Bektaş et al. (2024) report that a turbidite is present in, and correlates across, all 18 R/V Thuwal cores except for core 11. Based on Probability Density Functions (PDFs) presented in Fig. 8 of their paper, these turbidites were likely deposited between ~1050 and ~1150 CE ( 1σ). Temporal discrepancies between some cores were explained as "most probably related to the difficulties of the inter-core chemostratigraphical correlations due to intense bioturbation in the sediments of the Gulf of Aqaba that can lead to small time shifts when it comes to estimate exact age of specific core sections." Bektaş et al. (2024:12) suggested that these 17 turbidites formed during the 1068 CE earthquake(s). Because turbidites were present in 17 of the 18 R/V Thuwal cores, Bektaş et al. (2024:12) further suggested that the causative earthquake "ruptured the Eilat, Aragonese, Arnona and probably Tiran faults together." They added that the southern part of the Araba Fault likely also ruptured during this event if one considers paleoseismic data from the Elat Sabkha Trenches, the Shehoret and Roded Alluvial Fan Trenches, and the Qatar Trench. Bektaş et al. (2024:12) concluded that "the total rupture length of this earthquake could have been at least ~200 km."
Figure 4 - Sedimentary events detected in the radiographic images of the Gulf of Aqaba cores, labelled by letters and indicated by red, gray, and yellow vertical bars. Depths of 210Pb and 14C measurements are also shown by green and blue rectangles next to the images, respectively. In the table, raw and calibrated 14C results are listed. The raw and composite depths, and the depths corresponding on core 11 (after stratigraphical correlation) for each 14C sample are also given. In the lower right, results of 210Pbex measurements on cores 3, 7, and 17 and the corresponding sedimentation rates (SR) are presented. - click on image to open in a new tab - from Bektaş et al. (2024)
