum horizontal compression trending w to wnw in the late cretaceous to eocene rocks in the folds and plateaus west of the dead sea rift the second field with dominating horizontal extension trending e to ene in all rocks inside the rift and proximal thereto the first stress field is called the syrian arc stress and the second is called the dead sea stress a change in style of tectonic deformation which corresponds to the two stress fields is manifested also in the major structures in israel the late cretaceous to neogene deformation is characterized by long wavelength folds and monoclines whereas the neogene to recent deformation is characterized by normal and strike slip faults and volcanic activity

three dimensional finite element modeling of the glacial isostatic adjustment in fennoscandia abstract during the last ice age cycles large ice sheets have covered north america northern eurasia greenland and antarctica the earth s crust and mantle has been depressed by the weight of these ice sheets by several hundreds of meters at the end of the last ice age cycle the ice sheets have vanished around 6000 yr ago and the earth s surface rebounded however due to the time dependent viscoelastic relaxation of the earth s mantle the rebound also termed glacial isostatic adjustment gia is still observable today in fennoscandia a key region of gia numerous observations such as paleo strandlines present day crustal deformations monitored by gps observations and present day changes in the gravity field seen by satellite missions provide a detailed picture of the past and ongoing deformation we model the gia process in fennoscandia by means of the finite element technique we employ a three dimensional viscosity structure in the earth s mantle derived from seismic shear wave tomography models and we use thermodynamic considerations to convert the shear wave perturbations into viscosity variations we then compare the results based on the three dimensional earth s structure with a simpler earth model where viscosity depends on the vertical direction only our results indicate significant differences between three and one dimensional modeling the vertical crustal velocities reveal differences up to 7 mm yr and horizontal crustal velocities are effected even stronger the typical divergent motions of the latter observed for one dimensional earth models are no longer present for three dimensional viscosity models instead a regional velocity field with movements away from the norwegian coast towards the old baltic shield is observed in a sensitivity analysis we show that the dramatic change in the horizontal flow pattern has its origin deeper in the upper mantle between 450 and 670 km depth we also confirm that the observed gia process in fennoscandia is not very sensitive to the viscosity structure in the lower mantle however a comparison with bifrost data reveals a best fit with the simple one dimensional model which requires a revision of our three dimensional models in a future analysis

structural and depositional evidence for repeated ice marginal oscillation along the eastern margin of the late devensian irish sea ice stream abstract late devensian glacigenic sediments and landforms along the north west coast of wales document the advance and subsequent retreat of the eastern margin of an irish sea ice stream that met coalesced and ultimately uncoupled from ice radiating outwards from the adjacent welsh ice cap centred over snowdonia across the boundary between the two former ice masses is a set of sediment landform assemblages that reflect rapidly changing erosional and depositional conditions during ice interaction from the inner part of the ice stream the assemblages range outwards from a subglacial depositional assemblage characterised by drumlin swarms through a subglacial erosional assemblage marked by prominent bedrock scours and large subglacial rock channels through an ice marginal assemblage identified by closely spaced glaciotectonised push moraines and intervening marginal sandur troughs into a freely expanding proglacial sandur and lacustrine delta assemblage the ice marginal assemblage provides evidence for numerous oscillatory episodes during retreat and at least 20 ice marginal limits can be identified at least 11 of these display multiple criteria for identifying readvance and in the ideal case is characterised by a moraine form built by localised tectonic stacking of diamict to the rear fronted by a clastic wedge of ice front alluvial fan gravel and intercalated flow till the distribution of sediment landform assemblages suggests a highly dynamic convergent ice stream flow pattern with high ice velocity a sharply delineated lateral shear margin pervasive ice marginal glaciotectonic deformation and a tightly focused ice marginal sediment delivery system all signature characteristics of contemporary ice streams

pliocene pleistocene climate of the northern margin of saharan arabian desert recorded in speleothems from the negev desert israel abstract the middle late pliocene climate was 2 3 c warmer than today but with similar levels of atmospheric co2 this period reflects climate conditions expected in the near future and is therefore an important target for current data modeling studies this study reconstructs the pliocene quaternary evolution of arid conditions on the northern margin of the saharan arabian desert using radiometrically u pb dated periods of speleothem deposition from three caves of the negev desert israel speleothem growth started between 3 75 and 3 ma at the end of the first significant tectonic uplift of the western shoulder of the dead sea rift major speleothem deposition indicating wet conditions occurred during the pliocene around 3 1 ma with subsequent aridity during the last 3 myr punctuated by short wet episodes the pleistocene negev humid periods nhp the oldest dated nhp occurred between 1 7 and 1 25 ma and other short humid episodes continued intermittently later speleothem 18o values 6 9 to 11 2 show that the humid episodes were associated with periods of low global ice volume and warm temperatures after correction for rainfall 18o changes associated with ice volume and temperature effects the observed relative constancy of speleothem 18o values from pliocene to late pleistocene indicates rainfall was from a common source most probably the eastern mediterranean sea the humid pliocene conditions could be generated by more southerly position of the mediterranean coast allowing the access of mediterranean precipitation to the negev as well as by warmer atlantic sea surface temperatures that weakened the azores high pressure cell maximum amounts of precipitation were 500 600 mm a during the pliocene and 300 mm a during pleistocene nhp the pliocene and the earliest pleistocene nhp are associated with formation of lakes in the negev low 87sr 86sr ratios of 0 7078 in the pliocene speleothems are indicative of low dust supply low water residence time in the vadose zone and relatively high weathering rates of the cave host rock increase of 87sr 86sr ratios to 0 7082 0 7083 in the pleistocene suggest an increased supply of desert dust high water residence time in the vadose zone and reduced host rock weathering

permanent quaternary hyperaridity in the negev israel resulting from regional tectonics blocking mediterranean frontal systems although various episodes of wet quaternary climates have been suggested in studies of the negev desert here we demonstrate that reg soils developed on flat alluvial surfaces and sensitive to minor changes in precipitation indicate that the southern negev has been permanently hyperarid at least since the middle pleistocene the wetter episodes were restricted to the northern negev currently mildly arid gypsic saline reg soils that de veloped on stable surfaces during 200 k y in the southern negev are cumulative and polygenetic but none exhibits even the weakest development of calcic horizons under current climate conditions in the negev calcic soils are widespread in areas with rainfall 80 mm yr 21 the fact that the hyperarid 50 mm yr 21 southern negev lacks any calcic horizons indicates that it never experienced an average rainfall of 80 mm yr 21 during the middle late pleistocene whereas the northern negev was wetter this negev dichotomy is explained by the main physical features controlling rainfall over the negev i e the southward decreasing depth of the atmospheric boundary layer with distance from the mediterranean and the altitude of the central negev highland 1000 m the interaction between these two features often prevents the passage of rain clouds into the southern negev the holocene and pleistocene gypsic salic soil distribution across the negev closely matches the current circumstances we suggest that hyperaridity has prevailed over the southern negev since the last stages of the uplift of the central negev highland in the late pliocene early pleistocene

holocene relative sea level change isostatic subsidence and the radial viscosity structure of the mantle of northwest europe belgium the netherlands germany southern north sea abstract a comprehensive observational database of holocene relative sea level rsl index points from northwest europe belgium the netherlands northwest germany southern north sea has been compiled in order to compare and reassess the data collected from the different countries regions and by different workers on a common time depth scale rsl rise varies in magnitude and form between these regions revealing a complex pattern of differential crustal movement which cannot be solely attributed to tectonic activity it clearly contains a non linear glacio and or hydro isostatic subsidence component which is only small on the belgian coastal plain but increases significantly to a value of ca 7 5 m relative to belgium since 8 cal ka bp along the northwest german coast the subsidence is at least in part related to the post glacial collapse of the so called peripheral forebulge which developed around the fennoscandian centre of ice loading during the last glacial maximum the rsl data have been compared to geodynamic earth models in order to infer the radial viscosity structure of the earth s mantle underneath nw europe lithosphere thickness upper and lower mantle viscosity and conversely to predict rsl in regions where we have only few observational data e g in the southern north sea a very broad range of earth parameters fit the belgian rsl data suggesting that glacial isostatic adjustment gia only had a minor effect on belgian crustal dynamics during and after the last ice age in contrast a narrow range of earth parameters define the southern north sea region reflecting the greater influence of gia on these deeper older samples modelled rsl data suggest that the zone of maximum forebulge subsidence runs in a relatively narrow wnw ese trending band connecting the german federal state of lower saxony with the dogger bank area in the southern north sea identification of the effects of local scale factors such as past changes in tidal range or tectonic activity on the spatial and temporal variations of sea level index points based on model data comparisons is possible but is still complicated by the relatively large range of earth model parameters fitting each rsl curve emphasising the need for more high quality observational data

comment on discovery of the fossiliferous cu brei formation lower devonian in the kon tum block south viet nam tong dzuy thanh than duc duyen nguyen huu hung bui phu my abstract the publication of tong dzuy thanh et al calls for two remarks the metamorphism in the kon tum block cannot be younger than permian because the outcrop they describe is not metamorphic their very interesting discovery is a new piece of evidence for the exotic origin of the dien binh series

long term slip rate of the southern san andreas fault from 10be 26al surface exposure dating of an offset alluvial fan we determine the long term slip rate of the southern san andreas fault in the southeastern indio hills using 10 be and 26 al isotopes to date an offset alluvial fan surface field mapping complemented with topographic data air photos and satellite images allows precise determination of piercing points across the fault zone that are used to measure an offset of 565 80 m a total of 26 quartz rich cobbles from three different fan surfaces were collected and dated the tight cluster of nuclide concentrations from 19 samples out of 20 from the offset fan surface implies a simple exposure history negligible prior exposure and erosion and yields an age of 35 5 2 5 ka the long term slip rate of the san andreas fault south of biskra palms is thus 15 9 3 4 mm yr this rate is about 10 mm yr slower than geological 0 14 ka and short term geodetic estimates for this part of the san andreas fault implying changes in slip rate or in faulting behavior this result puts new constraints on the slip rate of the san jacinto and on the eastern california shear zone for the last 35 kyr our study shows that more sites along the major faults of southern california need to be targeted to better constrain the slip rates over different timescales

deformation styles as a key for interpreting glacial depositional environments lithostratigraphical and lithofacies approaches used to interpret glacial sediments often ignore deformation structures that can provide the key to environment of formation we propose a classification of deformation styles based on the geometry of structures rather than inferred environment of formation five styles are recognised pure shear p simple shear s compressional c vertical v and undeformed u these dictate the first letter of the codes the remaining letters conveying the evidence this information can be used to reconstruct palaeostress fields and to infer physical properties of sediments when they deformed individual structures are not diagnostic of particular environments but the suite of structures their relative scale stratigraphical relationships and orientation relative to palaeoslopes and to palaeoice flow directions can be used to infer the environment in which they formed this scheme is applied at five sites in west wales the typical succession is interpreted as subglacial sediments overlain by meltout tills flow tills and sediment flows paraglacial redistribution of glacial sediments is widespread large scale compressional deformation is restricted to sites where glaciers readvanced large scale vertical deformation occurs where water was locally ponded near the ice margin there is no evidence for glaciomarine conditions copyright 2003 john wiley sons ltd

u pb dating of cements in mesozoic ammonites dating sedimentary carbonates using the u pb method can help improve the phanerozoic timescale using a novel combination of laser ablation multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la mc icp ms and thermal ionization multi collector mass spectrometry tims u pb numerical ages were obtained on early diagenetic calcite cements in jurassic ammonites in which concentrations of u range from 0 47 to 5 3 ppm the calcite cements of two ammonites is1 and is2 from the uppermost bifrons zone of the toarcian 179 180ma of the uk gave tims normalized la u pb dates of 164 9 5 3 ma and 166 7 4 8ma respectively normalizing la icp mc ms data to an in house calcite standard gave a more precise date of 165 5 3 3 ma for is1 cement an unzoned ammonite ss2 of bajocian age 168 170 ma yield a tims normalized la u pb age of 158 8 4 3 ma for its early diagenetic cement both the combined la mc icp ms and tims approach and the use of a calcite laser ablation standard can result in accurate ages of cements with uncertainties of 2 3 2 the later however is more efficient and precise these u pb dates of cements are 10 to 20 myr younger than the numerical ages of the biostratigraphic intervals from which the ammonites derive the u pb dates are taken to represent the time at which the aragonite shell of the ammonite inverted to calcite and released its u to precipitate in a late diagenetic alteration of early diagenetic fringing cements concentrations of u and pb in a range of other pristine biogenic carbonateswere found too low u b 0 01 ppm for meaningful dating using laser ablation method

postglacial faulting in eastern canada nature origin and seismic hazard implications abstract at more than 70 locations in southeastern canada and the adjacent united states tiny bedrock faults displace glacial striations that are about 10 000 years old these reverse faults mostly of small displacement occur in a broad arc from western ontario to newfoundland the faults lie near the margin of the laurentian ice sheet strike generally tangential to it and imply compression nearly normal to the ene directed contemporary regional stress these observations and some age relationships suggest that the faults formed very soon after deglaciation perhaps in the first few thousand years after ice melting in each place and probably represent the release of stresses caused by flexural deformation of the upper crust although the individual offsets are small the faults are believed to be pervasive and individual outcrops reflect amounts of stress relief consistent with stresses implied by the postglacial tilt of nearby lake shorelines

discovery of the fossiliferous cu brei formation lower devonian in the kon tum block south viet nam abstract lower devonian corals and stromatoporoids have recently been discovered in limestones among low grade metamorphic rocks on the western margin of the kon tum block south viet nam this unit has been identified as the cu brei formation coral and stromatoporoid species have been described including squameofavosites aff spongiosus parallelostroma cf multicolumnum amphipora cf rasilis a cf raritalis simplexodictyon cf artyschtense stromatopora cf boriarchinovi and stromatopora sp indet the cu brei formation is exposed in a small area 6 km in length and 3 km wide at the foot of cu brei mountain sa thay district kon tum province as this formation is in marine shelf facies it is probable that further exposures of lower devonian sediments may be discovered in the kon tum block this discovery raises the question of the tectonic history of the metamorphic kon tum block it is possible that the block was not an area of positive uplift from the beginning of paleozoic as has been supposed but was submerged in a marine environment at least on its outer margins in the devonian and possibly even earlier in early paleozoic

young faults in the hula pull apart basin central dead sea transform abstract the geometry and nature of structural features inside the hula pull apart basin at the central dead sea transform are presented here two systems of n s left lateral strike slip faults are located on the east and west sides of the hula basin both fault systems are composed of several segments arranged in a right stepping en echelon pattern the northern end of each segment is bent northeastward and usually merges with the next segment elevated regions and small hills appear on the northern side of each bend the strike slip faults are oblique with both vertical and horizontal components the vertical component may be normal or reverse although the hula valley is subjected to general extension the studied structures indicate local compression inside the basin normal faults striking e w comprise the northern border of the hula basin age determination of displaced travertines and basalts along the faults indicates sub recent tectonic activity and suggests migration of normal faulting towards the inner part of the basin the youngest fault displaces travertine dated at 25 300 years

suppression of earthquakes by large continental ice sheets the interior regions of antarctica and greenland are aseismic no earthquake larger than body wave magnitude 4 5 5 0 is known for either except along coastal zones or continental shelves here i advance an explanation for this lack of seismic activity in terms of pressure effects produced by the continental ice sheets that mantle both continents

a braided strike slip model for the northern continuation of the dead sea fault and its implications for levantine tectonics abstract the assumption that the 100 110 km sinistral displacement on the dead sea fault is transmitted northwards along a single structure the yammouneh fault which runs ne sw across lebanon is here reviewed a number of valid objections to this concept exist a more attractive model supported by the limited data available from the area is that the motion is transmitted along a number of faults on this basis the temporary rightward flexure of the levant fracture through lebanon has given rise to a braided strike slip fault complex the yammouneh serrhaya fault system this model overcomes the objections against the older concept and allows the explanation of the mt lebanon bekaa valley anti lebanon complex in terms of transpressive and transtensive blocks a tentative outline of the cenozoic structural evolution of the area in terms of two or more phases of motion along the levant fracture is presented

faulting processes along the northern dead sea transform and the levant margin the northern dead sea transform is markedly different from the southern segments of the transform the strike of the transform changes in this area that forms a restraining bend and the displacement on it is much less than that on the southern and central dead sea transform the structure and evolution of the northern dead sea transform was simulated using a rheological model of a visco elastic material that takes into consideration the crustal structure variations in this area and the proximity to the collisional belts along the cyprean arc and the taurus mountains the simulation can explain the formation of the restraining bend known in this area as the yammuneh fault and the faulting along the northern levant continental margin providing that a simultaneous propagation of the dead sea transform from the north and south took place this suggests that restraining bends in general which are common features along continental transform faults are formed when two segments of a transform propagate toward each other

ten million years of activity within the eastern california shear zone from u pb dating of fault zone opal abstract reconstructions of long term fault activity are essential for understanding both the mechanisms controlling fault behavior and accurate earthquake hazard assessments increasing evidence for temporal variations in strain accumulation suggests non uniform strain rates over a range of historic to geologic timescales the paucity of long term records of fault activity has limited our ability to resolve these variations we present a method for constraining long term fault activity based on u pb dating of fault related opal from secondary fault segments within the eastern california shear zone ecsz the presence of sheared and breccia cemented opaline silica within well exposed faults at near surface conditions suggest that opal formation is associated with high magnitude earthquakes capable of surface rupture 6 m temporal constraints from massive and sheared syntectonic opal n 74 on related secondary faults from this study provide new insights on the timing of fault initiation reactivation and longevity the oldest dates obtained indicate that ecsz activity commenced at or before 10 ma multiple deformation events dated within a single structure on episodically deposited and sheared opal up to six generations demonstrate that fault reactivation occurred over 105 yr timescales 0 7 0 1 myr relative probabilities of dated deformation events can be used to evaluate changes in fault activity in the past 2 5 ma n 60 this analysis indicates enhanced fault activity starting at 2 ma and peaking around 1 ma possibly due to fault interactions and distribution of deformation between the ecsz and the san andreas fault

long range and long term fault interactions in southern california paleoseismological data suggest the occurrence of four bursts of seismic moment release in the los angeles region during the past 12 000 yr the historic period appears to be part of an ongoing lull that has persisted for about the past 1000 yr these periods of rapid seismic displacement in the los angeles region have occurred during the lulls between similar bursts of activity observed on the eastern california shear zone in the mojave desert which is now seismically active a kinematic model in which the faults of the greater san andreas system suppress activity on faults in the eastern california shear zone and vice versa can explain the apparent switching of activity between the two fault networks combined with the observation that short term geodetic and longer term geologic rates co vary on major southern california fault systems this suggests that either 1 a temporal cluster of seismic displacements on upper crustal faults increases ductile deformation on their downward extensions or 2 rapid ductile slip in the lower crust beneath faults loads the upper crust driving a seismic cluster we suggest that alternating periods of rapid seismic displacement may be the expected mode of seismicity when two fault systems accommodate the same plate boundary motion and slip on one system suppresses slip on the other

intraplate tectonics feedback between radioactive thermal weakening and crustal deformation driven by mantle lithosphere instabilities abstract two dimensional viscous plastic numerical experiments show that weak radioactive crust may be susceptible to significant tectonic activity by the effect of rayleigh taylor type instability of the sub crustal lithosphere below a continental interior in particular crust having a localized or regional enrichment of radioactive elements can respond to an underlying mantle lithosphere downwelling by initial subsidence then thickening and uplift owing to the positive feedback among thickening heating and weakening such models may later undergo orogenic deflation as spontaneous crustal extension thinning and surface subsidence occur while mantle downwelling continues strong homogeneous crust subsides dynamically above mantle downwellings and undergoes essentially no internal deformation a uniform distribution of radioactive elements through the crust or a concentration at depth is much more effective in causing thermal weakening of the crust and subsequent intraplate deformation than with radioactive material concentrated nearer the surface for wide regions of high heat production in the crust the length scale of the intracrustal tectonic zone is controlled by the width of the mantle downwelling in contrast with narrow heat production regions which control their own length scale in general the numerical experiments demonstrate that the presence of radioactive elements may make the crust vulnerable to intraplate tectonic deformation and represent a primary control on the way the strength of the crust evolves during sub crustal forcing the results may explain first order features of intraplate tectonics including the subsidence mechanism for intracontinental basins orogenic crustal contraction thickening and surface uplift and subsequent extension and crustal deflation the processes have particular implications for regions of high radioactive heat production and juvenile crust which would more likely have a higher concentration of radioactive elements in the lower crust

constraints on the post 25 ka slip rate of the yammouneh fault lebanon using in situ cosmogenic 36cl dating of offset limestone clast fans the most active seismogenic structure along the eastern shore of the mediterranean is the n s trending left lateral levant fault system lfs the plate boundary between arabia and africa in lebanon it forms a 160 km long restraining bend responsible for the uplift of mount lebanon the resulting transpression is partitioned between the offshore tripoli roum thrust and the yammouneh strike slip fault there are few quantitative constraints on the quaternary slip rate along the lfs here we present a direct estimate of the 25 ka mean slip rate on the yammouneh fault mapped offsets of alluvial fans at two sites 50 km apart on the eastern flank of mount lebanon range between 24 2 and 80 8 m about 30 limestone cobbles sampled on these fans yield in situ cosmogenic 36cl exposure ages mostly between 6 and 27 ka a statistical assessment of offsets versus ages provides bounds on the late pleistocene holocene slip rate on the fault 3 8 6 4 mm yr these results are consistent with long term geological inferences confirming that the yammouneh fault is the main strike slip branch of the lfs in lebanon they illustrate both the potential and the difficulties of using in situ cosmogenic 36cl dating of limestone clast fan deposits for deciphering tectonic and geomorphic processes in the mediterranean

inversion related features along the southeastern margin of the north german basin elbe fault system abstract a seismostratigraphic approach constrained by well data is used for the interpretation of the deformation style along the central elbe fault system efs within the sedimentary succession structural analysis allows to qualify to quantify and to date tectonic events the stratigraphic interpretation is complicated by the mobilized upper permian zechstein salt and by erosional events a first order quantification of the inversion related uplift is estimated from vertical fault offsets that reach up to 4 km the main uplift occurred during the maastrichtian paleocene amounts of erosion inferred from comparing the strata thickness on top of the flechtingen high with the surrounding basinal areas range from 3 to 4 km the data indicate a changing deformation style thick skinned deformation with southwest dipping thrusts that vertically offset the pre permian basement is observed along the flechtingen high in the central part of the efs thin skinned deformation occurs in the north german basin where salt detaches the post permian cover from the barely faulted basement it is concluded that during the late cretaceous early tertiary inversion the efs responded to regional compression with uplift and formation of an internal high the flechtingen high a stress sensitive crustal weak zone beneath the efs could be the reason for the repeated strain localization in the area

temporal variation in the geometry of a strike slip fault zone examples from the dead sea transform abstract the location of the active fault strands along the dead sea transform fault zone dst changed through time in the western margins of dead sea basin the early activity began a few kilometers west of the preset shores and moved toward the center of the basin in four stages similar centerward migration of faulting is apparent in the hula valley north of the sea of galilee as well as in the negev and the sinai peninsula in the arava valley seismic surveys reveal a series of buried inactive basins whereas the current active strand is on their eastern margins in the central arava the centerward migration of activity was followed by outward migration with pleistocene faulting along nne trending faults nearly 50 km west of the center largely the faulting along the dst which began in the early middle miocene over a wide zone of up to 50 km became localized by the end of the miocene the subsidence of fault controlled basins which were active in the early stage stopped at the end of the miocene later during the plio pleistocene new faults were formed in the negev west of the main transform they indicate that another cycle has begun with the widening of the fault zone it is suggested that the localization of faulting goes on as long as there is no change in the stress field the stresses change because the geometry of the plates must change as they move and consequently the localization stage ends the fault zone is rearranged becomes wide and a new localization stage begins as slip accumulates it is hypothesized that alternating periods of widening and narrowing correlate to changes of the plate boundaries manifest in different euler poles

deformation and seismicity associated with continental rift zones propagating toward continental margins 1 we study the propagation of a continental rift and its interaction with a continental margin utilizing a 3 d lithospheric model with a seismogenic crust governed by a damage rheology a long standing problem in rift mechanics known as thetectonic force paradox is that the magnitude of the tectonic forces required for rifting are not large enough in the absence of basaltic magmatism our modeling results demonstrate that under moderate rift driving tectonic forces the rift propagation is feasible even in the absence of magmatism this is due to gradual weakening and long term memory of fractured rocks that lead to a significantly lower yielding stress than that of the surrounding intact rocks we show that the style rate and the associated seismicity pattern of the rift zone formation in the continental lithosphere depend not only on the applied tectonic forces but also on the rate of healing accounting for the memory effect provides a feasible solution for thetectonic force paradox our modeling results also demonstrate how the lithosphere structure affects the geometry of the propagating rift system toward a continental margin thinning of the crystalline crust leads to a decrease in the propagation rate and possibly to rift termination across the margin in such a case a new fault system is created perpendicular to the direction of the rift propagation these results reveal that the local lithosphere structure is one of the key factors controlling the geometry of the evolving rift system and seismicity pattern

constrains on the origin and history of the eastern mediterranean basin abstract the basin formed along the northern passive margin of gondwanaland as a relict of the mesozoic neotethys in early mesozoic time though direct information from the basin itself is meagre the geology of its passive margins and the regional framework of the tethys evolution constrain the formation and history of the basin the eastern mediterranean and its passive margins are interpreted to have formed as a result of several faulting and continental breakup phases from early permian to middle jurassic times before pangaea s complete disintegration this led to the detachment of the eratosthenes and tauride blocks from the margins of the levant and herodotus basins respectively the latter merged in the northeast with the cyprus basin that extended along arabia s northern margin the main rifting probably occurred in the triassic leading to seafloor spreading in the herodotus and cyprus basins while along the levant margin important rifting also occurred in the jurassic during the initial rifting stages extension perpendicular to the levant margin was important but subsequently the tauride block drifted mainly northward the existence of the passive margins and slopes of the eastern mediterranean is documented at least from the end of the middle jurassic until then the basin was probably narrow 200 300 km but during the main phase of the africa laurasia separation it grew to twice its present width or more this scenario depends critically on the interpretation that the tauride block was originally located next to northeastern africa on the western side of the eratosthenes block plate convergence and consumption of the northern portion of the basin have taken place since mid cretaceous times but the active convergent boundary on its northern side formed only in the neogene by modification of earlier structures some intra plate deformation also took place especially in the neogene but it hardly changed the original configuration of the remaining portion of the basin

hematite fault rock thermochronometry and textures inform fault zone processes abstract minerals on fault surfaces record fluid rock interaction strain and or heat during fault slip fault hosted hematite is amenable to u th he he thermochronometry hematite he dates reflect fault related processes or exhumation depending on hematite growth above or below the grain size controlled closure temperature and processes that promote open system behavior deconvolving these phenomena requires multi scale hematite textural characterization and constraints on the ambient thermal history from conventional thermochronometry two examples of this approach include investigations of hematite coated fault surfaces from exhumed damage zones in the seismically active wasatch fault zone wfz ut and painted canyon fault pcf paralleling the southern san andreas fault mecca hills ca wfz fault mirrors preserve sub m scale polygonal grain textures and hematite he data patterns that together with host rock apatite he data are consistent with localized friction generated heat hematite he loss and hematite recrystallization during damage zone seismicity

multiple strike slip fault sets a case study from the dead sea transform in many strike slip tectonic settings large rotations of crustal blocks about vertical axes have been inferred from paleomagnetic data these blocks are bounded by sets of parallel faults which presumably accommodate the relative motion between the blocks as regional deformation progresses a mechanical model suggests that rotations greater than c 25 to 45 must be accommodated by more than one set of faults with the angle c between their directions consequently the sum of the angles between sets must be roughly equal to the total tectonic material rotation to test this model we investigated the fault geometry and field relationship of fault sets in the mt hermon area in northern israel where paleomagnetic declination data imply 69 13 counterclockwise ccw block rotation the statistical and field relationship analysis of over 315 faults shows that the faulting is predominantly right lateral strike slip consisting of three distinct sets the oldest set strikes 254 the second oldest set strikes 295 and the youngest strikes 331 this last direction is consistent also with the current north south direction of the maximum principal stress axis the angle c between the first and second sets is 41 and between the second and third sets 36 in good agreement with the c angle predicted from mechanical considerations the sum of the two angles is 77 ccw in good agreement with the 69 13 ccw paleomagnetically derived rotation the results suggest specifically that the sequential development of multiple intersecting fault sets is responsible for the faulting in the mt hermon area and generally that the model of block rotation with multiple faults provides very good simple rules for analyzing very complex fault patterns