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Karst development related to extensional fracture network at Bany-Kanana area, northern Jordan

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Abstract

The study area lies east of the northern segment of the Dead Sea Transform (DST), within the Jordan valley active strike-slip fault system. The exposed rocks in the study area consist of Upper Cretaceous to Cenozoic carbonates and cherts. This study concentrated on detailed field measurements of the various structural elements such as extensional fractures, normal faults, and strike-slip faults, with a total of 1,976 measurements. The predominant trends of all fractures (faults and joints) in the study area are N-S, NNW-SSE, and NW-SE with steep dips and characterized by sinistral and extensional modes of deformation. The NNW to NW trend has the same general trend of the water flow path in the study area. Normal and strike-slip conjugate and hybrid fracture sets with different acute dihedral angles and steep dips were observed in the study area. These fractures connect with the vertical extensional fractures in the same stratigraphic level. In addition, the interconnected orthogonal fracture systems with bedding parallel fractures play a major role conducting fluid movement and therefore, in initiation of karst development in the study area. These fractures network were enlarged by water dissolution forming small caverns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Al al-Bayt University, Mafraq, Jordan

    Abdullah Diabat

  2. Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan

    Fayez Ahmad & Nizar Hammouri

  3. Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

    Mutewekil Obeidat

Authors
  1. Abdullah Diabat
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  2. Fayez Ahmad
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  3. Nizar Hammouri
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  4. Mutewekil Obeidat
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Correspondence to Abdullah Diabat.

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Diabat, A., Ahmad, F., Hammouri, N. et al. Karst development related to extensional fracture network at Bany-Kanana area, northern Jordan. Arab J Geosci 8, 4999–5014 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-014-1568-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-014-1568-7

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