Crustal Deformation along the Dead Sea Transform and Carmel Fault Inferred from 12 years of GPS Measurements in Israel

We quantify the interseismic slip rates and locking depths along the Dead-Sea Transform (DST) in Israel using GPS observations and elastic modeling. Large-scale crustal deformation and earthquakes in Israel are mainly related to the Dead Sea Transform (DST) and the Carmel-Gilboa-Faria Fault System (CFS). The former is an active left lateral transform, bounding the Arabian plate and the Sinai sub-plate, and the latter branches out of the former and separates the Sinai sub-plate into two tectonic domains. GPS observations from 18 permanent GPS stations and 147 densely spaced stations that were surveyed in three campaigns between 1996 and 2008 are used in this study. The GPS data is processed using the GAMIT/GLOBK software package, providing station coordinates and velocities relative to a fixed Sinai reference frame. Using a simple 2-D elastic model, we infer a slip rate of 3-4.2 mm/yr and a locking depth of 6.7-15.4 km along the DST north of the CFS, and a slip rate of 4.4-5.1 mm/yr and a locking depth of 12.3-23 km south of the CFS. Additionally, we infer a left lateral slip rate of 0.5-1.3 along the CFS, and a rate of about 0.5 mm/yr of extension perpendicular to it. Near fault observations rule out the possibility of shallow creep along the Northern segment of the DST, but suggest that creep may occur along the Dead Sea West Boundary Fault.