The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.

The historical sources of large and moderate earthquakes, earthquake catalogues and monographs exist in many depositories in Syria and European centers. They have been studied, and the detailed review and analysis resulted in a catalogue with 181 historical earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D. Numerous original documents in Arabic, Latin, Byzantine and Assyrian allowed us to identify seismic events not mentioned in previous works. In particular, detailed descriptions of damage in Arabic sources provided quantitative information necessary to re-evaluate past seismic events. These large earthquakes (I0>VIII) caused considerable damage in cities, towns and villages located along the northern section of the Dead Sea fault system. Fewer large events also occurred along the Palmyra, Ar-Rassafeh and the Euphrates faults in Eastern Syria. Descriptions in original sources document foreshocks, aftershocks, fault ruptures, liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis, fires and other damages. We present here an updated historical catalogue of 181 historical earthquakes distributed in 4 categories regarding the originality and other considerations, we also present a table of the parametric catalogue of 36 historical earthquakes (table I) and a table of the complete list of all historical earthquakes (181 events) with the affected locality names and parameters of information quality and completeness (table II) using methods already applied in other regions (Italy, England, Iran, Russia) with a completeness test using EMS-92. This test suggests that the catalogue is relatively complete for magnitudes >6.5. This catalogue may contribute to a comprehensive and unified parametric earthquake catalogue and to a realistic assessment of seismic hazards in Syria and surrounding regions

Tectonic events, continental intraplate volcanism, and mantle plume activity in northern Arabia: constraints form geochemistry and Ar-Ar dating of Syrian lavas

New (40)Ar/(39)Ar ages combined with chemical and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope data for volcanic rocks from Syria along with published data of Syrian and Arabian lavas constrain the spatiotemporal evolution of volcanism, melting regime, and magmatic sources contributing to the volcanic activity in northern Arabia. Several volcanic phases occurred in different parts of Syria in the last 20 Ma that partly correlate with different tectonic events like displacements along the Dead Sea Fault system or slab break-off beneath the Bitlis suture zone, although the large volume of magmas and their composition suggest that hot mantle material caused volcanism. Low Ce/Pb (<20), Nb/Th (<10), and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope variations of Syrian lavas indicate the role of crustal contamination in magma genesis, and contamination of magmas with up to 30% of continental crustal material can explain their (87)Sr/(86)Sr. Fractionation-corrected major element compositions and REE ratios of uncontaminated lavas suggest a pressure-controlled melting regime in western Arabia that varies from shallow and high-degree melt formation in the south to increasingly deeper regions and lower extents of the beginning melting process northward. Temperature estimates of calculated primary, crustally uncontaminated Arabian lavas indicate their formation at elevated mantle temperatures (T(excess) similar to 100-200 degrees C) being characteristic for their generation in a plume mantle region. The Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope systematic of crustally uncontaminated Syrian lavas reveal a sublithospheric and a mantle plume source involvement in their formation, whereas a (hydrous) lithospheric origin of lavas can be excluded on the basis of negative correlations between Ba/La and K/La. The characteristically high (206)Pb/(204)Pb (similar to 19.5) of the mantle plume source can be explained by material entrainment associated with the Afar mantle plume. The Syrian volcanic rocks are generally younger than lavas from the southern Afro-Arabian region, indicating a northward progression of the commencing volcanism since the arrival of the Afar mantle plume beneath Ethiopia/Djibouti some 30 Ma ago. The distribution of crustally uncontaminated high (206)Pb/(204)Pb lavas in Arabia indicates a spatial influence of the Afar plume of similar to 2600 km in northward direction with an estimated flow velocity of plume material on the order of 22 cm/a

The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.

The historical sources of large and moderate earthquakes, earthquake catalogues and monographs exist in many&#13; depositories in Syria and European centers. They have been studied, and the detailed review and analysis resulted&#13; in a catalogue with 181 historical earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D. Numerous original documents&#13; in Arabic, Latin, Byzantine and Assyrian allowed us to identify seismic events not mentioned in previous works.&#13; In particular, detailed descriptions of damage in Arabic sources provided quantitative information necessary to&#13; re-evaluate past seismic events. These large earthquakes (I0&gt;VIII) caused considerable damage in cities, towns&#13; and villages located along the northern section of the Dead Sea fault system. Fewer large events also occurred&#13; along the Palmyra, Ar-Rassafeh and the Euphrates faults in Eastern Syria. Descriptions in original sources document&#13; foreshocks, aftershocks, fault ruptures, liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis, fires and other damages. We&#13; present here an updated historical catalogue of 181 historical earthquakes distributed in 4 categories regarding&#13; the originality and other considerations, we also present a table of the parametric catalogue of 36 historical earthquakes&#13; (table I) and a table of the complete list of all historical earthquakes (181 events) with the affected locality&#13; names and parameters of information quality and completeness (table II) using methods already applied&#13; in other regions (Italy, England, Iran, Russia) with a completeness test using EMS-92. This test suggests that the&#13; catalogue is relatively complete for magnitudes &gt;6.5. This catalogue may contribute to a comprehensive and&#13; unified parametric earthquake catalogue and to a realistic assessment of seismic hazards in Syria and surrounding&#13; regions

Response of Onion Plants to Aditional Dose of Potassium Application

Abstract: Two field experiments were carried out of the Experimental Station of National Research Center at Shalakan (Kalubia Governorate), Egypt during the two successive winter seasons of 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 to study the response of onion plants cv. Giza-20 to the additional dose of potassium application i. e. 0, 50, 75, 100 kg potassium sulphate (48% K 2 O) as soil dressing or 1, 2, 3 L./fed of potassium oxide (36.5% K 2 O) as foliar spraying in addition to the recommended dose of NPK fertilizers application. Results indicated that the vegetative growth of onion plants and minerals uptake were increased by adding potassium fertilizer through sprayingor soil dressing up to 2 L./fed of potassium oxide or 75 kg potassium sulphate/fed., respectively. Total bulb yield as well as bulb quality were gradually increased with increasing of potassium application up to 2 L./fed of potassium oxide as foliar application or 75 kg potassium sulphate/fed. as soil dressing in addition of the recommended dose of potassium fertilizers application

Holocene faulting and earthquake recurrence along the Serghaya branch of the Dead Sea fault system in Syria and Lebanon

An edited version of this paper was published in Geophysical Journal International by Blackwell Publishing. Blackwell Publishing retains the copyright. Copyright 2003, Blackwell Publishing. See also: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-246X.2003.01933.x; http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/deadsea/publications/Gomez2003_GJI.htmThe Serghaya fault, located approximately along the Syrian-Lebanese border, is a prominent structure within the 200 km restraining bend in the left-lateral Dead Sea fault system. This study documents palaeoseismic and geomorphic expressions of Holocene movements on the Serghaya fault based on trench excavations and radiocarbon dates. Trenches were excavated across and parallel to a 4.5 m fault scarp where Late Pleistocene sediments are faulted against Holocene alluvium and colluvium. Locally oblique slip on the Serghaya fault has produced a sequence of fault-derived colluvial wedges that distinguishes individual palaeoseismic events. In addition, the trench excavations also depict a sequence of buried and displaced channels. Our palaeoseismic study reveals evidence for five surface-rupturing events within the past ~6500 yr. The last event involved 2-2.5 m of primarily left-lateral displacement and may correspond to one of two historically documented earthquakes during the 18th century (in 1705 and 1759). The displaced channels provide an estimated slip rate of approximately 1.4 - 0.2 mm yr-1 during the Holocene. The chronological relationships between the colluvial wedges and faulted channels demonstrate an average left-lateral displacement of about 2 m per event, suggesting that such events correspond to earthquakes of M >~ 7 with a mean return time of about 1300 yr. These results demonstrate that the Serghaya fault may present a previously overlooked earthquake hazard for populations in the vicinity of the AntiLebanon Mountains, including the cities of Damascus and Beirut. In a regional context, the inferred slip rate along the Serghaya fault accounts for about 25 per cent of the total expected motion of Arabia relative to Africa along the Dead Sea fault system. The fact that the Serghaya fault accounts for only a fraction of the expected plate motion implies that the remaining strike-slip and shortening must be accommodated by other active fault branches within the large restraining bend of the Dead Sea fault system. These results contradict suggestions that the northern Dead Sea fault system in Lebanon and Syria is presently inactive as a result of an evolving regional stress field in the eastern Mediterranean region

The volcanic activity in Syria and Lebanon between Jurassic and Actual

Chemical compositions of lavas from the Dead Sea Rift System volcanism indicate a typical intraplate setting during the period between Jurassic and Actual. Whole rock Potassium-Argon geochronology on 43 basalts reveals a strong and general activity between Berriasian and Valanginian times and also a constant activity during the Tertiary but with a large gap between 16 and 8 Ma. The volume and timing of the volcanism is controlled by the left-lateral mouvement along the Rift

Evidence for 830 years of seismic quiescence from palaeoseismology, archaeoseismology, and historical seismicity along the Dead Sea fault in Syria

An edited version of this paper was published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters by Elsevier Science. Elsevier Science retains the copyright to this paper (Copyright 2003). See also: http:\\dx.doi.org\10.1016\S0012-821X(03)00144-4; http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/deadsea/publications/Meghraoui2003_EPSL.htmThe long historical record of earthquakes, the physical effects on ancient building structures and the palaeoseismology provide a unique opportunity for an interdisciplinary tectonic analysis along a major plate boundary and a realistic evaluation of the seismic hazard assessment in the Middle East. We demonstrate with microtopographic surveys and trenching that the Dead Sea fault (DSF) offsets left-laterally by 13.690.2 m a repeatedly fractured ancient Roman aqueduct (older than AD 70 and younger than AD 30). Carbon-14 dating of faulted young alluvial deposits documents the occurrence of three large earthquakes in the past 2000 years between AD 100 and 750, between AD 700 and 1030 and between AD 990 and 1210. Our study provides the timing of late Holocene earthquakes and constrains the 6.990.1 mm/yr slip rate of the Dead Sea transform fault in northwestern Syria along the Missyaf segment. The antepenultimate and most recent faulting events may be correlated with the AD 115 and AD 1170 large earthquakes for which we estimate Mw =7.3^7.5. The 830 yr of seismic quiescence along the Missyaf fault segment implies that a large earthquake is overdue and may result in a major catastrophe to the population centres of Syria and Lebanon