The Gulf of Aqaba is considered as an interesting rift system. Therefore, it is
important to understand the crustal features and thickness variation along the
Gulf; to be able to evaluate the effect of tectonic activities in shaping the Gulf.
The obtained data were used to estimate the reliable empirical relations between
the Bouguer anomalies (ΔgB) and crustal thickness (Hc) in the Gulf of
Aqaba. This equation was used to calculate the depth reliefs to the Moho
boundary. The output map of the Moho relief and the corresponding crustal
thickness were constructed for the Gulf of Aqaba. The depth from sea level
down to the Moho discontinuity in the Gulf of Aqaba varies between about
37 km in the northern deep and abruptly changes to about 28 km at the
southern area, Tiran Strait. Below the central part of the gulf, a Moho depth
of about 34 km is obtained. The Red Sea crust is thinner than that of the Dead
Sea rift; indicating the presence of a mantel upwelling that is related to the
spreading of the sea floor. The asymmetry of crustal thickness between the
eastern and western borders of the Gulf of Aqaba could be attributed to simultaneous
strike-slip motion. The relative displacement between the two
borders is observed clearly through the sea floor and Moho discontinuity. The
displacement is nearly equivalent to 0.18° (i.e. about 20.4 km) and is assumed
to be achieved in about 4.08 to 3.4 million years, according to the estimated
rate of the transform motion along the Gulf of Aqaba (Dead Sea transform)
that is about 0.5 to 0.6 cm/y.
References
[1]
Al-Arifi, N. S., Lashin, A. A., & Al-Humidan, S. (2012). Migration of Local Earthquakes in the Gulf of Aqaba, North Red Sea. Earth Sciences Research Journal, 16, 35-40.
[2]
Allan, T. D., & Morelli, C. (1970). The Red Sea. In A. E. Maxwell (Ed.), The Sea (pp. 493-542). New York: Wiley InterScience.
[3]
Bayer, H. J., Hötzl, H., Jado, A. R., Roscher, B., & Voggenreiterm, W. (1988). Sedimentary and Structural Evolution of the Northwest Arabian Red Sea Margin. Tectonophysics, 153, 137-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(88)90011-X
[4]
Ben-Averham, Z. (1987). Rift Propagation along the Southern Dead Sea Rift (Gulf of Elat). Tectonophysics, 143, 193-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(87)90088-6
[5]
Ben-Averham, Z., & Zoback, M. D. (1992). Transform-Normal Extension and Asymmetric Basins: An Alternative to Pull-Apart Models. Geology, 20, 423. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0423:TNEAAB>2.3.CO;2
[6]
Ben-Averham, Z., Lazar, M., Schattner, U., & Marco, S. (2005). The Dead Sea Fault and Its Effect on Civilization. In F. Wenzel (Ed.), Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences: Perspectives in Modern Seismology (pp. 145-167). Heidelberg: Springer.
[7]
Bosworth, W., Montagna, P., Pons-Branchu, E., Rasul, N., & Taviani, M. (2017). Seismic Hazards Implications of Uplifted Pleistocene Coral Terraces in the Gulf of Aqaba. Scientific Reports, 7, Article No. 38. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00074-2
[8]
Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) (1980).
[9]
Ehrhardta, A., Hqbschera, C., Ben-Avraham, Z., & Gajewski, D. (2005). Seismic Study of Pull-Apart-Induced Sedimentation and Deformation in the Northern Gulf of Aqaba (Elat). Tectonophysics, 396, 59-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2004.10.011
[10]
El-Bohoty, M., Brimich, L., Saleh, A., & Saleh, S. (2012). Comparative Study between the Structural and Tectonic Situation of the Southern Sinai and the Red Sea, Egypt, as Deduced from Magnetic, Gravity and Seismic Data. Contributions to Geophysics and Geodesy, 42, 357-388.
[11]
El-Khrepy, S., Koulakov, I., Al-Arifi, N., & Petrunin, A. G. (2016). Seismic Structure beneath the Gulf of Aqaba and Adjacent Areas Based on the Tomographic Inversion of Regional Earthquake Data. Solid Earth, 7, 965-978. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-965-2016
[12]
Folkman, Y., & Assael, R. (1980). Preparing of Aeromagnetic Map of Sinai, Egypt. The Institute for Petroleum Research and Geophysics.
[13]
Garfunkel, Z., Zak, I., & Freund, R. (1981). Active Faulting in the Dead Sea Rift. Tectonophysics, 80, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(81)90139-6
[14]
Ginzburg, A., Folkman, Y., Rybakov, M., Rotstein, Y., Assael, R., & Yuval, Z. (1993). Bouguer Gravity Map of Israel and Adjacent Areas (1:500,000).
[15]
Ginzburg, A., Makris, J., Fuchs, K., & Prodehl, C. (1981). The Structure of the Crust and Upper Mantle in the Dead Sea Rift. Tectonophysics, 80, 109-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(81)90144-X
[16]
Ginzburg, A., Makris, J., Fuchs, K., Perathoner, B., & Prodehl, C. (1979). Detailed Structure of the Crust and Upper Mantle along the Jordan-Dead Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research, 84, 5605-5612. https://doi.org/10.1029/JB084iB10p05605
[17]
Hamouda, A. Z. (2000). Study of the Neotectonics in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, as Revealed from Marine Geophysical Data. PhD Thesis, Alexandria: University of Alexandria.
[18]
Hamouda, A. Z. (2006). Seismic Hazard of the Eastern Mediterranean. Acta Geophysica, 54, 165-176. https://doi.org/10.2478/s11600-006-0013-z
[19]
Hamouda, A. Z. (2011). Recent Evaluation of the Assessment Seismic Hazards for Nuweiba, Gulf of Aqaba. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 4, 775-783. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-009-0096-3
[20]
Hartman, G., Niemi, T. M., Tibor, G., Ben-Avraham, Z., Al-Zoubi, A., Makovsky, Y., Akawwi, E., Abueladas, A., & Al-Ruzouq, R. (2014). Quaternary Tectonic Evolution of the Northern Gulf of Elat/Aqaba along the Dead Sea Transform. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 119, 9183-9205.
[21]
Joffe, S., & Garfunkel, Z. (1987). Plate Kinematics of the Circum Red Sea—A Re-Evaluation. Tectonophysics, 141, 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(87)90171-5
[22]
Makris, J., & Wang, J. (1994). Bouguer Gravity Anomalies of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. In V. A. Krasheninnikov, & J. K. Hall (Eds.), Geological Structure of the North-Eastern Mediterranean: Jerusalem (pp. 87-98). Historical Productions Hall Ltd.
[23]
Martinez, F., & Cochran, J. R. (1988). Structure and Tectonic of the Northern Red Sea: Catching a Continental Margin between Rifting and Drifting. Tectonophysics, 150, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(88)90293-4
[24]
Oswald, J. A., & Wesnousky, S. G. (2002). Neotectonics and Quaternary Geology of the Hunter Mountain Fault Zone and Saline Valley Region, Southeastern California. Geomorphology, 42, 255-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(01)00089-7
[25]
Pick, M., Picha, J., & Vyskocil, V. (1973). Theory of the Earth’s Gravity Field. Academic Publ. House of the CS Academy of Sciences, Prague 1973.
[26]
Prutkina, I., & Saleh, A. (2009). Gravity and Magnetic Data Inversion for 3D Topography of the Moho Discontinuity in the Northern Red Sea Area, Egypt. Journal of Geodynamics, 47, 237-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jog.2008.12.001
[27]
Riad, S. (1977). Shear Zones in North Egypt Interpreted from Gravity Data. Geophysics, 42, 1207-1214. https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1440785
[28]
Riad, S., & El-Etr, H. A. (1985). Bouguer Anomalies and Lithosphere-Crustal Thickness in Uganda. Journal of Geodynamics, 3, 169-186. https://doi.org/10.1016/0264-3707(85)90027-4
[29]
Riad, S., Fouda, A., Refai, E., & Ghaleb, M. (1983). Preliminary Interpretation of the Regional Gravity Anomalies of Egypt. In The XVIII General Assembly of the IUGG.
[30]
Ribot, M., Klinger, Y., Pons-Branch, E., Lefèvr, M., & Jónsson, S. (2018). Quantification of Tectonic Uplift along the Dead Sea Fault in Gulf of Aqaba. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 20, EGU2018-12430.
[31]
Rybakov, M., Goldshmidt, V., & Rotstein, Y. (1997). New Regional Gravity and Magnetic Maps of the Levant. Geophysical Research Letters, 24, 33-36.
[32]
Saleh, S., Pamukc, O., & Brimich, L. (2017). The Major Tectonic Boundaries of the Northern Red Sea Rift, Egypt Derived from Geophysical Data Analysis. Contributions to Geophysics and Geodesy, 47, 149-199. https://doi.org/10.1515/congeo-2017-0010
[33]
Segev, A., Rybakov, M., Lyakhovsky, V., Hofstetter, A., Tibor, G., Goldshmidt, V., & Ben Avraham, Z. (2006). The Structure, Isostasy and Gravity Field of the Levant Continental Margin and the Southeast Mediterranean Area. Tectonophysics, 425, 137-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2006.07.010
[34]
Shaked, Y., Marco, S., Lazar, B., Stein, M., Cohen, C., Sass, E., & Agnon, A. (2002). Late Holocene Shorelines at the Gulf of Aqaba: Migrating Shorelines under Conditions of Tectonic and Sea Level Stability (pp. 1-7). EGU Stephan Mueller Special Publication Series 2.
[35]
Sibson, R. (1983). Fault Zone Models, Heat Flow and the Depth Distribution of Earthquakes in the Continental Crust of the United States. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 72, 151-163.
[36]
Spiegal, M. R. (1972). Theory and Problems of Statistics (p. 359). Shaum’s Outline Series, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
[37]
Steckler, M. S., Berthelot, F., Lyberis, N., & Le Pichon, X. (1988). Subsidence in the Gulf of Suez: Implications for Rifting and Plate Kinematics. Tectonophysics, 153, 249-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(88)90019-4
[38]
Steinitz, G., Bartiv, Y., & Hunziker, J. (1978). K/Ar Age Determination of Some Miocene-Pliocene Basalts in Israel; Their Significance to the Tectonics of the Rift Valley. Geological Magazine, 115, 329-340. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756800037341
[39]
Tealeb, A., & Riad, S. (1986). Regional Gravity Anomalies of Western Saudi Arabia and Their Geological Significance. Egyptian Geophysical Society, 5, 50-78.
[40]
Woodside, J. M. (1977). Tectonic Elements and Crust of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Marine Geophysical Research, 3, 317-354. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285658
