About

Inbal Lifshitz is an MSc student in the Applied Marine Exploration Lab.

She joined the research group in 2016 for his MSc under the supervision of Dr. Itzik Makovsky

The Controls of pre-MSC morphology on the focused thin skin tectonics at the Dor disturbance, Offshore North central Israel

Inbal’s research is focusing on the thin-skinned tectonics complexity of the Dor Disturbance offshore north central Israel. In her research, she is using datasets covering an area of c. 215 km² to study the 3D complexity of salt deformation and overburden across the Israeli continental margins,

The main approach is an analysis of the structural elements of both the Dor Disturbance and the base Messinian surface (N). The analysis combined the interpretation of three 3D seismic datasets and a grid of 2D seismic profiles. More than 500 fault segments were interpreted across the study area using both amplitude sections and coherence slices. The results present three main classes of faults within the study area. These classes delineate three different domains of the Disturbance:

(1) Upper slope extensional belt, which is dominated by normal faults that are rooted into a pre-kinematic Pliocene unit

(2) Base of slope extensional belt, which is dominated by normal faults that are rooted into the base Messinian surface N

(3) Translational domain that is dominated by buried normal faulting and a set of oblique or pure strike slip faults, which are interpreted as dextral faults.

A flow direction estimation based on the dip and dip-azimuth of the N-surface, indicated a match between the faulting directions in the different domains and the dip of the sub-salt surface. In addition, the analysis shows that the maximum thickness of the Plio-Quaternary overburden coincides with a convergence of the flow lines. The results of the study highlight the key role that the pre-MSC morphology has in setting the deformational patterns of the Dor Disturbance, and therefore explaining its complex 3D kinematics.