Israel's Geology in the context of plate tectonics...

double post[This message has been edited by roxrkool, 12-20-2003]

Actually, I don't think Phat copied that, Nosy, but they should still cite their source(s).--------
edited to add:I take that back. You are right Nosy. Part of it is copied - points 1 and 2. The English and technical terms were rather poorly presented, so I thought Phat wrote it out. Turns out it's probably a translation problem and the person who did the original translation from Arabic (Jordanian?) to English did not do a good job.[This message has been edited by roxrkool, 12-20-2003]

Here are some comments. Hope they help.

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Explanation of Formation:
The origin of the Dead Sea Rift, which is the plate which Israel is located on, has been described as a rift defined by 2 sets of normal faults, and there are 2 theories explaining the origin of the Dead Sea.

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In this portion, I would write about the characteristics of the Dead Sea and adjacent area, such as it's elevation, local geology (underlying rocks and local faults), what makes it special, and the plates that occur in that area. (Note: the "Dead Sea Rift" is not a plate.) Keep the short intro to the theories for formation (the last sentence), if they hold up to additional research.Points 1 and 2: Discard completely and start over from another source. Your source is too poorly written/translated to be of any use. Note their theories, but use another source with better explanations.

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Type of Boundary:
The Middle East is part of a larger geological zone called the East Africa Rift Valley, where plates are pulling apart, and thus it is a divergent boundary.

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Is this paper only about the East African Rift or about the boundary where the Dead Sea occurs? Because if it's on the Dead Sea, then you need to include a description on that type of boundary here.

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What plates were involved and how:
The plates that have been involved would be the Dead Sea Rift and the Arabian plate. Also these plates were involved due to the fact that the Dead Sea Transform is a plate boundary separating the Arabian plate from the African plate and connects the divergent plate boundary in the Red Sea to the convergent plate boundary in the Red Sea to the convergent plate boundary in the Taurus mountains in southern Turkey.

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Again, the Dead Sea Rift is not a plate, although in the following sentences, you do mention the other one. This paragraph is a mess and needs to be completely re-written. Go HERE for a good description of plate boundaries and how they word.If I were you, I would do a bit more research and remember not to copy someone else's work word for word... unless you put it in quotations and cite it. You should also read up a bit on plate boundaries so that you can understand them better.

Well you are the one who concentrated your first effort on the Dead Sea Rift, which is why I suggested adding something about the rocks and structure of the area (i.e., Israel, Jordan, etc.).I would probably start by looking at the rocks in Israel and how old they are. Then, as Cora suggested, discuss where the plates were at the time the rocks in Israel were being deposited, what those depositional systems looked like, and when the Arabian plate began separating from the African plate. Begin with the earliest geologic history and work your way up to today.

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Can someone give me a straight forward explanation of how Israel's geology in the context of plate tectonic formed, and which plates have been involved?

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I take it from that statement you are looking for something detailed. I'm not sure someone is up to putting that much work into a post (I may be mistaken). Judging from the paucity of geologic information on Israel, I suggest you search for "geologic history of the Middle East" and "tectonic history of the Middle East." That will get you started with some informative links.