The tectonic framework of a complex pull-apart basin: seismic reflection observations in the northern Kinarot-Beit-Shean Basin, Dead Sea Transform
Shaul Hurwitz, Zvi Garfunkel, Yuval Ben-Gai, Margaret Reznikov, Yair Rotstein and Haim Gvirtzman

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ABSTRACT

A multi-channel seismic reflection survey conducted in the Sea of Galilee provides new insights into the Pliocene-Quaternary evolution of the Kinarot-Beit-Shean pull-apart basin (KBSB) along the Dead Sea transform. Two distinct zones are defined beneath the lake: 1) a graben that underlies most of the lake, bounded by steep north-south longitudinal strike-slip faults, and 2) shallow pre-rift units underlying the northwestern widening of the lake. Coeval deformation of adjacent structural domains implies that a major reorganization of the plate boundary in the region during the last 4 Ma has led to the formation of the present structure under the Sea of Galilee. This occurred through the subsidence of approximately 2.5 km, and branching of faults from the western marginal fault of the basin. The current fault geometry implies that transform motion is mainly concentrated along the eastern side of the basin, indicating that the main trough under the Sea of Galilee is in its final stage of growth as a pull-apart. Our kinematic analysis emphasizes the role of fault rearrangement, and interaction with surrounding deforming domains on the evolution of large pull-apart basins.e.