Event ZT1 was identified in Trench T1 at Ghor Khabed, a pull-apart system on the Jordan Valley Fault. The trench was excavated across the eastern fault section, where late Pleistocene Lisan deposits, Damya formation sediments, and Holocene pull-apart deposits are cut by distributed ruptures east of the main fault zone.
The event evidence consists of faulting that affects the Lisan and Damya deposits and extends upward toward the base of the present-day plow unit, unit a. Ferry et al. (2011:49) note that the upward fault terminations all reach the base of unit a, but do not by themselves provide a clear internal chronology. A diagnostic feature occurs at the contact between the Lisan/Damya deposits and the Holocene deposits, where the faulted units form a narrow fissure filled with pieces of unit b.
Event ZT1 is interpreted as the most recent faulting event visible in Trench T1. The rupture disturbed older lacustrine and clastic units and produced a fissure fill within the shear zone before the deposition or stabilization of the overlying organic soil (unit a). Unit a, which covers the shear zone, has been radiocarbon dated using a sprig sample ( Ka-T3-CO4) to a calibrated date of 1490–1800 CE and therefore postdates Event ZT1. The dating can likely be constrained further using evidence from nearby Trench T2. Ferry et al. (2011) interpreted Event ZT2 as the most recent rupture in that trench and this event probably correlates it with the same youngest faulting episode recorded as Event ZT1 in Trench T1. Event ZT2 postdates a radiocarbon-dated unit that yielded a calibrated age of 560–660 CE, indicating that the youngest surface-rupturing earthquake at Ghor Khabed occurred after that interval. If Events ZT1 and ZT2 indeed record the same earthquake, then Event ZT1 can be constrained to sometime between 560 CE and 1800 CE. Within that time window, Event ZT1 may correspond to the 659/660 CE Jordan Valley earthquake(s), one of the mid-8th century CE earthquakes, or the 1033/4 CE Palestine earthquake(s).
- Fig. 3C Location Map of the
Ghor Khabed Site from Ferry et al. (2011)
Geomorphology of the Ghor Kabed site from a high-resolution total station topographic survey. The eastern fault strand shows a linear and continuous geometry with a gentle slope (the steep slope visible to the north is artificial), while the western strand displays a steeper slope and a left-step geometry. Two trenches were excavated at that site: T1 on the central strand north of the depression, and T2 on the eastern strand southeast of the depression (see logs in Fig. 5). Height curve spacing is 0.25 m.
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Ferry et al. (2011)- Fig. 5E Stratigraphic Correlation
between Ghor Khabed and Tell Saidiyeh Trenches from Ferry et al. (2011)
Correlations of stratigraphic sections of trenches. The geological formations of Lisan and Damya are common basement-bottom units for trenches. Erosion processes (tilde lines) have major effects on soft sediments, and Trench T3 shows a significant hiatus of the Damya formation. The correlation between alluvial and lacustrine deposits and the related radiocarbon dating (see also Table 1 and Fig. 7) illustrate the different recent depositional environments at trench sites.
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Ferry et al. (2011)- Table 1 Radiocarbon Table
from Ferry et al. (2011)
Radiocarbon Dating of Samples Collected in Trenches T1 and T2 (Ghor Kabed Site) and T3 and T4 (Tell Saidiyeh Site)
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Ferry et al. (2011)- Fig. 4E Main Shear Zone in
Trench T1, Ghor Kabed from Ferry et al. (2011)
Main shear zone in trench T1. Thin lines are stratigraphic contacts, thick lines are faults, and dashed lines mark the bottom of the trench
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Ferry et al. (2011)Fig. 5a
Trench T1 shows a distributed pattern of vertical faults that may be resolved within the uppermost layers but cannot be followed through massive clay units of Lisan age. Radiocarbon dates suggest the most recent event occurred before A.D. 1490-1800
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Ferry et al (2011)
