Paleoseismology
Paleoseismology searches for signs of ancient earthquakes in sediments and rocks. It is used to supplement seismic monitoring for the evaluation of long term seismic hazard assessment. Paleoseismology is usually restricted to geomorphological regimes that have undergone continuous sediment accumulation during the Quaternary such as river beds, alluvia terraces, shorelines, and lakes. The paleoseismic analysis includes identifying faulted surfaces using paleosols as proxies, thus separating specific seismic events. These events can be dated using absolute dating techniques (e.g., radiocarbon, OSL, cosmogenic, Uranium-Thorium), or using human artifacts. We use this approach to assess seismic hazards in Israel.
Time-dependent seismicity has become an important topic in the evaluation of seismic hazard. We study the late Quaternary recurrence interval of earthquakes along the Dead Sea fault (DSF). In integrating paleoseismological, archeoseismological, and seismological data we can calculate the slip rate and frequency–magnitude relation along the DSF segments and evaluate the model of seismic behavior and recurrence interval for strong earthquake in each segment.
A mid‐eighth century CE surface faulting along the Dead Sea Fault at Tiberias Theater (Ferrario et al., 2020)
Publications:
Ferrario, M.F., Katz, O., Hillman, A., Livio, F., Amit, R., Michetti, A.M. (2020). The mid-8th century CE surface faulting along the Dead Sea Fault at Tiberias (Sea of Galilee, Israel. Tectonics, 39, 9. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020TC006186.
Hamiel, Y., Amit, R., Begin, Z.B., Marco, S., Katz, O., Salamon, A., Zilberman, E, Porat. N. (2009). The seismicity along the Dead Sea fault during the last 60,000 years. Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, 99, 2020–2026. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120080218.
Porat, N., Duller, G.A., Amit, R., Zilberman, E., Enzel, Y. (2009). Recent faulting in the southern Arava, Dead Sea Transform – evidence from single grain luminescence dating. Quaternary International, 199, 34-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2007.08.039.
Zilberman, E., Amit, R., Porat, N., Enzel, Y., Avner, U. (2005). Surface ruptures induced by the devastating 1068 AD earthquake in the southern Arava valley, DSR, Israel. Tectonophysics 408, 79-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2005.05.030.
Amit, R., Zilberman, E., Enzel, Y., Porat, N. (2002). Paleoseismic evidence for time dependency of seismic response on a fault system in the southern Arava Valley, Dead Sea rift, Israel. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 114 (2), 192-206. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2002)114<0192:PEFTDO>2.0.CO;2.