Upper crustal velocity structure and basement morphology beneath the intracontinental Palmyride fold-thrust belt and north Arabian platform in Syria
Open accessAbstract
The intracontinental Palmyride fold-thrust belt, which is the site of an inverted Mesozoic rift, is sandwiched between two crustal blocks, the Aleppo plateau in the north and the Rutbah uplift in the south. The 400 × 100 km belt merges with the Dead Sea fault system in the southwest and gradually ends near the Euphrates depression in the northeast. Very dense (i.e. 100 m geophone spacing), reversed and multifold seismic refraction profiling was carried out to map approximately the upper 15 km of the crust in the early 1970s. These refraction data are utilized to model sedimentary rock thickness, seismic velocity and basement morphology. Extensive data coverage also enables identification of the major faults of the region. A 2-D ray tracing technique is used in the modelling. Interpretation of these data indicates that five distinct velocity layers characterize the upper crust of the northern Arabian platform in Syria. The P-wave velocities within these layers are (in km s−1): 2.0–2.8, 4.0–4.4, 5.2–5.3, 5.5–5.7, corresponding to sedimentary rocks from Quaternary to late pre-Cambrian in age, and 5.9–6.0, corresponding to metamorphic basement. A comparison of the velocity models with the available drill hole information and seismic reflection profiles shows strong velocity variations in a given geologic formation, depending on the depth and location of the formation. The depth to metamorphic basement beneath the Palmyride fold belt clearly shows a deep trough, filled with Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks. These rocks decrease in thickness from about 11 km in the southwest to about 9 km in the central segment of the belt. The basement depth is about 6 km in the Aleppo plateau and not less than 8 km in the Rutbah uplift. Deeper basement in the Rutbah uplift is probably the result of a pre-Cambrian rifting episode, clearly identified to the south in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cenozoic crustal shortening of about 20–25 per cent across the southwestern segment of the Palmyride belt has not been sufficient to substantially reduce the size of the basement trough beneath this mountain belt. Finally, northeast decreasing basement depth in the Palmyrides supports the idea that the Palmyride Mesozoic rifting was developed as an aulacogen of the rifted Levantine margin along the eastern Mediterranean.
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Seismic-refraction results from Syria show that the Phanerozoic sedimentary section varies from more than about 8.0 km in the Rutbah high to 9.0 km in the NE Palmyrides and 11 km in their central part.
“seismic-refraction results from Syria show that the Phanerozoic sedimentary section varies from more than about 8.0 km in the Rutbah high to 9.0 km in the NE Palmyrides and 11 km in their central part (e.g.Seber et al. 1993;Barazangi et al. 1993).”
From Crustal structure of the northern Levant region: multiple source Werner deconvolution estimates for Bouguer gravity anomalies (1997) · cites this paper as Seber et al. 1993
The Abstract (page not provided) places the approximately 11 km sedimentary section in the southwestern Palmyrides and the approximately 9 km section in the central belt—not 11 km centrally and 9 km in the northeast. It does support a basement depth of at least 8 km in the Rutbah uplift. The Profile II passage also says the 11 km column includes pre-Cambrian sedimentary rocks, so calling the entire column Phanerozoic is not supported. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBased on seismic-refraction profiles, Seber et al. (1993) indicated that the thickness of the Phanerozoic sedimentary section increases from 9 to 11 km over almost the same distance.
“Based on the interpretation of seismic-refraction profiles, Seber et al. ( 1993) indicated that the thickness of the Phanerozoic sedimentary section increases, over almost the same distance, from 9 to 11 km.”
From Crustal structure of the northern Levant region: multiple source Werner deconvolution estimates for Bouguer gravity anomalies (1997) · cites this paper as Seber et al. (1993)
The Discussion reports basement depths of about 9 km in the central Palmyrides and 11 km beneath the southwestern segment, consistent with a thicker sedimentary column to the southwest. But Profile II says the 11 km column includes pre-Cambrian rocks, so the paper does not establish that the Phanerozoic section itself reaches 11 km. The supplied passages give no basis for assessing “over almost the same distance.” (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Seber, D., Barazangi, M., Chaimov, T. A., Al-Saad, D., Sawaf, T., & Khaddour, M.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- Venue
- Geophysical Journal International
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1993-06
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 752-766
- ISSN
- 0956-540X (ISSN-L)
- 1365-246X
- OpenAlex
- W2163364087
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 4.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Geophysical Journal International (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological Studies and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Seismic Imaging and Inversion Techniques
- Keywords
- upper crustal velocity structure, basement structure, sediment thickness, P-wave velocity, seismic refraction, Mesozoic rifting, aulacogen, crustal shortening, Dead Sea fault system, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
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