To identify subsurface processes responsible for sinkhole development in the alluvial fan of Ghor Al-Haditha at the southeast shore of the Dead Sea, researchers from Jordan, Germany, and Ireland carried out high-resolution shear wave reflection vibratory seismic surveys in the area to a depth of nearly 200 m. The most surprising result of the survey is the absence of evidence of a proposed massive salt layer. Instead, seismic images show a complex interlocking of alluvial fan deposits and lacustrine sediments of the Dead Sea. They suggest that Dead Sea mud layers become increasingly exposed to unsaturated water as the sea level declines and are consequently destabilized and mobilized by both dissolution and physical erosion in the subsurface. The results were recently published in Solid Earth.

Original Paper:

• Polom, U., Alrshdan, H., Al-Halbouni, D., Holohan, E. P., Dahm, T., Sawarieh, A., Atallah, M. Y., and Krawczyk, C. M. (2018): Shear wave reflection seismic yields subsurface dissolution and subrosion patterns: application to the Ghor Al-Haditha sinkhole site, Dead Sea, Jordan, Solid Earth, 9, 1079-1098, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1079-2018.

Article by Katerine Kornei:

• "Subsurface imaging sheds light in Dead Sea sinkholes," EOS (Online 12 Oct. 2018) 

Dr. Manfred W. Wuttke was appointed visiting professor in the field of Safety Science and Engineering at Xi'an University of Science and Technology (Shaanxi, China). Dr. Wuttke coordinates the research field "Geo-Energy Systems" at LIAG.