Palaeowind estimation of cross-bedding within the aeolian Kurkar layers of the Gaza Formation, Gaza Strip, Palestine

Abstract

Coastal plain deposits of the Gaza Strip have been distinguished in the Gaza Formation (Pleistocene) of the Kurkar Group. The Kurkar layers (medium to coarse-grained calcareous sandstone) are characterized by abundant crossbedding that has two sets of cross-beds. These Kurkar layers form the ridges along the Mediterranean coast. The dip, and dip direction of the cross-beds, were measured at fi ve sites to determine the palaeowind direction. The palaeowind directions were measured for the fi rst time in the study area. The Kurkar layers are interpreted as having been deposited in an aeolian environment. Results at Sheikh Ejlin Ridge show that the lower set is dipping eastward (19/099), while the upper set dips northeast (23/051). At the Al Montar Ridge however, the lower set dips southeast (18/146), while the upper set dips north (19/001). These ridges are not coeval, but the precise age relationship between them is as yet unknown. However, the results indicate that there was a change in the palaeowind direction during deposition of the Kurkar layers, from westerly to southwesterly at the Sheikh Ejlin Ridge and from northwesterly to southerly at Al Montar Ridge.

Late‐Holocene wind‐field evolution at the southern Baltic coast as revealed by GPR data from the Mrzeżyno dunefield, NW Poland

“…However, at the Mrzeżyno dunefield, the southern and northern zones have very different strata dip directions, with a difference in the mean values of 58° (144° in the northern and 86° in the southern zone). A similar distribution of dip directions was reported from Late Pleistocene coastal aeolianites in the Gaza Strip, Palestine by Zaineldeen (), where strata inclination changes both laterally over a 1‐km distance from the coast as well as vertically indicating that the wind pattern changes with the distance from the shoreline (marine transgression).…”

Ανασύνθεση Παλαιοπεριβάλλοντος Σε Παράκτιες Γεωμορφές Της Νότιας Κύπρου Με Τη Χρήση Τεχνικών Φωταύγειας

“…The luminescence-dated (65 ka) aeolianites in the Palestine (Kurkar ridges) at the Levant (Frechen et al, 2002) have been interpreted as representing typical dunes formed simultaneously along the coastline by a perpendicular (southwest) to the shoreline wind direction. Field observations in another study from Gaza (Zaineldeen, 2010) also showed that cross-beds within the Kurkar layers were deposited by a westerly and southwesterly palaeowind.…”