Floodplain degradation and settlement history in Wadi al-Wala and Wadi ash-Shallalah, Jordan

Córdova, Carlos E.

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.04.026

Cited by 17 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The base flow of Wadi Al-Waleh is somehow greater than the base flow of Wadi Al-Mujib at Karak Road even though the drainage area in Wadi Al-Waleh is less than half that of Wadi Al-Mujib. Wadi ath-Thamad lies at the upper stretch of the main stream at an elevation of 700-750 m. Wadi Al-Waleh descends from 700 m at Wadi Al-Mujib to the Dead Sea at the elevation of 100 m below the base level (Cordova 2008).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vulnerability mapping of groundwater aquifer using SINTACS in Wadi Al-Waleh Catchment, Jordan

et al. 2015

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This paper aims at evaluating the level of groundwater vulnerability to pollution in Wadi Al-Waleh wells and South Amman area based on SINTACS model. The Wadi AlWaleh Catchment (WWC) is considered to be one of the most important sub-basins in the middle part of Jordan. This study creates a map of groundwater vulnerability that shows areas with potential pollution. Areas are then classified into units with different levels of vulnerability based on anthropogenic and hydrogeological factors. The parameters of the SINTACS model are rated and evaluated by weight numerical indices. The vulnerability parameter is set upon fixed percentage interval of the sub-basin's area. SINTACS index values have been categorized into four groups of pollution: very low (green), low (yellow), medium (orange), and medium to high (red). The results reveal that the units with very low levels of vulnerability to pollution cover an area of 0.17 km 2 . In addition, units with low, medium, and medium to high levels of vulnerability to pollution cover areas of 44.13, 1102.37, and 654.97 km 2 , respectively. The vulnerability maps show that most of the sub-surface area of WWC is characterized by medium to high levels of vulnerability to pollution, while units with very low and low vulnerability to pollution cover small areas of the western part of WWC. As well, the vulnerability maps show that there is moderate-high risk of pollution in the middle to eastern parts of WWC sub-basin. The risk of pollution in WWC mainly stems from intensive agricultural activities in the area.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beds especially in Wadi AsSir Limestone (WSL) are hard which marks the lowest level of incision among all streams. The structure of the Jordan Rift in Quaternary and Tertiary is organized by strike-slips and normal faults of Both Wadi Ath-Thamad and Wadi Al-Waleh systems (Cordova 2008).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerability mapping of groundwater aquifer using SINTACS in Wadi Al-Waleh Catchment, Jordan

et al. 2015

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“…However, during these more recent times, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate the respective influences of climate variations and human activity on environmental change (e.g. Heim et al 1997;Neumann et al 2007;Cordova 2008;Frumkin 2009). …”

Section: (B) the Last 5000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15, Birkat Ram Lake, Golan Heights (Schwab et al 2004). 16, Wadi ash-Shallalah (Cordova 2008). 17, Wadi al-Wala and the Madaba-Dhiban plateau (Cordova et al 2005;Cordova 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the Southern Levant: synthesis, challenges, recent developments and perspectives

Rambeau

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Palaeoenvironmental research in the Southern Levant presents a series of challenges, partly due to the unequal distribution of palaeoenvironmental records and potential archives throughout the region. Our knowledge of climatic evolution, during the last approximately 25 000 years, is of crucial importance to understand cultural developments. More local, well-dated, multi-proxy studies are much needed to obtain an accurate picture of environmental change in respect of the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. This contribution reviews the current state of knowledge regarding Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental changes in the Southern Levant, including some examples of more recent developments in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in Israel and the Dead Sea area, and introduces the major challenges researchers face in the region. It also presents the first results of a new case study in Jordan, based on an analysis of peaty deposits located in the mountain slopes east of the Dead Sea. Such new studies help refine our knowledge of local environmental changes in the Southern Levant and especially the more arid areas, for which little information is presently available. More material suitable for palaeoenvironmental research, for example extensive tufa and travertine series, still awaits consideration in Jordan, opening up exciting perspectives for future research in the area.

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“…Many of the archaeological sites, as well as the agricultural fields, were constructed on geological deposits formed between the late Pleistocene and late Holocene McLaren et al, 2004), and whose composition and depositional history varies with relationship to local and regional paleoclimate regimes (BarMatthews and Ayalon, 2004;Cordova, 2008;Frumkin et al, 1999;Hazan et al, 2005;Rosen, 2007). More recent Holocene deposits, including those comprising the agricultural terraces are composed of low-energy alluvial and aeolian sediments, including epsilon cross-bedded silts and sandy gravels, well-sorted fine sands, and braided fluvial or wind-blown deposits .…”

Section: Description Of the Research Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impacts of ancient copper mining and metallurgy: Multi-proxy investigation of human-landscape dynamics in the Faynan valley, southern Jordan

Knabb

Erel

Tirosh

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science

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a b s t r a c tThe environmental impact of mining and metallurgy is an issue that has affected societies in the ancient Near East over the past 8000 years. We present the results of a multidisciplinary project using agricultural sediments from ancient terraces as a cultural archive of environmental pollution and land use in the copper ore-rich Faynan valley of southern Jordan. Due to the simultaneous production of agricultural goods and copper metallurgy throughout the last 6000 years in the valley, environmental pollution and its consequences for human health have been considered as a factor in settlement abatement. Sediments from two farming terrace systems adjacent to the major mining and smelting locales were analyzed. The sediment analyses included metal concentrations, lead-isotopes and phytolith analysis, and OSL dating. Although measurable concentrations of lead and other heavy metals persist in ancient metallurgical waste piles, our investigations found minimal evidence for contamination in the adjacent terrace systems. Based on these results, we argue that the occurrence of environmental pollution in the Faynan valley is highly variable, and that the distribution of heavy metals resulted from a combination of natural and cultural factors, including persistent landscape features that helped contain the most polluted metallurgical deposits. These findings are significant for understanding the processes of landscape change and human impacts on desert environments, including the ways in which past human actions have negatively affected the environment, as well as preserved and protected the environment from further degradation.

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Floodplain degradation and settlement history in Wadi al-Wala and Wadi ash-Shallalah, Jordan

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Vulnerability mapping of groundwater aquifer using SINTACS in Wadi Al-Waleh Catchment, Jordan

Vulnerability mapping of groundwater aquifer using SINTACS in Wadi Al-Waleh Catchment, Jordan

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the Southern Levant: synthesis, challenges, recent developments and perspectives

Environmental impacts of ancient copper mining and metallurgy: Multi-proxy investigation of human-landscape dynamics in the Faynan valley, southern Jordan

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