International Journal of Earth Sciences https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-017-1549-7

ORIGINAL PAPER

New evidence on the accurate displacement along the Arava/Araba segment of the Dead Sea Transform M. Beyth1 · A. Sagy1 · H. Hajazi2 · S. Alkhraisha2 · A. Mushkin1 · H. Ginat3 Received: 15 February 2017 / Accepted: 4 October 2017 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017

Abstract The sinistral displacement along the Dead Sea Transform (DST), the plate boundary between the African and the Arabian plates, south of the Dead Sea basin, was previously attributed to two main fault zones: the Arava/Araba or Dead Sea fault and the Feinan or Al Quwayra fault zone. This was based on similarities of features on either side of the Araba Valley. In particular, the Timna and the Feinan copper mines, located north of the Themed and Dana faults, and the onlap of the Cambrian formations southward onto the Amram rhyolite and Ahyamir volcanics. To these we add a more accurate offset indicator in the form of an offset Early Cambrian (532 Ma) dolerite dyke previously mapped in Mount Amram (Israel) on the African plate and recently discovered across the Araba Valley in Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (southwest Jordan) on the Arabian plate. This dolerite dyke is ~ 20 m thick, strikes N50°E and is the only dyke intruding the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba pink rhyolite flows of the Ahyamir Volcanics. Geochemical and geochronological correlations between the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba dolerite dyke and the Mount Amram dolerite dyke demonstrate 85 km of sinistral offset across the Arava/Araba fault. Our results also suggest approximately 109 km of combined sinistral displacement across the Arava/Araba and Feinan faults based on petrological correlations between the Timna and Jabal Hanna igneous complexes on the African and Arabian plates, respectively. This constrains the total sinistral displacement of the Feinan fault and its accessory faults to be 24 km. Keywords  Dead Sea Transform · Horizontal displacement · Neoproterozoic igneous complex

Introduction The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system forms the plate boundary between the Arabian and the African plates and extends ~ 1000 km from the Red Sea in the south to the East Anatolian fault in the north (Quennell 1958; Garfunkel 1981). Geological and geophysical data indicate that the DST fault system accommodates sinistral displacement of more than 100 km between the African plate (i.e., the Sinai Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00531-017-1549-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * M. Beyth [email protected] 1



Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel, 95501 Jerusalem, Israel

2



Green Sahara, P.O. Box 142905, Amman 11814, Jordan

3

The Dead Sea and the Arava Science Center, Kibutz Ketura M.P Hevel Eilot, 8840 Kibutz Ktura, Israel



sub-plate) and the Arabian plate (Fig. 1a). Yet, these data hardly include direct observations of rock bodies on both sides of the DST that can be used as unequivocal markers for the overall displacement. Quennel (1958), Freund et  al. (1970) and Garfunkel (1981), among others, suggested sinistral displacement across the DST from the Taurus Mountain in Turkey to the Gulf of Elat/Aqaba. Based on the stratigraphy of the Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks and structural considerations such as matching of northeast striking older faults (e.g., the Themed fault on the African plate and the Dana fault on the Arabian plate, Fig. 1b), these workers estimated an overall strike-slip motion of approximately 105 km along the DST south of Lebanon. Girdler and Southren (1987) suggested a ~ 25–15 Myr stage involving 62 km of shear and a more recent 4.5–0 Myr stage with 45 km of shear along the DST. However, this overall displacement appears to be accommodated across several faults with possibly different displacement rates. The southern-most segment of the DST consists of a wide shear zone that extends along the Gulf of Elat/Aqaba.

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Fig. 1  Regional and local location maps. a The Dead Sea sinistral transform fault system and the regional tectonic plate configuration. The Araba fault segment (AF) and the area presented in (b) are framed by dotted line. b Geological map (modified from Sneh et al. 1998) presenting Neoproterozoic outcrops, lithostratigraphic groups and main faults along both side of the Araba fault. GA Gulf of Aqaba, DSB Dead Sea basin, TF Themed fault, FF Feinan fault zone, AQF Al Quwayra fault zone, DF Dana fault, AmF Amazyahu fault, WN Wadi Namla. Geologic structures that were shifted by the transform system and are discussed in the present paper are: Timna igneous complex and Jabal Hanna circled and marked by I and I’, respectively; Amram igneous complex and Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba marked by squares and labeled II and II’, respectively. c Key for the map in b

Several NNE striking pull-apart basins absorb the majority of lateral slip in this area (Ben Avraham et al. 1979; Ben Avraham 1985; Garfunkel 2014). In addition, the western margins of Gulf consist of a ~ 30-km-wide shear belt of sinistral N–S to NE–SW striking faults that accommodate up to 24 km of cumulative sinistral shear (Bartov et al. 1980; Eyal et al. 1981; Eyal and Eyal 2015). These faults displaced Miocene dykes (Baldridge et al. 1991). A similar belt of faults, also documented in the eastern margins of the Gulf of Aqaba (Eyal et al. 1981), indicates that lateral shear in this part of

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the DST is distributed across a many tens of kilometers wide deformation zone. Further north, between the Gulf of Elat/ Aqaba and the Dead Sea basin, two major fault zones, the Arava/Araba (AF) and Al Quwayra or the Feinan Fault zone (FF; Fig. 1b), were suggested to have accommodated the entire horizontal displacement (Segev 1984) across a much narrower deformation belt. However, the distribution of the total displacement between the AF and FF is still debated. As a result of the peace agreement between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Israel (26 October, 1994) it

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is now possible to visit field sites on both sides of the DST. Building on this, we carried out field work on both sides of the international border to obtain robust geologic correlations between Neoproterozoic basement rocks across the DST and to provide accurate measurements of the sinistral displacement across the AF and FF. In this study we present new constraints on sinistral displacement along the two faults. These constraints are based on correlations of Early Cambrian dolerite dykes in Neoproterozoic country rocks at Mount Amram and Mount Timna on the western margin of the DST (African plate) with the same dykes and similar country rocks in Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (JST) and Jabal Hanna (JH) on the eastern margin of the DST (Arabian plate) (Fig. 2). Detailed mapping on both sides of the DST (Rabba’ 1994; Barjous 1995; Beyth et al. 1999b, 2012) together with geochemical petrological and geochronological analyses enables this accurate determination of the lateral displacement along this section of the DST.

Geological background Segev’s (1984) reconstruction of total offset along the Arava DST segment was based on the southward onlap of the Cambrian Timna Formation onto the Mount Amram rhyolite at the western margins of the DST and its correlations with the onlap of the Cambrian Burj, Abu Khushayba and Umm Ishrin Formations on the Ahaymir Volcanic on the Umm el Amed Block at Wadi an Namla (Barjous 1995; Fig. 1b) at the eastern margin of the DST. The AF and the FF were extrapolated southward into the Gulf of Elat/Aqaba by Segev et al. (2013) using gravity and magnetic field measurements of the southern DST segment. Bartov (1994) used Judea Group isopach maps to estimate 60 km of post-Cretaceous left-lateral motion on the AF. Jarrar et al. (2013) suggested a displacement of 80 km across this segment of the DST by correlating the Abu-Baraqa Metamorphic suite in southwest Jordan with the Elat and Taba metamorphic complexes in southern Israel and northeast Sinai, Egypt. Since the AbuBaraqa Metamorphic suite is located west of the FF, it provides only a general estimation of the displacement along the AF. The FF was mapped by Barjous (1995) as a strike-slip fault or shear zone accompanied by various faults and oblique-striking folds (Fig.  1b). South of the southeast striking Dana Fault the distance between the AF and FF is 10–12 km. At the intersection with the Dana Fault, the FF trace becomes less pronounced along with a sharp northward bending of Wadi Faddan and Wadi Ghuwayb gorges. North of the Dana Fault, at Jabal al Minshar west of Jabal Hanna, the distance between the AF and FF is only 2–3 km. At Jabal Hamra Faddan, two minor secondary sinistral faults striking northward displace the Feinan granite by 0.5–1 km (Rabba’

1994; Fig. 2b). Kesten et al. (2008) analyzed the shallow structure of the DST by combining satellite and seismic images and offer additional support for recent displacement along these two major faults. They proposed that although the AF is the main active fault segment of the southern DST today it accommodated only a limited amount (15–60 km) of the overall 105 km of sinistral plate motion on the DST. The role and importance of the FF has so far received inadequate attention, with estimates of ~ 35–40 km of sinistral slip proposed (Kesten et al. 2008 and references therein). Here, we offer new evidence that constrains the distribution of total slip between the Arava and Feinan Faults.

The Early Cambrian dolerite dykes and the Neoproterozoic Country rocks of Mount Timna and Mount Amram The Neoproterozoic Timna igneous complex (TIC) (Figs. 1b, 2a) at northern tip of the Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS) is composed of cumulate olivine norite and alkali granite; the granite formed by fractional crystallization from a mantlederived monzodioritic magma in a quasi-stratified magmatic cell. This magmatic cell formed 610 Ma ago within 625-Maold calc-alkaline granite porphyry crust during the first stage of the post-collision extensional phase in the ANS (Beyth et al. 1994a). The latest plutonic intrusion in the TIC was a 600 Ma quartz monzodiorite (Beyth and Reischmann 1997). Two generations of rhyolite, andesite and composite dyke swarms intruded the TIC prior to and after the intrusion of the quartz monzodiorite (Beyth et al. 1994a). The first dyke swarms (pre-dating the quartz monzodiorite) strike north–south, whereas the second ~ 593 Ma dyke swarms (Katzir et al. 2007) strike approximately N70°E degrees (Beyth and Peltz 1992). A 30-m-wide, NW–SE-striking dolerite dyke, oblique to the DST and with a characteristic weathering appearance in the field, intruded the Timna igneous complex at 532 Ma (Beyth and Heimann 1999a). This is the only major dolerite dyke (Baer et al. 1994) to intrude the alkali granite in Mount Timna, which was previously fractured and intruded by older swarms of rhyolite and andesite dykes. These Mount Timna dykes record transformation from arc-like geochemical signatures (silica oversaturated, low Ti content and strong Nb depletion) to an overwhelmingly intraplate character (marginally saturated in silica, high Ti content and no Nb depletion; Beyth et al. 1994b). The Timna doleritic dyke directly underlies sandstones of the Early Cambrian Amudei Shelomo Formation, which do not show any contact metamorphism. Thus, the peneplain separating the Timna igneous complex from the overlying sedimentary Cambrian rocks is of Early Cambrian age. A similar east–west striking dolerite dyke was found

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International Journal of Earth Sciences

Fig. 2  Generalized geological maps. a Timna igneous complex modified after Beyth et al. (1999b). b Jabal Hanna modified after Rabba’ (1994). c Mt. Amram igneous complex modified after Beyth et  al.

(2012). d Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba modified after Barjous (1995). Black lines: faults; dashed lines: inferred faults; stars mark sample locations

to intrude the alkaline rhyolite flows, dated at 606 Ma (Be’eri-Shlevin 2008), of the southern block of Mount Amram igneous complex (AIC) (Fig.  2c; Beyth et  al. 1994a, 2012; Mushkin et al. 2003; Kessel et al. 1998). The

Amram igneous complex is located 12 km south of Mount Timna (Fig. 1b). In southwest Jordan, mafic dolerite dykes were described and dated (one sample from Wadi Rahma) by K-Ar technique at 545 ± 13 Ma (Jarrar 2001).

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Correlating the Amram igneous complex (AIC) with Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (JST) and Timna igneous complex (TIC) with Jabal Hanna (JH) igneous complexes The Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (JST, Figs. 1b, 2d) consists of pink rhyolite flows (Fig. 3b, c) of the Ahyamir Volcanics. It forms an uplifted rhombohedral outcrop some 8 km2 that is located 1.5 km east of the AF at 412 m above sea level. The JST is surrounded by alluvial sediments, except in the south where synclines containing the Kurnub Group sandstones, ‘Ajlun and Belqa Groups limestones, chalkmarl and chert, were mapped (Barjous 1995). Notably the synclinal structures bordering the JST from the south are similar to the Amir Syncline south of the AIC (Beyth et al. 2012). Dyke intrusions in the rhyolite are rare except for a ~ 20-m-thick dolerite dyke striking N50°E, mapped during our field work. The correlation of the dolerite dyke of Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba with the dolerite dyke at the

southern block of the Amram igneous complex is a major topic discussed below in “The petrological and geochronological correlation of the Amram igneous complex (AIC) 195 with the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (JST) magmatic rocks”. Jabal Hanna (JH, Figs. 1b, 2b, 4a) is an uplifted structure, approximately 10 km2 in area, located some 36 km north of the JST and 140 m above sea level. It drains westward from the south and west by Wadi Ghuwayb. The FF located 2 km west of JH is a shear zone striking 340° that separates sandstones of the Kurnub Group and limestones and dolomites of the Na’ur Formation to the east from Ghuwayr Volcanics and Minshar Monzogranite to the west. Several lines of evidence suggest that the Jabal Hanna is correlative with the Timna igneous complex: JH is composed of Neoproterozoic plutonic rocks, the Hunayk Monzogranite, which is considered to be part of the Urf Porphyritic suite and comprises the core of Jabal Hanna and the Feinan granite at its southern margins. The Minshar Monzogranite was mapped on the northern margins of the Jabal Hanna (Rabba’ 1991). Swarms

Fig. 3  Field pictures. a Picture taken in Wadi an Namla showing southward onlap of Cambrian (Cam) sediments on the rhyolite of the Ahaymir Volcanic (Rhyolite). b The pink rhyolite in Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba. c Flow texture in the rhyolite of Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba. d Early Cambrian dolerite dyke in the Amram igneous complex. e Early Cambrian dolerite dyke in Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba

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Fig. 4  a View to the north at Jabal Hanna. Neproterozoic (Neo) porphyritic granite intruded by swarms of rhyolite, andesite and composite dykes striking north; covered by Salib and Burj formations (Cam); Jabal Hanna is surrounded by light yellow cliffs of the Kurnub and Ajlun groups (seen in the background). b An Early Cambrian dolerite dyke intruded in the porphyritic granite (PG) directly underlies sandstones of the Early Cambrian Salib Formation (Cam). Jabal Hanna north of Khirbat Nuhas. c A section from Salib (S), Burj (B) to Umm Ishrin (UI) Formations at Feinan. d Polished section of the porphyritic granite of Jabal Hanna. e Polished section of the porphyritic granite of the Timna igneous complex. f Xenolithe of schist (Sch) in the porphyritic granite (PG), Jabal Hanna north of Khirbat Nuhas

of felsic and mafic dykes striking mainly north–south and most probably a dolerite dyke striking to the east, intruded the Jabal Hanna igneous complex along its west margins. The most impressive dolerite dyke is 50 m thick, strikes north–south and intrudes the Urf porphyritic granite north of Khirbat Nuhas. As in the TIC, this doleritic dyke directly underlies sandstones of the Salib Formation of Early Cambrian age (Fig. 4b). There, xenoliths of black schist occur in the porphyritic granite (Fig. 4f). The Jabal Hanna igneous complex is covered by the Salib arkosic sandstone, the Burj dolomite and shale and the Umm Ishrin Sandstone (Figs. 2b, 4c), surrounded by cliffs of Lower Cretaceous Kurnub Sandstone and Ajlun Cenomanian limestone and dolomite formations (Rabba’ 1991). These geological features are identical to the Cambrian Amudei Shelomo, Timna and Shehoret formations and the Kurnub and Judea groups of Cretaceous age in the Timna Valley west of the DST (Beyth et al. 1999b; Fig. 2a). Khirbat Nuhas at the southern margins of JH is 8 km north of the southwest-striking Dana Fault. This distance is the same as that between Wadi Nimra

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at the southern margins of the TIC and the Themed Fault (Fig. 1b), which is the continuation of the Dana Fault across the DST (Bartov 1994).

The petrological and geochronological correlation of the Amram igneous complex (AIC) with the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (JST) magmatic rocks The Early Cambrian dolerite dykes and Neoproterozoic igneous complexes of the AIC on the African plate (in Israel) and the JST on the Arabian plate (in Jordan) provide a uniquely robust opportunity to measure the total horizontal displacement across the AF. This approach is akin to that suggested by Eyal et al. (1981) on a smaller scale for the western margins of the DST in Sinai, Egypt. Strikingly similar field appearances of the dolerite dykes and country rock outcrops at the AIC and at the JST provided an initial indication for a genetic association between these two complexes. Primitive mantle-normalized element compatibility plots and chondrite-normalized rare earth

International Journal of Earth Sciences

element plots (Hoffmann 1988; Anders and Grevesse 1989) of the dolerite dykes intruding the AIC and the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (Table 1; Figs. 5a, 6a) indicate that both dykes are petrologically identical. Similar REE plots for the rhyolitic country rock of the AIC and of the JST also indicate that they are petrologically identical and distinct from other Neoproterozoic outcrops in the area (Table 1; Figs. 5b, 6b). An integrated Argon age of 524.3 ± 0.2 Ma was measured on plagioclase separates (sample MB11) from the dolerite dyke at the JST by Matt Heizler from the Geochronology Research Laboratory in New Mexico (see supplementary file). This Early Cambrian age strongly supports the correlation of the JST dolerite dyke with the AIC dolerite dyke. Hence, the AIC and JST dolerite dykes are most probably two parts of the same dyke that intruded the same rhyolite country rock during the Early Cambrian. The sinistral displacement of 85 km between the AIC and the JST is postearly Miocene and is attributed to movement along the AF segment of the DST.

The petrological correlation of the Timna igneous complex (TIC) with the Jabal Hanna (JH) magmatic rocks The 625 Ma calc-alkaline I-type granite porphyry crust intruded by swarms of dykes, including dolerite dykes in an uplifted structure covered by the Cambrian rock formations, is very similar in the Timna igneous complex and in Jabal Hanna. There are, however, several problems to be addressed when dealing with this correlation. They mainly concern the petrological setting of the magmatic rocks, e.g., the missing rocks of the quasi-stratified magmatic cell with the olivine norite formed in the I-type granitic crust of the Timna igneous complex in JH. There are no detailed petrological descriptions available for JH, but they exist for the adjacent areas (e.g., Jabal Hamra Faddan, Jabal al Minshar or Khirbat Nuhas). These indicate that the Hunayk Monzogranite of the Jabal Hanna is petrologically equivalent to the granite Porphyry of the Timna igneous complex and the Feinan granite is petrologically identical to the alkali granite of the TIC (Beyth 1987; Shpitzer et al. 1992; Beyth et al. 1994a). The Hunayk Monzogranite is a white-grey-pinkish, porphyrytic granite composed of 39–47% plagioclase, 21% orthoclase-perthite and 23–39% quartz (Rabba’ 1994) very similar to the granite Porphyry of the Timna igneous complex (Shpitzer et al. 1992; Fig. 4d, e). The Feinan granite on the southern margins is a pink alkali granite with miarolitic and micrographitic texture and containing fluorite as accessory (Jarrar et al. 2008), very similar to the Timna igneous complex alkali granite (Beyth 1987). The felsic and mafic dyke swarms striking north–south are rhyolite, andesite and composite dykes, as in the TIC. Few dolerite dykes that are

younger than the dyke swarms from the west margins of the Jabal Hanna yield major element composition (Table 1, sample MB2p of an exfoliated boulder of dolerite dyke, with silica 47%; enriched in ­TiO2 4.34% and ­Fe2O3 14.9%; Mg # ~ 42) that are almost identical to the dolerite dyke of the TIC (Beyth et al. 1994b; Table 1 MB 221 and MB 226). They differ in some ways in the compatible and rare earth normalized plots (Figs. 5c, 6c), partly because of missing data. A striking geochemical similarity exists between the TIC alkali granite and the Feinan granite as seen in primitive mantle-normalized, element compatibility plots and the chondrite normalized rare earth plots (Figs. 5d, 6d). On the other hand, we found no clear correlation between the Timna igneous complex granite porphyry and the two boulders of the Jabal Hanna porphyritic granite which were collected at the western margins of the JH (Figs. 5e, 6e). The discrepancies in these plots may result from multiple intrusion events leading to geochemical heterogeneity that is typical for large calc-alkaline intrusions. Both Jabal Hanna and Timna igneous complexes are exposed in uplifted structures covered by identical Cambrian formations and consist of similar plutonic calc-alkaline granite porphyry and alkali granite intruded by swarms of rhyolite, andesite, composite and few dolerite dykes. We, therefore, argue for a correlation between the TIC and the JH and suggest that more intensive pre-peneplain uplifting and deeper erosion of the JH, as indicated by the black schist xenoliths in the granite porphyry of Jabal Hanna (Fig. 4f), may explain the missing magmatic cell in Jabal Hanna. This TIC–JH correlation points towards 109 km of combined sinistral offset for the AF and FF together.

Discussion Our results reveal that the narrow < 10-km-wide zone of the AF within the Arava valley accommodated ~ 80% of the overall displacement across the DST since the early Miocene. The remaining ~ 20% of slip for this segment of the DST was accommodated by the adjacent FF (Fig. 1b). Thus, while verifying previous suggestions that two major sinistral faults accommodated the DST displacement along the Dead Sea–Gulf of Aqaba section (Segev 1984; Kesten et al. 2008), the present study also provides new and independent estimates of the total displacement on each of them. Previous studies in the southern, Sinai segment of the DST (i.e., the Gulf of Elat/Aqaba) demonstrated that total lateral deformation is widely distributed across several faults that form a 50–60-km-wide deformation zone (e.g., Garfunkel 1981; Eyal et al. 1981; Eyal and Eyal 2015) and that recent slip may have been localized and concentrated onto the axis of the transform (Garfunkel 2014; Marco 2007). Our analysis indicates that lateral slip throughout

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13 0.14 4.1 8.1 3.2 1.9 1.1

0.46 5.0 4.4 3.7 2.5 0.9

45.4 4.29 13.3 14.1

MB2/1p

0.15 4.0 7.6 3.1 1.9 1.1

47.0 4.34 13.2 14.9

MB2p

0.15 7.3 5.0 4.3 2.0 0.5

48.5 1.64 15.9 10.6

MB2/2p

JH

0.12 4.0 4.8 3.4 2.5 0.4

51.9 1.29 15.0 7.1

MB2/4p

0.16 7.5 6.0 2.9 1.9 0.6

49.5 1.90 14.9 10.7

MB2/5p

0.16 7.6 9.5 3.5 1.4 1.0

43.7 2.24 12.9 12.6

MB2/6p 69.82 0.26 16.16 0.52 0.99 0.02 0.62 2.36 5.57 2.25 0.08 0.42 0.11

GR207a

Timna

70.42 0.25 16.37 0.77 0.73 0.02 0.61 2.20 5.64 2.48 0.09 0.39 0.07

GR211a

39.3 2.3 326 7.62 108

1.3 28 476 3.39 1.17 603

72 118 47

79 180 49

297

29 607 4.3 1.3 520 14 39 3.0 321

30 536 4.28 0.91 583 777 35

1.0 45 650 5 1 570 7 45 2.7 270 4 55 150 45 311 1.8 54 132 47

2.2 64 562 5.6 2.3 311 195

370 8 55 30 20 1.0 68 60 39

0.9 46 835 3.2 1.4 628 29

1.4 28 32 21

1.9 81 881 5.8 2.3 454 16

1.3 139 40 41

2.0 48 702 3.5 1.2 672 13

0.5 126 48 50

124 35 1365 6.3 2.1 1515 6.9

0.78 33 977 1.92 0.61 790 15 2.0 0.12 123 3.1 5

0.88 36 950 3.87 1.02 771 15 1.5 0.13 117 3.47 6

2.3 80 650 5 2 580 13

0.19 4.26 7.22 3.29 1.59 0.94

46.6 4.02 14.1 14.6

MB11p

JH*

3.8 55 809 3.19 0.93 474 28 41.5 2.9 327 7.75 84

5.08 8.14 3.07 1.45 1.00 3.26

0.18 5.49 7.24 3.19 1.39 0.71 2.19

47.5 4.18 14.2 14.9

MR6d

Tayyiba

3.1 3.43 6.05 3.68 4.87 100.5 99.37 96.59 99.79 99.56 99.80 100.04

46.58 4.51 13.79 13.35

AM15b

45.24 3.51 14.6 16.09

MB226a

Amram

Granite porphyry

1.33 1.4 2.79 99.03 99.83 100.2 99.63 99.20 96.9

42.0 4.44 15.16 8.02 2.05 0.84 4.01 7.13 2.58 3.47 0.7 2.42 6.21

MB221a

Sample #

wt%  SiO2  TiO2  Al2O3  Fe2O3  FeO  MnO  MgO  CaO  Na2O  K2O  P2O5  H2O  Co2  LOI Total ppm  Cs  Rb  Ba  Th  U  Sr  Pb  Nb  Ta  Zr  Hf  Ni  Cu  Co

Timna

Dolerite

Location

Rock type

Table 1  Chemical analysis of dolerite dykes, granite porphyry, alkali granite and rhyolite

0.66 99.3

0.05 0.8 1.15 4.30 3.60 < 0.1

72.0 0.33 13.9 2.5

FG11-2p

Nuchas

2.4 107 790 12 2.7 300 16 9 1.2 158 8 6 18 3

98.3

0.05 0.7 1.0 4.9 4.5 1 ≤

69.6 0.34 15.0 2.2

MB5p

JH*

1.2 107 910 18 3.1 320 49 12 1.7 217 9 6 21 5

95.1

0.05 0.9 1.2 5.3 4.5 1 ≤

64.9 0.46 15.0 2.8

MB6p 75.30 0.16 13.02 1.17 0.15 0.02 0.11 0.42 3.88 5.46 0.01 0.23 0.28

AG218a

Timna

3.6

1.9 103 1143 8.9 3.0 367 16

2.06 128 401 18.44 3.11 43 15 14.3 1.03 142 5.4 2

1.06 96.69 100.21

0.04 0.9 1.0 4.3 4.3 0.1

67.9 0.32 14.6 2.2

MB2/3p

JH

0.03 0.3 0.65 4.2 5.1 < 0.1

73.6 0.24 12.7 1.6

FG11-1p

Nuchas

182 4 5 5

2.30 125.5 434 17 3 81.2 15 10

0.75 0.68 100.3 99.1

0.05 0.27 0.65 4.18 4.49 0.03

75 0.22 13.33 1.34

GW30c

JH

Alkali granite

Tayyiba

3.00 2.00 1.00

547

161 119 12.3 2.2 17.0 18.9 40.0

98.35

0.27 0.45 1.33 7.12 0.03 1.13

73.79 0.23 10.94 3.06

0.90 232 60 22 8.6 30 33 56 5 726 26 2 22

95.91

0.03 0.2 0.6 3.6 5.9 1 <

71.40 0.18 10.9 3.1

AM-21b MB-8p

Amram

Rhyolite

International Journal of Earth Sciences

19.8 143 29 41 39.6 82 44.1 10.8 3.26 9.4

MB226a

2.1

45 45 110 65 14 4

140

175 24.0 44 40 91 52.0 11.0 3.5 11.0 1.5 1.4 0.5 2.9 0.4

337 30.6 44 47.5 117 60.8 12.8 3.72 10.7 1.44 1.43 0.51 3.14 0.45

MB11p 8

MR6d

493 33 41 45 102 59 12 4 12 1.7 1.6 0.5 3.5 0.5

11

MB2/1p

Tayyiba

18

AM15b

Amram

1.2

25 35 75 40 8 2

150

100

MB2p

JH*

138 32 20 25 57 32 6 2.0 5.6 0.8 0.8 0.3 2.0 0.3

153

MB2/2p

JH

134 32 21 28 64 36 7 2.2 6.4 0.8 0.8 0.3 1.9 0.3

54

MB2/4p

152 28 21 32 73 40 8 2.4 7.0 0.9 0.8 0.3 1.8 0.3

203

MB2/5p

146 40 21 59 124 56 11 3.5 9.8 1.2 0.8 0.2 1.2 0.1

121

MB2/6p 1 2.2 19 21 5 14.1 25.8 11.60 2.11 0.64 1.60 0.23 0.27 0.10 0.56 0.07

GR207a

Timna

1 2.3 21 21 4 13.7 24.3 10.50 1.68 0.58 1.30 0.20 0.23 0.09 0.48 0.06

GR211a

Granite porphyry

FG11-2p

Nuchas

12 30 67 18 3 0.7 3 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.9 0.1

47

9

MB5p

JH*

*Boulder sample. **From AM12-Kessel et al. (1998)

Data source: a—Beyth et al. (1994b); b—Kessel et al. (1998); c—Jarrar et al. (2008); d—Mushkin et al. (2003); p—present study

21.1 788 29 42 40.1 89.4 42 10.9 3.56 10.7

MB221a

Sample #

 Cr  Sc  Zn  Ga  Y  La  Ce  Nd  Sm  Eu  Gd  Tb  Ho  Tm  Yb  Lu

Timna

Dolerite

Location

Rock type

Table 1  (continued)

15 38 76 28 5 0.8 4 0.5 0.4 0.2 1.2 0.2

68

9

MB6p

27 33 9 40 75 26 4 0.9 3.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 1.0 0.2

MB2/3p

JH

1 2.8 17 18 20 36.0 66.4 24.80 4.27 0.51 3.70 0.58 0.86 0.38 2.50 0.68

AG218a

Timna

20 17 19 43.5 88 34 5.9 0.7 4.4 0.6 0.6 0.3 1.9 0.3

GW30c

JH

Alkali granite

FG11-1p

Nuchas

Tayyiba

30.0 25.7 62.0 62.5 157 72.8 22.1** 1.12 12.0 2.75** 3.39** 1.39** 4.87 1.36**

2.00

111 88 214 89 20 0.5 21 3 2.7 1.0 7 1.0

70

3

AM-21b MB-8p

Amram

Rhyolite

International Journal of Earth Sciences

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International Journal of Earth Sciences

Fig. 5  Rare earth plots of the dolerite dykes, rhyolites, alkali granites and porphyry granites from Jabal Hanna, Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba, Amram igneous complex and Timna igneous complex

the history of the DST in the Arava segment was more localized. This interpretation is in accord with detailed seismic analysis of the crust across the AF segment of the DST (Weber et al. 2009), which suggested that the main strike-slip motion is focused. Furthermore, slip markers in Pleistocene–Holocene deposits (Klinger et al. 2000; Niemi et al. 2001), as well as GPS measurements (Masson et al. 2015), indicate that recent slip along the transform fault

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is localized only on the AF, with no indication of activity along the FF. We, therefore, suggest that the DST deformation became more localized with faulting maturity. Variations in the activity of segments in such a large transform system can reflect migration of the pole of rotation (e.g., Butler et al. 1998) or strain localization due to maturation of fault zone (e.g., Chester et al. 1993).

International Journal of Earth Sciences

Fig. 6  Element compatibility plots of the dolerite dykes, rhyolites, alkali granites and porphyry granites from Jabal Hanna, Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba, Amram igneous complex and Timna igneous complex

Summary and conclusion Correlation between four distinctive meso-scale Neoproterosoic to Early Cambrian igneous complexes on the African and Arabian plates provides new insights into how the total 109 km of sinistral offset along the DST is partitioned by two fault zones between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba (Figs. 1, 2). We measured 85 km offset between the Early Cambrian dolerite dyke intruding the rhyolite flows in the southern block of the Amram igneous complex in the

African plate, Israel, and Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba in the Arabian plate, Jordan (Figs. 1b, 2c, d). This offset was accommodated within a narrow (< 10 km wide) zone of the AF and its accessory faults within the Arava valley. The suggested correlation between the Neoproterozoic igneous complexes of Timna and Jabal Hanna (Figs. 1b, 2a, b) indicates 109 km of lateral offset accommodated together by the AF and the FF. We, therefore, conclude that the total sinistral displacement across the FF is approximately 24 km. Subtracting 24 km of sinistral offset from the present-day 36 km that

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separate the JST from JH (Fig. 1b) we find that the pre-DST distance between the JST and JH was 12 km. This distance is identical to the 12 km that separates the Amram igneous complex from the Timna igneous complex on the African plate side of the DST. Similar support is offered by the identical distance of 8 km between the Timna igneous complex and the Themed Fault and between Jabal Hanna and the Dana Fault. Our results indicate that lateral slip throughout the history of the DST in the Arava segment was primarily distributed between two major sub-parallel faults—the AF and FF. We find that ~ 80% of this total lateral displacement was accommodated across the narrow (< 10 km wide) zone of the AF within the Arava Valley. Acknowledgements  We thank Gerard Stamfli, Rob Butler and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments and review, as well as the editors Wolf-Christian Dullo and Mark Handy. We acknowledge Ran Calvo, Navot Morag and Alan Matthews for insightful comments. We thank Matt Heizler from the Geochronology Research Laboratory New Mexico for Argon dating, and A. Borshevsky and M. Rosensaft for their assistance with GIS data processing. This project was supported by the Ministry of Regional Cooperation.

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