The Recent Tectonic Activity of the Gafsa Fault (West-Central Tunisia) Inferred by a Structural and Electrical Survey of Ben Younes-El Mida Area

This work aims to characterize the recent tectonic activity of the Gafsa Fault, west-central Tunisia, by combination of structural data analysis and Electrical Resistivity Tomography ground imaging (ERT). The structural data were gathered from Mid-Late Cretaceous to Quaternary outcrops along the Ben Younes–El Mida segment, in Gafsa city and ERT section, used to detect neotectonics activity, were acquired in an unurbanized area filled by Pleistocene-Quaternary sediments sealing the fault line. The paleostress analysis showed that the area experienced Cainozoic compressional paleostress that reactivated the NW–SE, E–W and N–S inherited faults into normal dextral, reverse dextral and normal sinistral strike slips, respectively. However, the ERT profiles demonstrated brittle deformation within the Pleistocene-Actual strata that seal the fault trace which testify the neotectonics activity of Gafsa fault. Hence, ERT is considered an efficient tool in detecting potential shallow subsurface deformations.