The
Dead Sea Transform (
DST)
fault system, also sometimes referred to as the
Dead Sea Rift, is a series of
faults that run from the Maras Triple Junction (a junction with the
East Anatolian Fault in southeastern
Turkey) to the northern end of the
Red Sea Rift (just offshore of the southern tip of the
Sinai Peninsula). The fault system forms the
transform boundary between the
African Plate to the west and the
Arabian Plate to the east. It is a zone of left lateral displacement, signifying the relative motions of the two plates. Both plates are moving in a general north-northeast direction, but the Arabian Plate is moving faster, resulting in the observed left lateral motions along the fault of approximately 107 km. A component of extension is also present in the southern part of the transform, which has contributed to a series of depressions, or
pull-apart basins, forming the
Gulf of Aqaba,
Dead Sea,
Sea of Galilee and
Hula basins.