SEDIMENTOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY OF QUATERNARY TRAVERTINE

The eastern rim of Wadi Araba in southwest Jordan displays distinct alluvial fans, which were developed since the time of formation of the Dead Sea Transform (DST), initiated in middle Miocene (Garfunkel et al., 1981). The DST fault system controlled the development of the alluvial fans and their stacking pattern. Sediments were supplied from the east and dispersed radially forming a stream-flow dominated alluvial fan system. The continuous uplift of the eastern granitic basement and overlying Phanerozoic sedimentary succession, and the active intramontane valleys whose outlets at the mountain front were elevated continuously above the piedmont plains, resulted in deposition of alluvial fans that coalesced to produce a huge bajada complex comprising of several generations of overlapping and superimposed lobes consisting mostly of granitic gravels. Eight lithofacies are identified, interpreted as representing the deposits of: proximal shallow stream and sheet floods, channelized, non-cohesive debris flows, medial heterolithic deposits, and distal mudstones and evaporites (sabkha) deposits.