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Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149

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Geomorphology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geomorph

Anatomy of landslides along the Dead Sea Transform Fault System in NW Jordan
H.G. Dill a,, K. Hahne a, F. Shaqour b
a
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources P.O. Box 510163 D-30631 Hannover, Germany
b
Jordan University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geology, Amman, Jordan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the mountainous region north of Amman, Jordan, Cenomanian calcareous rocks are being monitored constantly
Received 13 December 2010 for their mass wasting processes which occasionally cause severe damage to the AmmanIrbid Highway. Satellite
Received in revised form 4 October 2011 remote sensing data (Landsat TM, ASTER, and SRTM) and ground measurements are applied to investigate the
Accepted 15 December 2011
anatomy of landslides along the Dead Sea Transform Fault System (DSTFS), a prominent strike-slip fault. The joints
Available online 30 December 2011
and faults pertinent to the DSTFS match the architectural elements identied in landslides of different size. This
Keywords:
similarity attests to a close genetic relation between the tectonic setting of one of the most prominent fault
Dead Sea Transform Fault System zones on the earth and modern geomorphologic processes. Six indicators stand out in particular:
Landslide 1) The fractures developing in NS and splay faults represent the NS lateral movement of the DSTFS. They
Carbonate rocks governed the position of the landslides. 2) Cracks and faults aligned in NESW to NNWSSW were caused
Cretaceous by compressional strength. They were subsequently reactivated during extensional processes and used in
Jordan some cases as slip planes during mass wasting. 3) Minor landslides with NESW straight scarps were derived
from compressional features which were turned into slip planes during the incipient stages of mass wasting.
They occur mainly along the slopes in small wadis or where a wide wadi narrows upstream. 4) Major landslides
with curved instead of straight scarps and rotational slides are representative of a more advanced level of mass
wasting. These areas have to be marked in the maps and during land management projects as high-risk area
mainly and may be encountered in large wadis with steep slopes or longitudinal slopes undercut by road
construction works. 5) The spatial relation between minor faults and slope angle is crucial as to the vulnerability
of the areas in terms of mass wasting. 6) Springs lined up along faults cause serious problems to engineering
geology in that they step up the behavior of marly interbeds to accelerate sliding during mass wasting. The most
vulnerable areas prone to slope instabilities are those with compressional tectonics followed by extensional
movements, with fault bound springs and smectite-bearing marly layers interbedded with pure massive lime-
stones. The semi-arid to arid climate with periodic rainfalls combined with subsurface water circulation along
the joints and faults can trigger mass wasting.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Landslides are natural hazards that are very widespread across the
globe and different climatic zones. They can be harmful to humans,
cause property damage and remove soil to thereby degrade the pro-
ductivity of agricultural land. (Alexander, 1986; Ahmad et al., 1993;
Easterbrook, 1999; Guzzetti et al., 1999; Paudel et al., 2003; Sidle et
al., 2005; Galadini, 2006; Chen and Wang, 2007; Guthrie and Evans,
2007; Hilker et al., 2009). When slow-moving or abrupt mass wasting
interrupts the road network of a region and block the lines of transport
these geohazards, furthermore, impede trafc and transport. Over the
last few decades, Jordan witnessed extensive construction activity,
including inter-city highways passing over and intersecting sedimentary
rocks mainly of calcareous lithologies. One of these highways runs
Corresponding author. Tel.: + 49 511 643 2361; fax: + 49 511 643 2304.
E-mail address: dill@bgr.de (H.G. Dill).
across Jordan from the Gulf of Aqaba in the south to the Syrian border
in the north, crossing through the municipalities of Amman (Fig. 1).
While the southern branch of this road (Desert Highway) is hardly sus-
ceptible to geohazards, because it runs through a at topography, the
northern branch between Amman and Irbid cuts through a mountain-
ous area parallel to the Dead Sea Transform Fault System (DSTFS) (Figs.
2 and 3a). It is hence vulnerable to mass wasting (Fig. 3b,c). Immedi-
ately north of Amman where the route crosses Cretaceous limestones
mass wasting processes of different dimensions have already damaged
the road and adjacent small housing areas (Fig. 4; Sawariah and
Barjous, 1993; Al-Homoud et al., 1999; Malkawi et al., 2000). The
aim of our study is to map and describe the geomorphologic and
lithological features of mass wasting and classify their types. It is
possible to assess the inuence of structural geology on the rock
mass fabric and mass wasting processes by investigating the regional
structural pattern with a view to active landslides (Coltorti and Ollier,
2000; Galadini, 2006). The generations of landslides is discussed in
this morphoclimatic zone transitional from semiarid to arid and treated

0169-555X/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.12.031
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149 135

LT

IRBID
routes of transport

study area

town

N LT lake

fault
Quaternary and Neogene
sediments
Quaternary and Neogene
I basalts
II Paleogene sediments

Late Cretaceous sediments

AMMAN
Early Cretaceous sediments

Jurassic sediments

Triassic sediments
JERUSHALAYIM DS Triassic and Late Paleozoic
AL-QUDS 15 km sediments

Fig. 1. Map showing the geology of northern Jordan (modied from Bender, 1968, 1974; Toloczyki et al., 1999), the major routes of transport in the Kingdom of Jordan and the
topographic position of the study area along the AmmanIrbid Highway. LT: Lake Tiberias, DS: Dead Sea. Roman numerals denote the study areas of mass wasting (I) and
structural geology (II).

in view of the stress eld and the hydrology of one of the most be recognized from the Gulf of Aqaba all along the Wadi Araba through
prominent fault zones on Earth. The Arabian Plate is bounded to the the Jordan Valley (Quennell, 1958, 1959; Sneh, 1996; Sharland et al.,
west versus the African Plate by the well-known strike-slip Dead Sea 2001; Smit et al., 2008) (Fig. 1). The local scarp pattern of landslides
Transform Fault System (DSTFS) whose morphological expression can is discussed in relation to the DSTFS which runs parallel to the

Formation Group
Irbid
N Colluvial deposits
Recent deposits
Amman Silicified LS (B2)
Study Area Balqa
AMMAN Wadi Um Gudran (B1)
Dead Sea
Wadi As Sir (A7)

Shuayb (A5-6)
Hummar (A4) Ajlune

N Fuhays (A3)

Naur LS (A1-2)

Aqaba 150 km

Kurnub S.S

Fault
Strike and dip

Anticline

Minor landslide
1 km Major landslide
Fig. 2. Geological map of the landslide prone area along the AmmanIrbid Highway. The inset map shows the location of the study areas and localities along the highway from
Aqaba to Irbid referred to in the text.
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136 H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149

AmmanIrbid Highway. The discussion closes with structural and
geomorphologic suggestions to improve the area along the eastern
side of the DSTFS.
2. Study area
The study area lies in hilly grounds between 600 and 750 m
above mean sea level. The wavy topography gradually turns into
a more rugged topography approaching the Dead Sea in the Jordan
Valley.
The stratigraphy and lithology of Jordan are summarized in Table 1.
The distribution of sediments and volcanic rocks is mapped in Fig. 1
(Bender, 1968, 1974; Toloczyki et al., 1999). The northwestern part
of Jordan is covered by Late Cretaceous calcareous sediments which
submerge towards the NE under the plateau basalts of Cenozoic
age (Abed, 2000; Dill et al., 2009, 2010). Stratigraphic series as old
as Triassic are exposed in the core zones of some anticlines whose
axes strike NESW. North of the town of Irbid, Paleogene sediments
and Cenozoic volcanic rocks cover vast areas. Neogene and Quaternary
sediments occur along the Dead Sea Jordan Valley graben system
hiding the DSTFS and also in some NW-SE-trending grabens branch-
ing towards the W (Fig. 1).
The landslide-prone area is located about 20 km north of Amman
City as shown in Fig. 1. At different sites in this hilly terrain underlain
by gently dipping, thickly-bedded limestones, landslides severely
damaged the AmmanIrbid Highway (Fig. 4a,b). The calcareous bed-
rock is stratigraphically attributed to the Cenomanian Hummar For-
mation (A4) resting on marly and clayey deposits of the Fuhais
Formation (A3) (Fig. 1, Table 1). These argillaceous deposits, mea-
suring about 30 m in thickness, have low permeability and, hence,
act as an aquiclude. The A4, about 60 m thick, is considered as a
minor aquifer horizon within the lower Ajlun Group. This unit is
overlain by the Shuayb Formation, a combination of two units (A5
and A6) and composed of marl/limestone alternation (see Table 2
for chemical composition). About two thirds of the formation, ~200 m
thick and made up of marls, behaves as an aquitard. The area prone to
minor and major landslides is intersected by a fault whose strike is
around NNE to NE (Fig. 2b). This structure terminates an NNE-running
anticline cored by sediments of the Naur Formation towards the N
and sediments of the Kurnub Sandstone Series in the S (Fig. 2). The
landslides categorized in the text as major and minor landslides do
not differ in their major features but in the size. Here, the term major
landslide is used to delineate a mass of rock exceeding 500 m in width
and length and at least 10 m thick slid off the underlying marly
sediments.
Jordan is situated in the eastern Mediterranean region which is
characterized by temperate semi-arid to arid climates. It has warm
and dry summers, with temperatures up to 38 C, and cool winter
months during which most of the annual precipitation occurs with
occasional snowfall in winter. Annual rainfall rarely exceeds 500 mm
even in the highland areas and most of the country receives less
than 200 mm (WAJ, 1989). The average evaporation constitutes
approximately 90% of the total rainfall (WAJ, 1989).
3. Methodology
The state of surface of the slides has been examined for changes in
friability and competence of rocks together with the spatial data. This
is to perform subsurface predictions based on the surface expression
during ground-based as well as remote sensing surveys of the land-
slides, using aerial photographs or satellite images of high resolution.
Field investigations were conducted for a tripartite subdivision of
each landslide using the surface-subsurface interrelation within the
landscapes affected by the mass wasting processes.
Mapping was based upon topographic map sheets of the area
available on a scale 1:50,000 along the AmmanIrbid Highway and
in the area along the eastern side of the DSTFS. They were used in
combination with the geological map of the area to locate and evalu-
ate the spatial data of the slopes and the geological formations within
the area as well as ease for detection of the small-scale structural
elements including faults (Muneizel and Khalil, 1993; Sawariah and
Barjous, 1993; Basem and Muneizel, 1998; Shawabkeh, 2001; Diabat
and Abdelghafoor, 2004). Aerial photographs and satellite images are
essential for such studies because they provide the necessary informa-
tion on the morphology of the landscape and thereby facilitate the
assessment of the regional stress pattern (Mantovani et al., 1996).
Enhanced remote sensing data and geocoded satellite images included
Landsat TM acquired on October 13, 2003, ASTER acquired on January
17, 2007 an SRTM digital elevation model and Google EarthQuickbird
images.
Linear and planar structural elements within and outside the land-
slides including strike, dip, width and spacing were measured along
with the positioning of each waypoint by a Garmin 60 CSx GPS with
an average accuracy of 5 m.
The collected data and the Rockware software provided rose dia-
grams to display and evaluate the orientation of structural elements
as density plots in the stereo net. The spatial data were mapped using
Surfer Software. Although the study area is lithologically rather homo-
geneous, some samples were taken on the surface of the sliding rock
mass and within some of those scarps in which the lithology changed
from hard limestones to weaker marls.
In order to access the landslide-prone areas along the Amman
Irbid Highway linked up with the DSTFS, a study area of the Western
Highlands, delimited by the Jordan Valley Escarpment, was selected
for a small-scale tectonic analysis to assess major and minor faults,
thrust faults as well as anticlinal and synclinal axes. The latter are
visible in satellite images and geological maps which were updated
in the course of our eld work.
4. Results
4.1. Morphological subdivision of the landslides
Different types of landslides, which all affect the AmmanIrbid
Highway, were identied and studied for their gravitational mass
wasting. After a reconnaissance in the area, two landslides were
chosen for their importance with a view to the major lines of com-
munication north of Amman and for their usefulness as reference
types. They were the only landslides that occurred during the period
of investigation, but not the only features of mass wasting in the area.
Mass wasting is common and prevalent also in the region of the Wadi
As Sir (Fig. 3c). The landslides developed on the slopes of wadis fac-
ing westward and attaining critical slope gradients of approximately
1/10.
The larger landslides (type 1) typically have curved main scarps/
slip planes (1st order) and widely-spaced 2nd order fractures conned

Fig. 3. Geographic and geological setting of the highway from the Gulf of Aqaba to Irbid (for location see Fig. 1). a) Southern branch between Aqaba and Amman mainly through the
western marginal zone of the Arabian Desert strewn with cobbles and pebbles coated by desert varnish (dv). The tarmac road south of Amman passes over outcrops of at-lying
Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks surrounding the crystalline basement of the Arabian Shield. b) Slightly tilted sandstones (sdst) and claystones (cst) with embedded
lignite (lig) seams of the Kurnub Sandstone exposed in a road-cut of a river valley along the northern branch of the AmmanIrbid Highway (Northern Highway; see Fig. 1).
These sediments are rather stable and not affected by mass wasting. c) Recumbent fault of the Turonian Shuayb Formation (Powell, 1989) made up of marls and limestones
exposed along the steeply dipping hillslopes of the Wadi Es Sir (core of the syncline is composed of the upper Turonian-2 sediments), west of Amman.
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149 137

dv

sdst

lig

cst

c
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138 H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149

b
Old road
New road

sc

sc

Fig. 4. Morphology of landslides and damage of properties and roads. a) Mass wasting pushing into the tarmac road, which narrows down the trafc lane of the AmmanIrbid Highway, north
of Amman. The lower set of gabions along this landslide-prone stretch of the tarmac road has been tilted towards the road and squeezed out of the gabion wall. b) Slump of the
landslide with the dip of slope marked by arrowheads. The line where the dip of slope reverses is marked by a stippled line and in the eld by transverse cracks. The road affected
by the landslide is shown in the background running from top right to down left. c) House destroyed by the block tilting and sliding in the course of mass wasting. Two scarps are
labeled sc.

to the north-eastern tail end of the scarps (horse-tailing) (Fig. 5a). The
1st order features measure by the meter in width; their length is larger
than the less prominent 2nd order faults by more than 10 m. The gener-
al strike of the 2nd order faults uctuates around NS. They fade out in
the northern calcareous wall rocks which results in a gradual boundary
between the solid rock and the calcareous debris in motion.
The smaller landslide (type II) is intersected by several 1st order
straight scarps/ slip planes, and a set of closely-spaced 2nd order fractures
that are more or less homogeneously distributed across the entire sliding
body. Contrary to type I, the type II landslide features a northern bound-
ary that is delineated by a set of minor discontinuous WNW-striking
scarps. They create a sharp boundary of the landslide against its northern
calcareous wall rocks (Fig. 5b, Fig. 6).
Both landslides are delimited downslope by a gentle bulge which
marks the toe of the landslide towards the W. There the dual carriage
way of the modern AmmanIrbid Highway runs largely parallel to its

Table 1
Stratigraphical units in the study areas in NW Jordan (source: Masri, 1963; Powell, 1989).

Age Group Formation Formation Lithology

(Masri, 1963) (Powell, 1989)

Paleog. Eocene Belqa Muwaqqar Um Rijam Chert

Paleocene Muwaqqar Chalk
L. Cretaceous Mastrichtian Amman Alhisa Phosphorite/with oyster
Campanian Amman silicied Limestone Chert
Gudran Chalk
Santonian Ghudran Wadi Sir Sandy Phosphorite Micrite and sandy phosphorite
Coniacian Ajlun Shuayb Micrite and marl
Turonian Wadi Sir Hummar
Fuheis
Cenomanian Shuieb Naur Marl and micrite
Hummar
Fuheis
Naur
E. Cret. Albian Kurnub Baqa Subeihi Fluvial and marine sandstones
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149 139

Table 2 4.2. Lithology and state of surface of the landslides

Chemical composition of the calcareous rocks undergoing mass wasting. SiO2 to SO3
are given in wt.% and Ba through Zr in ppm.
There are three types of calcareous rocks involved in the mass
Min Mean Max wasting.
SiO2 0.80 3.95 7.94
TiO2 0.01 0.05 0.10 Lithotype I Gradual disintegration of massive limestone eventually
Al2O3 0.25 0.88 1.98 resulted in some kind of matrix-supported breccia with
Fe2O3 0.15 0.43 0.90
subangular limestone fragments oating in brown loam.
MnO 0.00 0.01 0.01
MgO 0.64 4.45 11.27 A gradual transition from the fresh calcareous rock, giving
CaO 35.28 47.13 54.32 way through calcareous corestones into brown loam,
Na2O 0.01 0.01 0.02 occurs mostly in places of structural weakness (Fig. 7a,c).
K2O 0.01 0.02 0.05 For the purpose of this study, the terminology on rock
P2O5 0.01 0.02 0.03
strength has been adapted to that proposed by Migon
SO3 0.11 0.15 0.18
Ba 7 26.0 37 (1997) for the description of weathering phenomena.
Cr 5 8.0 14 Such disintegration processes causing a decrease in
Cu 15 38.0 58 rock strength leave behind a cobble-strewn surface
Sr 127 239.3 453
with friable brown loam. In vertical sections, these
V 6 18.0 30
Zn 6 9.3 16 cobble-strewn surfaces grade into funnel-shaped zones
Zr 6 16.3 29 of rock disintegration ending in a fracture zone (sealed
fractures). Moving downward a gradual coarsening of
the fragments can be discerned. The size of clasts can
attain boulder size. The dip of the bedding has been rotat-
ed clockwise creating a dip of bedding against the slope
stratigraphic boundaries (Figs. 4b and 5). In general, the major scarps angle (Fig. 7b). Locally, tiny undulous calcite bands cross
in both landslides strike at an azimuth of approximately 45 and run these fractures unaffected by this mass wasting. These
at angles of approximately 45 to the contour lines. The old road from calcite bands denote zones of abandonment of motion in
Amman to Irbid runs west of the present-day highway through the these hilly areas.
thalweg of the wadi at the foot slope of the hills. It is entirely unaffect- Lithotype II Coherent limestone benches dipping parallel to the slope
ed by the present landslides (Fig. 4a,b). Several small hamlets are create some kind of a calcareous duricrust armoring the
scattered across the slopes, some of which in parts are damaged by surface of the slides (Fig. 7e, #1). The carbonate layers
the still active mass wasting and, hence, had to be abandoned by whose dip runs conformably with the slope angle are
their owners for safety reasons (Fig. 4c). bent up toward the toe-slope (Fig. 7e, #2).

a b

N
100 m
100 m
N Major scarps

Minor scarps and fractures

Escarpment

Gabions

Dual carriageway

Fig. 5. Two reference types of landslides along the AmmanIrbid Highway. a) Landslide intersected by curved scarps (slip planes, 1st order) and widely spaced 2nd order fractures
conned to the NE tail end of the scraps (horse-tailing), typical of large wadis with slope gradients of 1:10. The regional tectonic stress pattern is still preserved but reworked by
rotational and block sliding at an advanced level. b) Landslide intersected by straight scarps (slip planes, 1st order) and closely spaced 2nd order fractures, typical of narrow wadis
with slope gradients of 1:10. The regional tectonic (compressional) stress pattern is still well-preserved.
 Author's personal copy
140 H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149
100 m
major landslide
500 m
Fig. 6. Two landslides along the AmmanIrbid highway illustrated on a relief map with 25-m contours (courtesy: Google Earth). They represent different levels of mass wasting in
the same tectonic setting but different geomorphologic terrains.
Lithotype III On top of the hill, the carbonate carapace shows a set
of minor karren carved into the limestone knops and
weathering pits lled with residual loam in between.
Area III differs from area II only by its topographic po-
sition but not by quality of rock strength or lithology
(Fig. 7 d). These areas cover four zones different as to
their block motion and spatial arrangement, which were
discussed in Section 5.
4.3. Chemical composition and mineralogy of the landslides
Between 96 and 90 vol.% of the calcareous rocks are made up of
calcite. Dolomite does not play any part among the carbonate min-
erals of the carbonate rocks affected by mass wasting. The insoluble
mineralogical constituents consist of quartz, illite and illite-smectite
mixed layers. The calcareous rocks under study are pure calcitic
limestones sensu Fookes (1978). The chemical composition of the cal-
careous rocks undergoing mass wasting is shown in Table 2. Only a few
trace elements are above detection limit of XRF and listed thus in the
table. The marly sediments abundant in smectite-group phyllosilicates
and intercalated into the calcitic limestones constitute the detachment
horizon of the landslides.
minor landslide N
4.4. Morphology, dip and strike of architectural elements pertinent to the
landslides
The spatial data were collected during ground follow-up measure-
ments within the landslide-prone areas. The measurements include
spacing of fractures, width of cracks and fractures, their shape as
well as dip and strike directions (Fig. 8). These features of the major
architectural elements were used to characterize the different parts
of the landslide; they are crucial to unravel the history of mass wasting
in this area. We drew on structural features, which have been described
in different textbooks and comprehensive papers. These features were
collected for the various subsections of landslides and plotted as
rose diagrams and stereo nets (Fig. 8). A synoptical view encompassing
all of these elements is given in Fig. 9.
A set of selected rose diagrams and stereo nets shown here reveals
that the fracture pattern is governed by two major trends. Group-I
fractures tend to run NS with a slight deviation from that direction
towards the W (Fig. 8). The other array of fractures runs almost per-
pendicular to this direction uctuating around NE (Fig. 8). A more
complex picture arises when the geometrical properties of the 2D-data
array are illustrated in a stereographic or equiangular projection in
the stereo net (Figs. 8 and 9). The scatter diagram of poles has
been contoured according to density per unit area of the projection.
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149 141

a c

ca

ca d

b
e

1 2

Fig. 7. Topstratum and state of surface of the landslide area. a) Gradual disintegration of massive limestones eventually resulting in some kind of matrix-supported breccia with
subangular limestone fragments oating in brown loam. The stippled line denotes the position of a slide-induced normal fault in the near-surface part of the mass wasting
body. An undulous calcite band is crossing the fracture unaffected and indicates that the ssure is no longer active. b) Funnel-shape of structural weakness along a fracture
zones whose surface expression is shown in (c). Vertically downward, a gradual coarsening of the fragments may be recognized. The size of clasts may attain boulder size. The
dip of the bedding has been rotated and led to a dip of bedding against the slope angle. c) A cobble-strewn surface with friable brown loam, marking more intensive weathering
and disintegration due to some inltration of surface water. The result at depth is displayed in (b). d) Carbonate carapace on top of the hill with minor karren (arrowhead) carved
into the limestone knops and weathering pits lled with residual loam in between. e) Coherent limestone benches dipping parallel to the slope (1) constitute some kind of a carapace
armoring the surface. Beyond the slope-parallel wadi the limestone layers (2) are bent up toward the toe-slope.

The diagrammatic representation of the projected data, clustering in
the center of the stereo net, mirror dip and strike of the bedding
planes (poles-to-bedding gure). These planar elements gently dip
towards the E in the western proportion of the slide, and dip at a
more inclined angle towards the WNW in the eastern section. The
various fractures form girdles close to the margin attesting to very
steeply dipping scarps and fractures within the landslide body.
At more than 40 waypoints, each covering between 20 and 30
measurements, within the major landslide, spatial data were collected
together with their length, width and striae indicating the orientation
of the displaced blocks. During investigation of the minor landslide,
data were not collected at the same level of intensity as in the major
landslide and hence a statistical treatment was not conducted. The
pitch values of the striae linear features on the fracture planes reect
the motion of individual subsections of the landslide which are shown
to illustrate its various entities (Fig. 9). Four subsections can be delineat-
ed within the landslide based on the morphology, dip and strike of the
structural elements (Fig. 9). Delimited to the W and N by two wadis, the
entire slide is blanketed at some sites at its SE corner and in the center
by a scree of calcareous rubble (Fig. 7c).
The morphology and size of the scarps, made visible by the con-
stant motion of the landslide, differs signicantly with respect to
surface expression and size. The main scarps or 1st order fractures
show a curved shape, concave toward the W, with a central block
surrounded by both boundary fractures. The scarps are curved conca-
vely towards the direction of displacement which may also be deduced
by the zone of rubble or friction zones between the central block and
each boundary fault (r in Fig. 10a). This block is wrapped down
untilted (Fig. 10a). At its northern ends some of these scarps grade
into several smaller 2nd order scarps (Fig. 10b). In contrast to the
main scarps, the central blocks were subjected to rotational sliding in
this late-stage fracture pattern (Fig. 10b). Some cracks were described
as saw teeth fractures in the current paper owing to their peculiar
course and outward appearance; they never have any intermediate
blocks, rarely exceed 1 m in width, and intersect the landslide down
to a depth of as much as 5 m in some places (Fig. 10c). One set strikes
NS; the elements of the other set are aligned in NESW direction
(Table 3).
4.5. Structural geology of the sedimentary series surrounding the landslides
The pressure zones are marked by a system of valleys and ridges
running almost NESW (Figs. 11 and 12). Gray linear structures cut
across these structural elements and are located on both sides of the
master fault of the DSTFS which is highlighted by the Dead Sea and
the Jordan Valley running along it. A basin-and-range topography
characterized by extensional tectonics can be ruled out for most of
the study area in view of the cross sections BB and CC presented
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142 H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149

a
32.1152 Northing

32.115

32.1148

32.1146

32.1144
A
32.1142
C

32.114 B

Easting
32.1138 D
35.8538 35.854 35.8542 35.8544 35.8546 35.8548 35.855 35.8552 35.8554 35.8556 35.8558

b
A C

ss
f

B D

f ss
ss
f

Fig. 8. Architectural elements of the landslide and interpretation. a) Selected rose diagrams based on the strike of fractures in the south-western parts of the landslide shown in
Fig. 5b. b) Selected stereo nets (Wulff net) with pole projection of the bedding planes near the center (ss) and a girdle reecting the dip direction and dip angle of fractures
(f) from the same part in the SW of the landslide.

in Fig. 13. A horst-and-graben tectonic may be deduced from cross
section DD (Fig. 13). In addition, the geomorphological setting close
to the Jordan Valley Escarpment with tributaries deeply incised in the
western block of the DSTFS provides excellent conditions for these
structural elements detected by remote sensing methods and to be ver-
ied in the eld (Fig. 3c). Zooming-out part of the study area does not
provide a picture that varies from its small-scale counterpart (Figs. 11
and 12). The uvial drainage-pattern and network of natural springs
is a mirror image of the structural pattern (Figs. 12 and 13a). The
interpretation of the stress pattern and the displacements along the
faults is made visible in overlays and discussed in the next section.
5. Discussion
5.1. Regional structural analysis of the eastern block of the DSTFS
The inuence of structural geology on rock mass fabric and mass
wasting processes can be assessed by going from the small-scale to
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149 143

Fig. 9. Synoptic view of all spatial and morphological data for 40 waypoints across the major landslide. Lines: fractures and scarps (line thickness corresponds to the fracture width,
and line length corresponds to fracture length). b: boulder-strewn areas. Gray solid arrows: dip of bed surface. Black open arrows: direction of motion. Roman numerals I to IV are
codes to show areas within the landslide. calcite (open) = open fracture whose fracture planes are lined with calcite.

large-scale mass movements and from the regional structural pattern
to the landslide (Coltorti and Ollier, 2000; Galadini, 2006). This approach
has not been employed in areas along the western edge of the Arabian
Plate, although it is considered to be crucial for understanding mass
wasting processes (Sharland et al., 2001). Outside this area in Jordan
different studies were performed to address the interrelationship
between landslides and tectonic processes. Space borne differential
synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) has been used for
mapping ground deformation phenomena and its relation to mass
wasting (Colesanti, 2003). Le Roux et al. (2008) have further integrated

a c
r r

Fig. 10. Morphology of scarps. a) Main scarp with the central block between the boundary fractures (dotted lines) wrapped down untilted (arrows). Viewing towards N. The 1st
order fracture starts horse-tailing or fanning out into several smaller curved 2nd order scarps or splay faults (see b). The zone of rubble (friction zone) is coded with two r. b)
Horse-tail scarps (2nd order) (stippled lines) with the central blocks undergoing rotational sliding. The arrows mark dip of surface of the tilted blocks. c) Saw teeth fractures intersecting
the landslide down to a depth of as much as 5 m in some places. These fractures mark the initial stages of fracturing under the existing stress pattern and swiftly get backlled with
brown weathering loam when becoming abandoned during mass wasting. Their surface expression is attested to by saw teeth boundary fractures and subsidences.
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144 H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149

Table 3
Architectural elements of the landslides and their origin.

Fracture type Orientation Movement Class/size Relative age Force

Rubble-strewn areas NWSE Compression Patchy distribution on the surface measuring Incipient stage Regional stress
(abandoned structures) several square meters across
Saw teeth fractures NESW/NNEWSW Compression extension 1st order and 2nd order fractures Initial stage Regional stress
Saw teeth fractures transitional Approximately NS Lateral movement 2nd order fractures Initial stage Regional stress
into straight fractures
Straight boundary fractures WNW to NW Vertical movement 2nd order fractures Intermediate Gravitational force
to late stage
Straight scarps NESW Vertical movement block 1st order fractures (Early) late stage Gravitational force
(and rotational sliding)
Arcuate scarps NESW Vertical movement
Block and rotational sliding 1st order fractures Latest stage Gravitational force

morphogenetic methods into the study of tectonic and mass wasting
processes. The research by Sanchez et al. (2010) rests on a cosmocli-
matic approach. An almost pure structural approach underlies Gupta's
(2005) observation that the direction of failure planes of landslides is
concentrated either towards the minimum stress axis 3 or along the
intermediate stress axis 2, but never along the maximum stress axis
1. The latter investigation, although conducted in a modern fold belt
area, comes closest to our studies along this extensional zone of the
Earth crust. Considering the inventory of methods applied to tackle
these issues between landslides and tectonics, the present investigation
resembles the approach taken by Wetzel et al. (2000) and Roessner
et al. (2005), with their extensive use of remote sensing and GIS
techniques.
The major faults of the working area II represent a system of con-
jugate faults striking NW and NE, intersecting the DSTFS with angles
between 35 and 40. Directions of maximum principal stress can be
derived from satellite imagery, regarding the x-shaped stress indica-
tors, which are found on both sides of the Jordan Rift Valley. The
acute angle between conjugate faults is bisected by the maximum
principal stress direction (Pmax). Fig. 11 shows a large-scale selection
of such fault systems, while Fig. 12 provides the regional geology and
Fig. 13a the morphology of the corresponding area in a satellite image, so
as to draw a coherent picture of structural geology, lithology, hydrology
and geomorphology.
The area selected for the analysis of regional structural geology is
located at a junction of two major faults, showing dextral movements
in broad zones (Fig. 13a). These zones intersect at an angle of approx-
imately 45. The dextral transform is indicated by s-shaped minor
faults that dene tilted blocks dipping SE and s-shaped shear lenses.
Slickensides found on fault planes during ground follow-up work
conrm the right stepping character of the faults (Fig. 13b). More tec-
tonical features that support this idea are given in Fig. 13ce. This re-
gional structural pattern corresponds to the larger tectonic pattern
illustrated in the maps of Fig. 1. The right lateral transform fault of
the working area becomes also obvious in the geological map, where
thrusts of opponent directions can be recognized. As the working
area is situated at a fault junction, there are hundreds of minor faults
at different scales. Major valleys and faults are mostly represented by
steep vertical offsets. Minor faults often represent shallow, layer-
parallel thrusts causing layer thickening (Figs. 14 and 15). Besides

N Minor
40 m
landslide
40 m
II

Major
I N landslide

Major scarps

Minor scarps and fractures

Escarpment

Fig. 11. Structural and geological setting. a) Regional overview with examples of x-shaped maximum-principal-stress-indicators (Pmax) and locations of the working areas (yellow
rectangles). Conjugate major faults intersect the sinistral DSTFS at angles between 35 and 40. Landsat TM false color composite, bands 7,4,1 (RGB), UTM, WGS 84. Working area I
marks the landslide-prone area along the AmmanIrbid Highway. Working area II bridges the gap within the DSTFS. The latter area was used for studying the structural geology by
satellite images and by ground-follow up investigations. Insets illustrate the different types of landslides along the AmmanIrbid Highway with the regional stress pattern projected
onto the landslides under consideration. b) Major landslides with curved major scarps (combination of rotational and simple block sliding) and minor landslides with straight major
scarps (mainly simple block sliding). Both landslides correspond to the satellite image as to orientation of fractures but scarps are not to scale. For size and position of both landslides see
Fig. 5a.
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149
Fig. 12. Updated geological map with locations of the cross sections BB, CC and DD. Modied after Diabat and Abdelghafoor (2004), Shawabkeh (2001), Sawariah and Barjous
(1993) and Muneizel and Khalil (1993). Springs related to these faults and affecting slope instabilities are shown by red dots with their location names given in rectangles.
being tilting and faulting, most layers are also folded. Folds occur in
various scales from meters to kilometers. Close to faults interfering
multi-order folds are common. The same is true for overturned isoclinic
folds which are often cut off (Figs. 3c and 14, cross section CC`).
Particular attention has to be paid to the listric shape of some of
the minor faults illustrated in Fig. 14. They have an effect on the slope
instability and the way in which mass wasting took place in this area.
Numerous springs, which can be correlated with these minor and
major/master faults (see different thicknesses of red lines in Fig. 14),
added to the problems of engineering geology. They provided water to
the marly lubricants and kick-started the mass wasting during periods
of hefty rainfalls (Figs. 12 and 14). If such listric faults dip along with
slope angle, the slope stability will become as low as discussed for the
two case histories along the AmmanIrbid highway. In tightly folded
areas these listric faults dip away from the slope and minimize the
risk of slope failures (Fig. 14). In regions with horst-and-graben tectonic
that follows this compressional tectonic style, these listric faults become
the detachment zones for subsequent mass wasting creating a high-
risk zone together with fault-related springs (Fig. 14).
5.2. Local structural analysis of the landslide-prone areas
A composite view of, on the one hand, the satellite image and, on
the other hand, the two reference types of landslides reveals that the
structural regional pattern accords with the system of fractures in the
landslide prone areas along the AmmanIrbid Highway. The landslides
under investigation correspond to the satellite image as to orientation
of fractures but scarps are not to scale in Fig. 13c. The major direction
of displacement during the mass wasting does not run parallel to the
dip direction of the slope. It is an asymmetric landslide whose major
145
direction of mass transport runs obliquely to the dip of slope and at a
right angle to the pressure ridges detected further W during analysis
of the regional stress pattern (Fig. 13a). Remote sensing data are most
suitable in evaluating landslide prone areas and decipher the structural
setting around. Aerial photographs of Landsat TM false color composite
in a scale 1:25,000 might have been found very suitable for these inves-
tigations. The digital elevation model (DEM) derived from SRTM data
and Quickbird oblique-angle images are an excellent supplement.
5.2.1. Rubble-strewn areas
Areas coded b in Fig. 9 denote rubble-strewn parts of the landslide
which now obscure/cover-up abandoned fractures underneath. These
fractures were active during pre-gravitational movements when this
part of the crust was ongoing compression in NWSE direction (Figs. 7
and 9, Table 3).
5.2.2. Saw teeth fractures
The saw teeth cracks are interpreted as primarily compressional
features known from a great variety of sedimentary rocks on a macro-
and micro scale (Fig. 10c, Table 1). They are indicative of the initial
stages of fracturing under the existing stress pattern governed by the
strike-slip movement of the DSTFS. They swiftly get backlled with
brown weathering loam when becoming opened up during subsequent
extensional processes and abandoned during mass wasting. Minor frac-
tures horse-tailing from the major scarps and aligned in NS direction
are a mirror image of the lateral movements along the DSTFS (Figs. 1
and 3, Table 1). The lateral movement of the DSTFS may be deduced
also by striae from the 2nd order fractures running almost NS in the
major landslide (Figs. 5b and 11). It is the morphological expression
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146 H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149

Fig. 13. Structural features on different scales. a) Examples of major faults within two broad dextral shear zones (thick grey arrows) intersecting at an angle of 45. Dextral movement is
indicated by s-shaped tilted blocks (shades at steeper scarp slopes; minor faults conning blocks are not shown) and s-shaped shear lenses. White lines denoting locations of cross sections
BB, CC and DD shown in Fig. 14. Springs related to these faults are shown in red circles. b) Slickensides on fault planes proving the dextral sense of movement. c) Tilted blocks dipping
SE in a view to the E (dashed grey rectangle in a). The dominant bank of Wadi As Sir Limestone Formation (A7) highlights the torn and tilted character of the blocks. Vertical exaggeration
is 2. The digital elevation model (DEM) is derived from SRTM data, and the source of the high resolution Quickbird image is Google Earth. d) Field image of slickenside on a fault plane
proving the dextral sense of movement. e) Minor normal fault with a vertical displacement of 1.1 m. Blocks dipping NW; thin grey arrow pointing at location.

to accommodation strains near fault terminations where splay faults
were branching.
5.2.3. Straight boundary fractures
WNWESE fractures that terminate the minor slides create an almost
continuous boundary fault towards the N (Fig. 5b) and are found in
an embryonic stage in form of discontinuous NWSE faults in the major
slides (Fig. 5a). They make use of a structural disposition (rubble-
strewn-areas) and reactivate incipient structures (Table 3). The mor-
phological expression of this fractures near the northern terminus
of the slides is vague and the boundary is much more subjected to
morphological/exogenous constrains such as the direction and dip
of wadi slopes than any structural disposition created by an ancient
stress pattern that has been abandoned for long. As a result it is nowhere
well preserved.
5.2.4. Major scarps
The curved scarps fade out to the NE and become more pronounced
towards the SE, where the impact on the tarmac road is at its maximum.
This climax zone of slope failure with major damage inicted on the
highway coincides with the maximum of block tilting and the dip of
pressure ridges in Fig. 13. They are the most visible gravitational re-
sponse to the modern tectonic stress pattern so as to say neotectonics.
Toe-material pushed out at the base of the landslide at the SW beyond
the slip plane. The regional stress pattern with its NESW trend may
be traced into the landslides irrespective of the morphology of the
scarps, which may be straight or arcuate. The straight scarps are the
ones which show the most immediate morphological response to the
modern displacements in minor and embryonic slides (Fig. 5). By
contrast, arcuate scarps, albeit following the same stress pattern, only
occur at an advanced stage, so that the geometric correspondence
between structural pattern and gravitational movement might some-
times be overlooked.
The geodynamic setting and stress pattern on the eastern block of
the DSTFS was the most controlling effect for the asymmetric land-
slides to develop in the Upper Cretaceous calcareous rocks. Therefore,
landslide-prone areas along the highway may be singled out by a simple
structural analysis of the regional structural regime, combining remote
sensing and ground follow-up measurements.
5.3. Morphology of the landslides and shaping the landscape
A morphological analysis of scarps and fractures and an assessment
of the way of motion along them conduced to the subdivision of the
landslide into four entities. They may eventually reduce the number of
unwarranted assumptions in a risk assessment of a landscape vulnera-
ble to landslides. Slide segment I is characterized by rotational move-
ment with the main slip direction oriented to WNW (Fig. 9). This
accords with the movements deduced from the structural processes
recorded from the cross section DD (Figs. 12, 13a and 14). The major
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149

Fig. 14. Endogenous fault movements and folding, triggering mass wasting along the eastern block of the DSTFS. Cross sections BB, CC, and DD illustrate layer thickening caused by isoclinic folding and shallow thrusting dened by
minor faults. Locations are shown in Figs. 12 and 13a. Minor faults (thin red lines) show a listric shape marking high-risk areas where they dip parallel to the slope and springs are located in the immediate vicinity, e.g. in section DD at Ain
Baqqouria. The header for each cross section denotes the intensity of compressional and extensional tectonics in the region and their bearing on mass wasting processes by generating listric faults, which translate into landslides illustrated
in Fig. 5.
147
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148 H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149
Fig. 15. Normal faults with small jumps in Jurassic sandstones along the Jordan Valley
Escarpment. Potential pathways for water are highlighted by the lines of vegetations
marking the fractures on the slope. Arrows denote zones of soil creep.
scarps strike NE and NNE. Segment I exerts a major component together
with segment II to the gravitational force that causes damage to the traf-
c lane. In slide segment II, block sliding towards W and NW parallel to
the slope is operative. The northern slide segment III is dominated by
block sliding again with a strong vertical and minor lateral component
(Fig. 10a,b, Table 1). The mass moving downhill gave rise to the toe of
the landslide which is the result of the combined action of these three
segments (Fig. 9). Fractures developed at an intermediate to late stage
of mass wasting. They were driven by gravitational forces only. This is
also true for the straight and arcuate scarps irrespective of whether
they are accompanied by simple block sliding. The morphology, namely
the question whether they are concave or straight, is not independent of
the processes shaping the landscape. Arcuate slip planes or 1st order
scarps reect an advanced stage of mass wasting, following straight
planes. The shape of the scarps in the area is dictated by the presence
or absence of an abutment of the sliding mass. Moderate risk-areas
exist mainly in small wadis or in those parts where the width of a
wadi narrows down. Minor landslides with straight scarps are met
where wadi 2 in Fig. 9 fades out towards the N (Fig. 5). Only a creep
may be observed towards wadi1 in slide segment III. High-risk areas
occur in large wadis, e.g. wadi 2, with naturally steep slopes or slopes
undercut by man-made processes and no natural gabion or dam
exists to counterbalance the sliding rock mass.
5.4. Exogenous and endogenous effects triggering or accelerating mass
wasting
The chemical composition of the carbonate rocks points to a pure
non-dolomitized limestone. Neither diagenetic alteration (dolomite)
nor solution processes that result in the formation of karst cavities
can be held responsible for the vulnerability of these limestones to
mass wasting. This is evident given the chemical composition of the
limestones under consideration which have neither a signicant
amount of smectite nor that of sulfate-bearing evaporites. The SO3
content is very low and does not allow gypsum precipitation as it is
the Al2O3 content that rules out the presence of phyllosilicates. Only
minor rillenkarren exist. However, no deep subrosion has weakened
the bedrock. Rock mechanical aspects and hydrology control the
gravitationally driven mass wasting.
There are exogenous and endogenous processes that can trigger or
accelerate mass wasting in an area with a negative structural disposi-
tion, for instance along the eastern side of the DSTFS. The climatic con-
ditions with dry summers and abundant rainfall during wintertime may
kick-start and/or accelerate downhill creeping or sliding of rock masses.
Structural analysis has revealed that subsurface water ways give way to
natural springs along strike slip faults oriented NS and NNESSW
which are directly connected with the major strike slip movements
along the DSTFS (Figs. 12 to 14). Even if the displacement along the
DSTFS and its parasite faults in the Jordan Valley is very small relative
to the dimension of the active mass wasting, micro seismicity is another
cause to reckon with in predicting geohazards like this. Numerous small
faults intersect the Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments near the escarp-
ment of the Jordan Valley, demonstrating the ongoing displacement
(Fig. 15). These normal faults are an ideal pathway for circulating wa-
ters, as evidenced by the dark green lines of vegetation along these frac-
tures in an otherwise yellow-brown dry landscape. These modern fault
displacements occur side-by-side with zones prone to soil creep, which
in some areas also developed further by herds of grazing sheep (Fig. 9a).
There is a gradual transition from folds of various dimensions into
paleolandslides/slumps as illustrated by the cross sections in Fig. 14
which runs perpendicular to the swarm of faults drawn in Fig. 13.
Folding, faulting and mass wasting are coherent processes operative
since the DSTFS at the western edge of the Arabian Plate became an
active structural system (Fig. 1). Modern structural distortions of
the Mesozoic sediments along the eastern block of the DSTFS exert
the greatest impact on creeping and sliding soil and rock masses.
6. Conclusions and recommendations
The Dead Sea Transform Fault System (DSTFS) represents a left-
lateral strike-slip fault. Its displacement reected in the ductile and
brittle deformation of Mesozoic sediments along the eastern block is
responsible for slowly and rapidly moving soil and rock masses shap-
ing the landscape along the eastern escarpment and affecting the lines
of trafc and housing areas.
The regional structural pattern elaborated for the eastern block of
the DSTFS matches the pattern of fractures and cracks identied in
the area prone to landslides. This structural pattern furnishes clear
evidence that the geomorphological setting and its exogenous pro-
cesses such as landslides did not work their way through northern
Jordan independent of the tectonic processes which are still ongoing.
1. The fractures developing in NS direction and splay faults represent
the NS lateral movement of the DSTFS. They govern the position of
the landslides.
2. Cracks and faults aligned in NESW to NNWSSW directions are
primarily compressional features. They were reactivated during
extensional processes and used in some cases as slip planes during
mass wasting.
3. Minor landslides with NESW straight scarps derived from compres-
sional features which were turned into slip planes during the incipient
stages of mass wasting. They mostly occur along the slopes in small
wadis or where a wide wadi narrows upstream.
4. Major landslides with curved scarps, i.e., rotational slides, mirror a
more advanced level of mass wasting. These areas have to be labeled
mostly as high-risk areas and can be encountered in large wadis with
steep slopes or slopes undercut by man-made processes inappropriate
under such circumstances.
5. The spatial relation between minor faults and slope angle in an
area is chiey determinative of its vulnerability to mass wasting.
6. Springs lined up along faults or located near them cause serious
problems to engineering geology given that they improve the quality
of marly lubricants.
The risk to trafc lanes is highest where they run at an acute angle
to the regional fault planes. The most vulnerable areas, prone to slope
instabilities are those undergoing compressional tectonic being fol-
lowed by extensional movements, with fault bound springs and
smectite-bearing marly layers interbedded with pure massive lime-
stones (Figs. 2b, 13 and 14). A joint analysis of geomorphology,
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H.G. Dill et al. / Geomorphology 141-142 (2012) 134149
hydrology and structural geology ahead of infrastructural planning is
strongly recommended. It is ecologically and economically much
preferable to monitoring slopes in the wake of construction work al-
ready undertaken. Tunneling, though a costly option, has to be revisited
as an alternative to constructing a tarmac road alongside a slope affected
by myriads of slope failures, which will likely be in constant need of
monitoring for creeping or sliding processes.
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to F. Korte for XRF analysis and D. Weck for XRD
analysis at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources
in Hannover, Germany. We express our gratitude to Janina Dill (Merton
College Oxford, Great Britain) for checking the manuscript for linguistic
aws. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their help to improve an
early draft of our paper and Takashi Oguchi for his comments.
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