What is the primary geological origin of the Syrian-African Rift (Dead Sea Transform) that forms the eastern boundary of the country?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. A strike-slip plate boundary between the African and Arabian tectonic plates
- Step 1: The Dead Sea Transform is a left-lateral strike-slip fault system.
- Step 2: It accommodates relative motion between the African Plate (Sinai subplate) to the west and the northward-moving Arabian Plate to the east.
- Step 3: The movement has created deep pull-apart basins, including the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee basins.
Answer
A strike-slip plate boundary between the African and Arabian tectonic plates.
Why not the others: Subduction zones produce deep oceanic trenches and volcanic island arcs, not transform rift valleys; mid-ocean ridges occur along ocean floors; calderas are volcanic collapse features.
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