Creep along the northern Jordan Valley section of the Dead Sea Fault

We geodetically investigate the interseismic deformation along two neighboring sections of the Dead Sea Fault in Israel and present first clear evidence for shallow creep along this fault. We obtain the velocities of near-fault GPS campaign stations across the northern section of the Jordan Valley Fault (JVF) and the Jordan Gorge Section (JGS) that were surveyed each year between 2009 and 2015. The JVF extends from the northern shore of the Dead Sea to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the JGS extends from the Sea of Galilee to the Hula Basin. We infer a slip rate of similar to 4.1mm/yr and a locking depth of similar to 10km for both sections. Data analysis indicates that while the JGS is found to be fully locked above the locking depth, the northern section of the JVF is found to be creeping from a depth of 1.51.0km to the surface, with a creep rate of 2.50.8mm/yr. Our observations also suggest that the current slip rate of the fault at the western margin of the Jordan Valley is minor, less than the GPS velocities uncertainties.