New data on the sedimentary processes and timing of the initial inundation of Lower Khuzestan (SW Iran) by the Persian Gulf

Abstract

The early- and mid-Holocene deposits of the Lower Khuzestan plain at the north-eastern margin of the Persian Gulf have been investigated by means of facies analysis of sediment successions of undisturbed cores. Organic material and molluscs have been selected for dating by radiocarbon whereby possible contamination by hard-water effect is discussed. The results suggest that the Holocene transgression in Mesopotamia may have taken place later than generally accepted. Before ca. 7700–7900 yr cal. BP, the plain was characterized by mud-dominated fluvial systems. During the mid-Holocene, tides invaded the existing valleys, and the sedimentary environment shifted from fluvial to estuarine but not as extensively as has previously been suggested. The estuarine environments lasted for about 2000–2500 years until ca. 4850–5000 yr cal. BP when the seaward part of the plain was again characterized by widespread fluvial sedimentation.

Combining Satellite Multispectral Imagery and Topographic Data for the Detection and Mapping of Fluvial Avulsion Processes in Lowland Areas

“…From 14,000 to 9,000 yrs BP (Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene) with the rapid sea-level rise, the Gulf was flooded, and a wide fluvial system developed in the area. Consequently, during the shoreline transgression, the existing valley was flooded and transformed in an estuary, where fluvial and tidal processes were active [49,50]. The present shoreline was reached about 7000-8000 yrs BP [44].…”

The paleoenvironment and depositional context of the Sumerian site of Abu Tbeirah (Nasiriyah, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq)

“…The Gulf probably attained its present configuration ca. AD 1000 as a result of the progradation, south of Basrah, of the Shatt Al-Arab delta (Aqrawi, 2001; Al-Hamad et al, 2017; Bogemans et al, 2017). At present, the tidal-influenced Shatt-al-Arab delta is mainly supplied by the Karun River, whose sediments are mainly derived from the eastern Zagros Mountains and from small rivers draining the Arabian Platform (see Baltzer and Purser, 1990; Garzanti et al, 2016, for a more detailed study about the sediment provenance of the Mesopotamian foreland basin).…”