Characterizing seismites with anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility

Characterizing seismites is a key factor in understanding earthquake kinematics, dynamics and resulting hazards. In order to understand the kinematics and dynamics of seismites, we analyzed the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of various seismite types of known origin, which have formed during paleoseismic activity along the Dead Sea Fault (DSF) system. The magnetic lineation (L) and the shape of the AMS ellipsoid (T) of the seismites are presented in a new T versus L plot. Depending on the type of material, the seismites are distinguished according to the following characteristics. Injection structures are characterized by a nonlinear correlation curve; co-seismic fault-related damage zones lie on a common linear correlation curve; earthquake-triggered folds also show a linear correlation with those that have undergone major deformation and have low T and high L values. Breccia layers display a range of T and L values similar to that of primary sedimentary layers,
implying that such seismites were formed by material deposited immediately after an earthquake. This new application of AMS provides an effective tool for resolving the kinematics and dynamics of a wide variety of seismites in soft-sediments. We outline a robust procedure to infer the seismite mechanism which is helpful in recovering paleoseismic records in complex settings.