Late Cenozoic and Active Uplift of a Restraining Bend along a Continental Transform -- the Dead Sea Fault in Lebanon

University Of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia MO

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Lebanese Restraining Bend (LRB) constitutes a 200-km long section of the left lateral Dead Sea fault system (DSFS), and, hence, represents a significant segment of this continental transforms system. Despite the tectonic prominence of the DSFS, the northern 500 km of this plate boundary (including the LRB) have, until the past decade, been the subject of relatively few field-based, neotectonic studies. Almost all previous studies, including research by the PI, have focused on the strike-slip tectonics of the region; yet, the uplift is a significant component of the neotectonic picture . Key scientific questions to be addressed include how many distinct episodes of uplift have occurred in the Lebanese mountains, and how do these correspond with the timing of different tectonic episodes along the DSFS? This can help address the question of whether the African-Arabian plate boundary has migrated over time. Other issues pertain to the spatial distribution of present and past uplift, as well as the possible influence of inherited crystal structures (e.g., the Mesozoic Palmyride rift system or the Neo-Tethyan passive margin) on the kinematics of the LRB. This proposed work would assess the feasibility of documenting Late Cenozoic and active uplift of the LRB.