Why is the Dead Sea located in a pull-apart basin?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

tectonic basins and rift valleys Escarpments of the Great Rift Valley rising above the plain north of Samburu Game Preserve, central Kenya. Beisa oryxes graze in the foreground.

The Dead Sea is located in a pull-apart basin because of its unique position along major strike-slip faults.1

In this region, nearly parallel strike-slip faults bound two sides of the tectonic valley. When slip occurs on the overlapping segments of these faults, it creates crustal extension in the area between them. This process literally pulls the Earth's crust apart, resulting in the formation of a rectangular or rhomb-shaped basin.1

While the Dead Sea is also associated with a graben—a downfaulted block of the Earth's crust—the specific classification as a pull-apart basin highlights how horizontal displacement along these transform faults creates the depression that holds the lake.12