(2006) 1–12www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto

Tectonophysics 419

Oligocene–Miocene formation of the Haifa basin: Qishon–Sirhanrifting coeval with the Red Sea–Suez rift system

U. Schattner a,⁎, Z. Ben-Avraham a, M. Reshef a, G. Bar-Am b, M. Lazar a

a Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel Aviv University, P.O.B. 39040, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israelb Oil Fields LTD., 18 Haoman St., 91520, Jerusalem, Israel

Received 6 June 2005; received in revised form 30 November 2005; accepted 22 March 2006Available online 19 May 2006

Abstract

During mid-Oligocene to early-Miocene times the northeastern Afro-Arabian plate underwent changes, from continentalbreakup along the Red Sea in the south, to continental collision with Eurasia in the north and formation of the N–S trending DeadSea fault plate boundary. Concurrent uplift and erosion of the entire Levant area led to an incomplete sedimentary record, obscuringreconstructions of the transition between the two tectonic regimes. New well data, obtained on the continental shelf of the centralLevant margin (Qishon Yam 1), revealed a uniquely undisturbed sedimentary sequence which covers this time period. Evaporiticfacies found in this well have only one comparable location in the entire eastern Mediterranean area (onland and offshore) over thesame time frame — the Red Sea–Suez rift system. Analysis of 4150 km of multi and single-channel seismic profiles, offshorecentral Levant, shows that the sequence was deposited in a narrow basin, restricted to the continental shelf. This basin (the HaifaBasin) evolved as a half graben along the NW trending Carmel fault, which at present is one of the main branches of the Dead Seafault. Re-evaluation of geological data onland, in view of the new findings offshore, indicates that the Haifa basin is thenorthwestern-most of a larger series of basins, comprising a failed rift along the Qishon–Sirhan NW–SE trend. This failed riftevolved spatially parallel to the Red Sea–Suez rift system, and at the same time frame. The Carmel fault would therefore seem to berelated to processes occurring several million years earlier than previously thought, before the formation of the Dead Sea fault. Thedevelopment of a series of basins in conjunction with a young spreading center is a known phenomenon in other regionsworldwide; however this is the only known example from across the Arabian plate.© 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Carmel fault; Half graben; Oligocene; Haifa Basin; Levant margin; Afro-Arabian plate; Red Sea–Suez

1. Introduction

Four main tectonic processes led to the continentalbreakup of the northeastern Afro-Arabian plate along the

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +972 505 611145.E-mail addresses: u.schattner@gmail.com (U. Schattner),

zvi@terra.tau.ac.il (Z. Ben-Avraham), moshe@luna.tau.ac.il(M. Reshef), oilfield@netvision.net.il (G. Bar-Am),michael@luna.tau.ac.il (M. Lazar).

0040-1951/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2006.03.009

Red Sea–Suez rift system, in the mid-Oligocene to earlymid-Miocene. To the east, collision of India and Eurasialocked the Owen fracture zone, north of the CarlsbergRidge, forcing the northeastern Afro-Arabian plate torotate in conjunction with the Indian plate (Fig. 1)(Bohannon et al., 1989). To the north, the Arabian platebegan to approach Eurasia during the mid-Cenozoic, untiltheir eventual collision in the mid-Miocene (Ben-Avra-ham and Nur, 1976; Garfunkel, 1998). The mode of this

Fig. 1. Major tectonic and volcanic provinces along the Arabian and African plates and the Sinai sub-plate (after Garfunkel, 1989; Segev, 2000; Ilaniet al., 2001). Note the general northwest trend of the Red Sea–Suez system and its associated volcanic provinces to the north; the Red Sea dike belt;Wadi Sirhan and Harrat Ash Shaam volcanic province north of it; and the Carmel fault (CF). Schematic extent of the Qishon–Sirhan failed rift ismarked by a light gray oval. Inset — main tectonic elements in the vicinity of the Arabian plate — the Dead Sea fault (DSF), Owen Fracture Zone(FZ) and the Precambrian Najd Fault System (FS — marked in dark gray). Abbreviations: CF — Carmel Fault, LG — Lower Galilee, DD —Damascus Depression.

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convergence ranges from collision in the west (progres-sive lodging) to subduction in the east that still continuestoday (Bellahsen and Daniel, 2005). To the south, themantle plume of Afar uplifted the northeastern corner ofthe Afro-Arabian plate, during the Eocene–Oligocenetransition, (Hofmann et al., 1997). This was followed byvolcanic activity which began in the early Oligocene(Ebinger et al., 1993; George et al., 1998). The fourthprocess was thermal relaxation and uplift of the Arabian–Nubian shield (Bojar et al., 2002).

Concurrently, NW trending faults and dykes devel-oped throughout the Arabian plate (Eyal et al., 1981) asa consequence of a NE–SW extensional stress regime(Fig. 1) (Eyal and Reches, 1983). These systemsprobably reactivated preexisting lineaments of theNajd fault system, which was active during thePrecambrian, and were reactivated several times duringthe geological history of the region (Stern, 1985; Agar,1987; Husseini, 1988; Stern, 1994). The most importantof these structures was the Red Sea, which progressively

Fig. 2. Location of seismic surveys and wells used in this study on DTM (John K. Hall, personal communication) showing major tectonic elements.Seismic profiles interpreted in the present study are marked by solid black lines (multi-channel) and dashed lines (single-channel). White circlesindicate location of wells used in the seismic analysis. Tectonic features are merked after Schattner et al., 2006. Thick black lines represent majorfaults, thin lines represent minor faults. DTM courtesy of John K. Hall. Abbreviations: F — Foxtrot, Q— Qishon Yam 1, A— Asher Yam 1, C —Canusa 9, CF—Carmel Fault, CS—Carmel Structure, HB—Haifa Bay, NG—Northern Galilee, SG— Southern Galilee, CGE— Central GalileeEscarpment, RHF — Rosh Haniqra Fault, B — Beirut.

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defined the southern borders of the Arabian plate.During the final stages of suturing of the Arabian andEurasian plates, the stress regime changed (e.g. Eyal andReches, 1983), and the N–S trending Dead Sea faultplate boundary started to develop (Garfunkel andBartov, 1977; Garfunkel, 1981), crossing through pre-existing structures (Garfunkel and Ben-Avraham, 2001).Currently, one of its major branches is the NW trendingseismically active Carmel fault, which channels part ofthe motion from the Dead Sea fault to the Levantcontinental margin.

Throughout the mid-Oligocene to early mid-Mioceneperiod (Horowitz, 2001), while the regional stressregime changed from the Red Sea to Dead Sea regime(Ilani et al., 2001) the entire Levant and its margins wereuplifted and eroded. This widespread erosion is evidentin the incomplete sedimentary record found in Israel(Druckman et al., 1995), Jordan (Meulenkamp et al.,2000a,b), Lebanon (Walley, 1998), Syria (Sawaf et al.,2000) and Saudi Arabia (Bohannon et al., 1989). Thus,reconstructions of tectonic processes occurring during

the stress transition period are obscured by the lack ofregional information.

A newly drilled well (Qishon Yam 1) on the edge ofthe continental shelf offshore northern Israel, adjacent tothe Carmel fault, reveals an undisturbed sequence ofsediments spanning from the mid-Oligocene to earlymid-Miocene. Analysis of seismic and additional welllog data shows that these findings are restricted solely tothe Haifa bay area (HB on Fig. 2). This new data allowsa continuous and comprehensive perspective into thegeological history of the Levant margin, assisting in thereconstruction of the period between the opening ofthe Red Sea and the formation of the Dead Sea fault. Thenew data indicates that motion along the Carmel faultpredates its present-day splaying from the Dead Seafault.

2. Data

Data used in this study consist of three deep wellsdrilled on the continental shelf of northern Israel: Asher

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Yam 1 (Sedot Neft LTD., 2000), Foxtrot (Belco LTD.,1970) and the new Qishon Yam 1 well (Oil Fields LTD.,2002). These are the only wells drilled offshore, in thestudy area (Fig. 2). The well log data were used to controlinterpretation of multi and single-channel seismic reflec-tion profiles collected along 3450 km and 850 km of shiptrack, respectively, during four geophysical surveys. Datafrom an additional deep well (Canusa 9, Oil and GasLTD., 1977), located onland along the Carmel fault, wasused for stratigraphic correlation with the new findings ofQishonYam 1 (Fig. 3). These data were incorporatedwithprevious geological studies conducted onland to give afuller picture of the tectonic state during the mid-Oligocene to early mid-Miocene times.

3. Results

3.1. Well lithology and basin development

The Qishon Yam 1 well was drilled during August2002, at a water depth of 102 m, on the edge of thecontinental shelf of northern Israel, about 20 kmnorthwest of the city of Haifa (Figs. 2 and 3). Thewell is located between the Asher Yam-1 and Foxtrotwells, north and south of it (respectively), whichpenetrated Mesozoic structures at very shallow depths.Conversely, the Qishon Yam 1 well (Bar-Am, 2003),which reached a depth of 1800 m, penetrated a thickCenozoic section above late Cretaceous strata. The maindiscovery of this well is a 416 meter thick undisturbedsequence of marl and anhydrite deposits dating from themid-Oligocene to early mid-Miocene, according tomicro paleontology (interpretation by Derin, 2002).The sequence is bounded by two unconformities fromabove and below, of early Pliocene and Senonian ages,respectively.

The thick brown Senonian marl (Ein Zetim Forma-tion), found at the lower part of the Qishon Yam 1 well,represents a basinal depositional environment (Fig. 3).These sediments are truncated by an erosional uncon-formity (the lower unconformity), with the absence ofPaleocene to lower Oligocene sediments. This trunca-tion is part of the early Oligocene widespread erosionthat is not restricted to the Haifa bay area, but isrecognized throughout the Levant. Above the uncon-formity lies the mid- to late Oligocene sequence. Thissequence is composed of chalk, limestone and marl-

Fig. 3. Stratigraphic correlation between the Qishon Yam 1 (Derin, 2002) andray log to the left and DLL to the right. Lines bordering the Canusa 9 log aprominent appearance in the Qishon Yam 1 log, but are lacking in the Canusaperiod spanning mid-Oligocene to early mid-Miocene.

stone, interstratified by a significant amount of gypsumand anhydrite. Such an evaporitic facies, belonging tothis specific geological time frame, is unique and wasnot recognized in any outcrop or drilled well, onshore oroffshore, the entire Levant (from southern Turkey toSinai) (Druckman et al., 1995; Robertson, 1998; Walley,1998; Sawaf et al., 2000; Brew, 2001). In the upper,early and mid-Miocene part of this sequence, thereefoidal units of the Ziqlag and Lakhish Formationsare interbedded by a smaller amount of evaporites.These formations were probably deposited in a shallow-water environment. The top of the sequence is truncatedby another erosional surface (the upper unconformity),which juxtaposes early Pliocene Yafo formation sedi-ments directly above early mid-Miocene sediments. Theprominent Messinian evaporites, which cover manyparts of the eastern Mediterranean basin, are absent fromthe well and can be found further offshore.

3.2. Seismic imaging of the Haifa basin

A dense network of multi and single channel seismicprofiles (Fig. 2) was analyzed in order to investigate thespatial coverage of the mid-Oligocene to early mid-Miocene sediments revealed in Qishon Yam 1 well.Seismic data interpretation were controlled by the threedeep wells described above and show that the extent ofthese sediments is restricted to a newly discovered smallbasin — the Haifa basin (Fig. 4). This basin is locatedbelow the continental shelf of northern Israel, along themost prominent tectonic feature in the area, the Carmelfault.

The Haifa basin is ∼ 6 km long and trends to thenorthwest, along the present-day Carmel fault (Fig. 4).The width of the basin is about 4 km and is almostconstant along its long axis. The basin floor is comprisedof an erosional surface of Senonian rocks (the lowerunconformity) which consists of two lows separated by astructural high (Fig. 4). Although the top of itssedimentary sequence (mid-Oligocene to early mid-Miocene) is truncated by the upper unconformity, itsbottom is continuous and elongated along a NW–SEdirection. On its northern and eastern flanks, the basinfloor climbs gently until it reaches the early Plioceneunconformity surface. The northern slope of the basin ismuch gentler than the southern one (Fig. 5). To the south,sediments of the Haifa basin thicken until they meet the

Canusa 9 Drill-holes. Lines bordering the Qishon Yam 1 log are gammare SP to the left and Resistivity to the right. Evaporitic layers have a9 section. Distinct differences appear between the two logs in the time

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Fig. 5. A NNE–SSW trending multi channel seismic profile AS-13 across the Haifa basin and the Carmel fault and its interpretation (see location mapin Fig. 4). Location of Qishon Yam 1 drill-hole is shown. The syn-tectonic nature of the sedimentary fill above the upper unconformity (Yafoformation) postdates the Oligocene–Miocene rifting, and related to later stages of extension across the Carmel fault.

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NW–SE trending Carmel fault. Data indicate that thesesediments rest on the Carmel fault and are not cut by it.Few additional minor E–W trending syn-depositionalnormal faults cross the basin (Fig. 4). The northwesternside of the Haifa basin lies at the same depth as the rest ofthe basin floor, suggesting this was themain connection tothe open sea (Fig. 4). Further to the west seismic datashows no indications for the existence of similar basinalstructures or to similar sedimentary sequences in thesubsurface of the Levant Basin.

Fig. 4. (A) Bathymetric and topographic map of northern Israel showing the lthis study (Qishon Yam 1, Canusa 9, Asher Yam 1 and Foxtrot). Thick black lbasin. Dark gray areas onland indicate location of early mid-Miocene volcanistructural map of the Senonian–lower Oligocene unconformity surface whicBlack lined oval indicates the spatial extent of sediments that fill the Haifa Baare marked.

4. Discussion

Data examined in this study shows that the sedimentsof the Haifa basin are unique in their content, spatialextent and continuous time coverage. These sedimentsaccumulated on the continental margin of the centralLevant, despite the fact that the entire area, from southernTurkey to Sinai, was uplifted and eroded. Therefore,analysis of the tectonic factors which controlled theformation of Haifa basin provides a new perspective for

ocation of the Haifa Basin (enlarged below) and drill-holes analyzed inine indicates the location of the Carmel fault onland and south of Haifac provinces of the Lower Galilee (after Shaliv, 1991). (B) Time domainh forms the Haifa basin floor. Values of contours are in milliseconds.sin. Locations of seismic profiles appearing in the forthcoming figures

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the development of the area during the time gap of mid-Oligocene to early mid-Miocene. The new data enablesre-evaluation of seemingly unrelated geological evi-dence from this period onland, into a comprehensivetectonic reconstruction of the area through the transitionbetween the Red Sea to Dead Sea stress regimes.

4.1. Formation of the Haifa basin along theCarmel fault

The 416 m of sediments filling the Haifa basin weredeposited in a shallow water (frequently sabkha-like)environment throughout the mid-Oligocene to earlymid-Miocene times (Derin, 2002). Facies that accumu-lated within the basin indicate that its floor went througha slow and continuous subsidence, maintaining thewater depth. In addition, a general basinfill thickeningtowards the southwest insinuates that maximum subsi-dence occurred along the Carmel fault. The patterns ofsedimentation described above resemble typical char-acteristics of a half-graben structure, formed along amain border fault (Fig. 6). As the hanging-wall block ofthe Ein Zeitim formation moved down along the Carmelfault (the main border fault), layers of sedimentsaccumulated within the forming depression (Haifabasin). Overprinted on the predominantly NW–SEtrending half-graben structure is a series of E–Woriented syn-depositional faults. These faults dividethe basin into two low areas, separated by a structuralhigh, and may indicate that the normal movement alongthe Carmel fault involved a slight sinistral component.

4.2. Is the evaporitic sequence related to global sealevel changes?

Accumulation of an evaporitic facies on the continentalshelf requires special conditions to occur, with sea leveldrop being the obvious. Nevertheless, some regionalconstrains complicate the picture. During the Senonian theArabian shield was flooded (Druckman et al., 1995;Meulenkamp and Sissingh, 2003). The water level of thearea, which would later develop into the present-day RedSea, was very shallow (Bohannon et al., 1989), while thenorthern part of the shield (Levant) was submerged and apelagic chalky sedimentation environment prevailed.Several rivers flowed to this area creating submarine can-yons (Druckman et al., 1995). At the same time significantglobal tectonic events occurred, altering both tropical andpolar surface circulation, resulting in a global drop in sealevel (Berger and Wefer, 1996; Ford and Golonka, 2003).These conditions continued until the early Oligocenewhen sea level progressively dropped leaving behind

shallowmarine incursions along the line of the present dayLevantine coast. Nevertheless, relating the regional dropin sea level to the global eustatic curve is notstraightforward, given that during the Oligocene theconnection between the Mediterranean basin and theglobal oceanic system was severed. Seaway passagesbecame progressively confined to narrow corridors, untilthe Mediterranean was completely isolated from the Indo-Pacific in the late Rupelian (late early Oligocene 32–29 Ma) (Meulenkamp et al., 2000a). Few other marineseaways existed such as the Rhine graben and the Hessendepression to the northwest and possibly across thepresent-dayAegean Sea.Meulenkamp et al. (2000a) claimthat isolation of the eastern Mediterranean basin from theworld's oceans wasmore severe during the Oligocene andearly Miocene than in any other time. On the other hand,Burke (1996, and references therein) states that this cut offoccurred later on, during the middle Miocene, whenEurasian and Arabia are sutured. Therefore, despite themajor changes in global sea level during this period, onlyrelative sea level changes were considered in this study.

4.3. Additional basins along the same trend

The Haifa basin evolved along with the Carmel fault,on the Oligocenic Levant continental shelf. However,about 20 km to the southeast and within the present-dayQishon Graben, the onshore Canusa 9 well (Fig. 4A)shows a shallow neritic to sabkha facies dissimilar tothat recovered in the Qishon Yam 1 well (Fig. 3).Considering the spatial distribution of the mid-Oligo-cene–early mid-Miocene sediments in the Haifa basinand the short distance between the two wells, theirdistinct differences probably represent two separatedepocenters (Fig. 4A). These depocenters developedalong the NW–SE trending Carmel fault, in differentsedimentary conditions, while the surrounding areaswere above sea level.

Further to the southeast, Shaliv (1991) suggested thatthe Yizre'el depression, of the lower Galilee (Fig. 4A),developed as part of a NW–SE trending incipient riftduring the mid- to late Miocene, in the vicinity of thepaleo-Carmel fault. Basalt flows, which filled theforming Yizre'el depression (Rotstein et al., 2004),yielded ages of about 17 My at the most (Shaliv, 1991).The Lower Galilee basin originally evolved as a singlebasin together with the Damascus depression in Syria(Fig. 1) (Ponikarov, 1966) as evident by their sedimen-tary sequences (Shaliv, 1991). This is also seen from ageological reconstruction of the area prior to the onset ofactivity along the Dead Sea fault (e.g. Fig. 11 inGarfunkel, 1989). After the initiation of the Dead Sea

Fig. 6. Four multi-channel seismic profiles across (a, b) and along (c, d) Haifa Basin (for location see Fig. 4), presented in the same horizontal andvertical scale. Reflectors within the basin fill are marked in black, while the older unit below is marked in gray. The profiles were flattened accordingto the upper unconformity horizon at the top of the basin. The flattening procedure was performed in order to restore the basin topography during itsformation.

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fault this basin was split and continued to evolve as twoseparate basins (Shaliv, 1991 and references therein).

Southeast of the Damascus depression, and along thesame NW–SE trend, the Azraq–Sirhan basin of easternJordan and northern Saudi Arabia continued its develop-ment from the Paleogene (Fig. 1) (Bender, 1974). Severalmagmatic flows overly the Mesozoic floor of the basin(Guba andMustafa, 1988). These volcanic features, agingfrom the Oligocene to the Holocene (Guiraud andBosworth, 1999), compose the ∼400 km long HarratAs-Shamah basaltic plateau. The volcanic province of theYizre'el depression was interpreted as the northeasternend of Harrat As-Shamah (Shaliv, 1991; Weinstein,2000).

Therefore the Haifa basin, located within the bound-aries of the present-day Qishon Graben, is the northwest-ern-most component of the series of basins describedabove (Fig. 1). Together, these basins composed the

Qishon–Sirhan failed rift, which started to evolve duringthe late Oligocene and died out in the mid-Miocene. Thelocation of Haifa basin on the continental margin enableda recurrent supply of seawater, in contrast to the otherdepressions. Therefore, a constant, undisturbed sequenceof sediments was deposited, leaving behind the uniquestratigraphic record described in this study. An additionalfactor preventing the supply or preservation of marinesediments in other basins in the area was the regionaluplift, which occurred at that time.

4.4. Red Sea–Suez rift system — early stages

In the south, the Red Sea–Suez rift system began todevelop in the early late-Oligocene (e.g. Guiraud andBosworth, 1999). Initial stages were characterized bypassive subsidence of grabens along the forming rift axis(Bayer et al., 1988), accompanied by strong pulses of

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shoulder uplift (Omar et al., 1989; Omar and Steckler,1995). Grabens within the protorift accumulated detritalsediments (Purser and Hotzl, 1988) until they eventuallycoalesced during the late-Oligocene, enabling shallowmarine incursions to supply sea water through the Gulf ofSuez (Dullo et al., 1983). These sea incursions left a 300msequence ofmarl–shale and gypsum–anhydrite alterations(Bad formation) when the earlier tectonic relief becamemore subdued during the early mid-Miocene (Bayer et al.,1988). Subsequently, the Gulf of Suez became deeper andaccumulated neritic facies (Guiraud and Bosworth, 1999),until its extension ceased as a result of commencement ofmotion along a new plate boundary— the Dead Sea fault(Eyal and Reches, 1983; Steckler et al., 1988; Eyal, 1996;Bosworth and McClay, 2001). The syn-rift sediments ofBad formation are the only equivalent to the sedimentsrevealed in the Haifa basin (present study), for the sametime frame, over the entire eastern Mediterranean area.

4.5. Parallel rifting

In general, the series of basins along the Qishon–Sirhan rift developed in stages similar to the develop-ment of the Suez rift. Yet, until the discovery of theHaifa basin it was thought that the Suez rift formedbefore the basins along the Qishon–Sirhan trend. Inaddition, Shaliv (1991) suggested that subsidence inbasins along this trend was slow, preventing the influxof seawater and the deposition of evaporites, in contrastto the situation in the Suez rift. However, sedimentsuncovered within the Haifa basin show that syn-riftingfacies were deposited continuously on the continentalshelf, starting during the early–late Oligocene. The newfindings show that at least in the northwest, the Qishon–Sirhan incipient rift started to develop prior to what wassuggested previously, at the same time as the first basinsalong the Red Sea–Suez rift system.

A series of basins, which developed parallel in timeand in space to a young spreading center, is a knownphenomenon. For example, several Mesozoic rift basins,in eastern North America, were formed during continentalextension associated with the separation of southeasternNorth America and northwestern Africa (e.g. Schlische,1993). However, the conjugate development of theQishon–Sirhan and the Red Sea–Suez rift systems isthe first known example from the northeast Afro\Arabianplate.

At the same time of the development of the parallelrifts in the southern and central Arabian plate (Red Sea–Suez and Qishon–Sirhan, respectively) its northern edgeunderwent a major continental collision with Eurasia(Ben-Avraham and Nur, 1976). The locking of the

Owen fracture zone (Fig. 1) implied the existence of atensional stress regime on the northeastern Afro-Arabian plate, around the pole of rotation of the Arabianplate (Joffe and Garfunkel, 1987). In the first stages ofthe tensional regime (mid-Oligocene–early mid-Mio-cene) the two parallel rifts developed. Nevertheless, twoadditional processes worked in favor of spreading alongthe Red Sea–Suez system rather than the Qishon–Sirhan system which died out: the mantle plume of Afar(Zeyen et al., 1997) and the thermal relaxation of theArabian–Nubian shield (Bojar et al., 2002). These twoprocesses created a zone of weakness along the present-day trend of Red Sea, which continues to develop underthe Dead Sea stress regime.

The Dead Sea fault, which today transfers sea floorspreading from the Red Sea to the continental collision insouthern Turkey, began to develop in the mid-Miocene.Its development generated partial tectonic stagnation ofpre-existing structures. In the southern rift, sea floorspreading continued in the Red Sea while tectonic quie-scence prevailed in the Gulf of Suez. In the northern rift,tectonic activity ceased along the Azraq–Sirhan basinwhile magmatism continued in the Harrat As-Shamahplateau. West of the Dead Sea fault, structures of theformer Qishon–Sirhan rift were reactivated by the newstress regime: the northern and southern shoulders of theQishon–Sirhan rift (upper Galilee and Carmel Structure,respectively) remained uplifted; basins along the rift axisremained lower and underwent a N–S extension(Schattner et al., 2006 and references therein); and finally,the Carmel fault was reactivated as an active branch of theDead Sea fault.

5. Conclusions

A combination of seismic reflection and well-log datawas used to investigate the response of the Levantcontinental margin to the transition in stress regimes,between the Red Sea to Dead Sea. A unique sedimentarysequence was uncovered in a newly found half-graben—the NW–SE trending Haifa basin. Facies composing thissequence are unique in the entire eastern Mediterraneanregion in their content, spatial extent and continuous timecoverage (mid-Oligocene to early mid-Miocene). Addi-tional basinswhich developed during the same time framefurther to the southeast (Canusa, Yizre'el, Damascus andAzraq–Sirhan), together with the Haifa basin, composethe Qishon–Sirhan rift. This rift developed in conjunctionwith the Red Sea–Suez graben system, both temporarilyand spatially. The Haifa and Canusa basins developedalong the present-day trend of the Carmel fault. Therefore,activity along the Carmel fault initiated during the

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Oligocene, prior to previous suggestions (Pliocene,Achmon and Ben-Avraham, 1997), and predating theformation of the Dead Sea fault. However, in later stages,the Carmel fault was reactivated by accommodatingdisplacements from the Dead Sea fault, which becamemore prominent as a plate boundary.

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