Jordan Rift Valley

The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley (Hebrew: בִּקְעָת הַיַרְדֵּן Bīqʿāt haYardēn, Arabic: الغور Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr), also called the Syro-African Depression, is an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel and Jordan. This geographic region includes the entire length of the Jordan River – from its sources, through the Hula Valley, the Korazim block, the Sea of Galilee, the (Lower) Jordan Valley, all the way to the Dead Sea, the lowest land elevation on Earth – and then continues through the Arabah depression, the Gulf of Aqaba whose shorelines it incorporates, until finally reaching the Red Sea proper at the Straits of Tiran.

This article is about the geology of the valley. For culture and geography of the valley, see Jordan Valley.

Bik'at Hayarden
A 2003 satellite image of the region showing the Jordan Rift Valley

History and physical features
Northern section of the Great Rift Valley. The Sinai Peninsula is in center and the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley above

The Jordan Rift Valley was formed many millions of years ago in the Miocene epoch (23.8 – 5.3 Myr ago) when the Arabian Plate moved northward and then eastward away from Africa. One million years later, the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan Rift Valley rose so that the sea water stopped flooding the area.

The geological and environmental evolution of the valley since its inception in the Oligocene can be seen in a variety of sedimentary and magmatic rock units, preserved as continuous sequences in the deeper basins. The outcropping formations around the basins represent alternating deposition and erosion phases.[1]

The lowest point in the Jordan Rift Valley is in the Dead Sea, the lowest spot of which is 790 m (2,590 ft) below sea level. The shore of the Dead Sea is the lowest land on earth, at 400 m (1,300 ft) below sea level. Rising sharply to almost 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in the west, and similarly in the east, the rift is a significant topographic feature over which a few narrow paved roads and difficult mountain tracks lead.[2] The valley north of the Dead Sea has long been a site of agriculture because of water available from the Jordan River and numerous springs located on the valley's flanks.

Dead Sea Transform
Main article: Dead Sea Transform

The plate boundary which extends through the valley is variously called the Dead Sea Transform (DST) or Dead Sea Rift. The boundary separates the Arabian Plate from the African Plate, connecting the divergent plate boundary in the Red Sea (the Red Sea Rift) to the East Anatolian Fault in Turkey.[3]

The DST fault system is generally considered to be a transform fault that has accommodated a 105-kilometre (65 mi) northwards displacement of the Arabian Plate.[4][5] This interpretation is based on observation of offset markers, such as river terraces, gullies and archaeological features, giving horizontal slip rates of several mm per year over the last few million years.[6] GPS data give similar rates of present-day movement of the Arabian Plate relative to the Africa Plate.[7] It has also been proposed that the fault zone is a rift system that is an incipient oceanic spreading center, the northern extension of the Red Sea Rift.[8]

In 1033, the rift valley was struck by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake, believed to have been produced along the DST fault system.[9] It caused widespread destruction, a tsunami, and killed 70,000 people.[10]

Climate
Climate data for Dead Sea, Sedom (-390m)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 26.4
(79.5)		 30.4
(86.7)		 33.8
(92.8)		 42.5
(108.5)		 45.0
(113.0)		 46.4
(115.5)		 47.0
(116.6)		 44.5
(112.1)		 43.6
(110.5)		 40.0
(104.0)		 35.0
(95.0)		 28.5
(83.3)		 47.0
(116.6)
Average high °C (°F) 20.5
(68.9)		 21.7
(71.1)		 24.8
(76.6)		 29.9
(85.8)		 34.1
(93.4)		 37.6
(99.7)		 39.7
(103.5)		 39.0
(102.2)		 36.5
(97.7)		 32.4
(90.3)		 26.9
(80.4)		 21.7
(71.1)		 30.4
(86.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 16.6
(61.9)		 17.7
(63.9)		 20.8
(69.4)		 25.4
(77.7)		 29.4
(84.9)		 32.6
(90.7)		 34.7
(94.5)		 34.5
(94.1)		 32.4
(90.3)		 28.6
(83.5)		 23.1
(73.6)		 17.9
(64.2)		 26.1
(79.0)
Average low °C (°F) 12.7
(54.9)		 13.7
(56.7)		 16.7
(62.1)		 20.9
(69.6)		 24.7
(76.5)		 27.6
(81.7)		 29.6
(85.3)		 29.9
(85.8)		 28.3
(82.9)		 24.7
(76.5)		 19.3
(66.7)		 14.1
(57.4)		 21.9
(71.4)
Record low °C (°F) 5.4
(41.7)		 6.0
(42.8)		 8.0
(46.4)		 11.5
(52.7)		 19.0
(66.2)		 23.0
(73.4)		 26.0
(78.8)		 26.8
(80.2)		 24.2
(75.6)		 17.0
(62.6)		 9.8
(49.6)		 6.0
(42.8)		 5.4
(41.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 7.8
(0.31)		 9.0
(0.35)		 7.6
(0.30)		 4.3
(0.17)		 0.2
(0.01)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 1.2
(0.05)		 3.5
(0.14)		 8.3
(0.33)		 41.9
(1.65)
Average precipitation days 3.3 3.5 2.5 1.3 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.6 2.8 15.6
Average relative humidity (%) 41 38 33 27 24 23 24 27 31 33 36 41 32
Source: Israel Meteorological Service[11]
Climate data for Gilgal (−255m)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 28.0
(82.4)		 33.5
(92.3)		 40.5
(104.9)		 44.7
(112.5)		 46.5
(115.7)		 47.5
(117.5)		 48.1
(118.6)		 49.0
(120.2)		 45.7
(114.3)		 44.2
(111.6)		 37.9
(100.2)		 32.5
(90.5)		 49.0
(120.2)
Average high °C (°F) 20.1
(68.2)		 21.6
(70.9)		 25.6
(78.1)		 30.3
(86.5)		 35.6
(96.1)		 38.7
(101.7)		 40.4
(104.7)		 40.0
(104.0)		 37.7
(99.9)		 33.8
(92.8)		 27.7
(81.9)		 22.1
(71.8)		 31.1
(88.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) 14.5
(58.1)		 15.5
(59.9)		 18.7
(65.7)		 22.8
(73.0)		 27.3
(81.1)		 30.5
(86.9)		 32.4
(90.3)		 32.5
(90.5)		 30.5
(86.9)		 26.9
(80.4)		 21.1
(70.0)		 16.4
(61.5)		 24.1
(75.4)
Average low °C (°F) 8.9
(48.0)		 9.4
(48.9)		 11.8
(53.2)		 15.3
(59.5)		 19.1
(66.4)		 22.3
(72.1)		 24.5
(76.1)		 25.0
(77.0)		 23.2
(73.8)		 19.9
(67.8)		 14.4
(57.9)		 10.6
(51.1)		 17.0
(62.7)
Record low °C (°F) 0.3
(32.5)		 0.0
(32.0)		 2.5
(36.5)		 3.0
(37.4)		 11.2
(52.2)		 15.2
(59.4)		 20.0
(68.0)		 19.5
(67.1)		 14.0
(57.2)		 12.1
(53.8)		 4.6
(40.3)		 0.2
(32.4)		 0.0
(32.0)
Source: Israel Meteorological Service[12]

See also

References
  1. The Jordan Rift Valley Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Tel Aviv University
  2. David Eshel (3 May 2006). "Increasing Importance of the Jordan Rift Buffer". Defense Update. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
  3. "The Geophysical Institute". Archived from the original on 23 June 2008.
  4. Freund R.; Garfunkel Z.; Zak I.; Goldberg M.; Weissbrod T.; Derin B.; Bender F.; Wellings F.E.; Girdler R.W. (1970). "The Shear along the Dead Sea Rift (and Discussion)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 267 (1181): 107. Bibcode:1970RSPTA.267..107F. doi:10.1098/rsta.1970.0027.
  5. Joffe S.; Garfunkel Z. (1987). "Plate kinematics of the circum Red Sea—a re-evaluation". Tectonophysics. 141 (1–3): 5–22. Bibcode:1987Tectp.141....5J. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(87)90171-5.
  6. Begin Z.B.; Steinitz G. (2005). "Temporal and spatial variations of microearthquake activity along the Dead Sea Fault, 1984–2004". Israel Journal of Earth Sciences. 54: 1–14. doi:10.1560/QTVW-HY1E-7XNU-JCLJ.
  7. Gomez, F., Karam, G., Khawlie, M., McClusky S., Vernant P., Reilinger R., Jaafar R., Tabet C., Khair K., and Barazangi M (2007). "Global Positioning System measurements of strain accumulation and slip transfer through the restraining bend along the Dead Sea fault system in Lebanon". Geophysical Journal International. 168 (3): 1021–1028. Bibcode:2007GeoJI.168.1021G. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03328.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. Mart Y.; Ryan W.B.F.; Lunina O.V. (2005). "Review of the tectonics of the Levant Rift system: the structural significance of oblique continental breakup". Tectonophysics. 395 (3–4): 209–232. Bibcode:2005Tectp.395..209M. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2004.09.007.
  9. Grigoratos, Iason; Poggi, Valerio; Danciu, Laurentiu; Rojo, Graciela (14 February 2020). "An updated parametric catalog of historical earthquakes around the Dead Sea Transform Fault Zone". Journal of Seismology. 24 (4): 803–832. Bibcode:2020JSeis..24..803G. doi:10.1007/s10950-020-09904-9. S2CID 211102430.
  10. National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Retrieved 22 June 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Averages and Records for several places in Israel". Israel Meteorological Service. June 2011. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010.
  12. "Averages and Records for several places in Israel" (PDF). Israel Meteorological Service. January 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 January 2016.

32°19′02″N 35°34′12″E

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