In the Qatar Trench, oriented perpendicular to the Arava Fault within the Yotvata Playa and just south of the Yotvata extensional step, Klinger et al. (2015) identify Event E7 as a prehistoric rupture in the lower part of the trench sequence, younger than E8 and older than E6. Evidence is restricted to the western fault zone of the trench and is expressed by a set of faults below MM5 that dip both eastward and westward and offset the top of unit H. Most of these faults do not continue upward into unit G, and they also offset the Esupp2 liquefaction conduit close to its base. In this respect, E7 is defined not by major tilting or pronounced subsidence like E8, but by a renewed phase of faulting that broke the upper part of unit H and reactivated structures in the main fault zone. Most of the faults related to E7 are sealed by G, which leads Klinger et al. to place the E7 event horizon at the boundary between units H and G. This is also the level used for E8 in their figure, but they stress that the actual event horizon of E8 is obscured by the fact that the H-G contact is an erosional contact that postdates E8.

Some faults activated during E7 were reused by later ruptures, producing larger cumulative vertical offset in the lower part of the trench than in the upper part. This overprinting complicates the structural history, but it also shows that E7 was a distinct surface-breaking event within a repeatedly reactivated fault network. Unlike E8, which involved substantial tilting of unit H and probable creation of accommodation space, E7 is expressed more as a crack- and fault-dominated rupture. According to Klinger et al. (2015), this indicates that it is likely that E7 was created by a fault rupture that terminated at the Yotvata extensional step.

Chronologically, E7 is much better constrained than the older E8-E9 sequence. Klinger et al. (2015) place E7 between 338 BCE and 213 BCE on the basis of a Bayesian model using radiocarbon dates from detrital charcoal.

Figure 5 - Trench log of the southern wall. The full resolution photomosaic of the wall is available in Fig. S1. The different stratigraphic units are indicated by letters A to H located in the synthetic stratigraphic section. Conservative position of event horizons are indicated with a dashed line, including for event Esuppl unambiguously visible in the eastern fault zone only. E8 is indicated for reference, although the dashed line corresponds to E7 event horizon (see discussion in text). Esupp2, between E8 and E9 is not indicated. Meter Marks (MM) are indicated above the trench. Dated ¹⁴C samples are indicated by star. To the west, a few samples have been collected up to 2 m outside the gridded wall, where the layers could be traced horizontally. Samples are indicated at the corresponding depth and stratigraphic position. - Click on Image to open in a new tab - Klinger et al (2015)