We are conducting an interdisciplinary study of the active tectonics of the Dead Sea Fault System (DSFS) in Syria and Lebanon.  One motivation for this research is the relative lack of information on this key plate boundary in the eastern Mediterranean tectonic puzzle.

In collaboration with researchers in the region, as well as colleagues in the U.S. and France, this project has several facets:

• Neotectonic/paleoseismic field-based studies to assess the late Quaternary rates of deformation and the geological record of late Pleistocene and Holocene earthquakes.
• GPS geodesy to measure short-term crustal deformations
• Remote sensing applications (InSAR, Landsat, etc.) to identify the possible regional extent of the neotectonic deformations.

Right:  Shaded relief image of the northern Dead Sea Fault System.

Publications

More information:

• A more detailed Project Summary
• Tectonics Setting of the DSFS
• Syria GPS Network
• Neotectonics and Paleoseismology
• InSAR and other remote sensing

Participants:

• Francisco Gomez, Professor, University of Missouri (Columbia)
• Muawia Barazangi, Professor, Cornell University

• Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology (Syria)
• Damascus University (Syria)
• Syrian Atomic Energy Commission
• Tishreen University (Syria)
• Syrian National Earthquake Center
• Lebanese National Center for Remote Sensing
• Lebanese American University
• American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
• IPG Strasbourg, France
• Earth Resources Laboratory at MIT

Acknowledgments

This material is partially based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.  SAR data have been provided by a data grant from the European Space Agency (ESA).

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For questions or comments, please contact Muawia Barazangi: mb44@cornell.edu.

Last updated: May 2010