Structural control on drainage network and catchment area geomorphology in the Dead Sea area: an evaluation using remote sensing and geographic information systems in the Wadi Zerka Ma’in catchment area (Jordan)

The geology of Jordan is characterized by fault systems with three major trends: (1) NW–SE, the oldest, (2) WNW–ESE, and (3) NNW–SSE, the youngest. The drainage network of the Wadi Zerka Ma’in catchment area, located in the middle of the Dead Sea rift, parallels these structural orientations. A regional transtensive fault, with embedded normal faults, bounds the lower and middle part of the catchment area. The topographic profile of the Zerka Ma’in River exhibits two major knickpoints where it crosses two major embedded normal faults. The second major knickpoint developed as a result of the dramatic lowering of the Lisan Lake water level, a lake that pre-dates the Dead Sea. The decreased water level triggered river incision into the clastic sandstone units of Wadi Zerka Ma’in. We performed a morphotectonic analysis study to investigate how the rock structures control the drainage network and the catchment area geomorphology. According to the transverse topographic symmetry factor (T), the catchment area is highly asymmetric. The major basin asymmetry trend is SE-oriented, parallel to the oldest set of fault systems. The catchment area displays a convex hypsometric curve indicating a very recent stage in the geomorphologic cycle. Our study indicates that the Lisan Lake catchment area shrinkage and structures growth controlled and shaped the Wadi Zerka Ma’in catchment area geomorphology. The combined use of a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing was shown to be very efficient in unraveling the evolution of the drainage network and catchment area geomorphology.