The chronostratigraphy of a quaternary sequence at the distal part of the nile littoral cell, Haifa Bay, Israel

Abstract

The current detailed chronostratigraphic framework of the last 1 Ma of an eastern Mediterranean sequence (Haifa Bay, Israel) aims to examine the relative roles of sea‐level changes, climate and tectonics. Seven continuous marine cores, up to ∼120 m long, were recovered from shallow water depths. The cores were dated by optically stimulated luminescence, 14C, magnetostratigraphy, 230Th/234U, 26Al/10Be, occurrence of index fossils and correlated to the global sea‐level curve and Marine Isotope Stages (MIS). The sedimentary sequence accumulated during the last ca. 1.0 Ma consists of 21 transgression–regression units with hiatuses between them. Five marine/terrestrial cycles, which occur in the lower part of the sequence, are attributed to the Jaramillo subchron and the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary, and correspond to MIS 29–21. The top ∼50 m includes three sedimentary cycles deposited in the last ca. 400 ka. The regressive phases during this interval correspond to Glacial MIS 8, 6 and 2, while the transgressions correspond to Interglacial MIS 11, 7, 5 and 1. Thus, for the first time, this study documents the longest Quaternary succession dated so far in a key area of the Levant, sensitive to global history of sea‐level changes and glacial/interglacial fluctuations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Persistent Neanderthal occupation of the open-air site of ‘Ein Qashish, Israel

“…This was followed by a fourth marsh ( Phase VI ) at about 27 ka (Unit 7). A parallel marsh episode around 30 ka was documented by [39] in cores from Haifa Bay. An unconformity between phases V and VI does not allow us to reconstruct the environment between 43 and 27 ka.…”

A multi-proxy shallow marine record for Mid-to-Late Holocene climate variability, Thera eruptions and cultural change in the Eastern Mediterranean

“…4B). The appearance of the latter species, prior to this event can be connected to the relatively high TOC values since these species are known to prefer clayey substrates rich in organic matter (Jorissen, 1987;Avnaim-Katav et al, 2012, 2016b. The epifaunal to shallow-infaunal species N. turgidus shows an opportunistic lifestyle as it migrates rapidly to the uppermost sediment layer after environmental disturbance (Ernst et al, 2002), probably similar to its display during this abrupt arid event.…”

“…At shallower marine sedimentary archives along the SE Mediterranean shelf, variable sedimentation rates characterize the Holocene sedimentary records. In Haifa Bay, off the northern Israeli coast, sedimentation rates are in the order of~100 cm kyr À1 in some inner shelf Holocene sequences (Avnaim-Katav et al, 2012), while off the southern and central Israeli coast higher rates (~140 cm kyr À1 ) occur during the early Holocene (Avital, 2002;Tapiero, 2002;Porat et al, 2003) and lower ones (<60 cm kyr À1 ) during the late Holocene. Nonetheless, these scarce published studies were based on a limited number of 14 C ages and proxies (i.e., foraminifera and sedimentology), relatively lower sampling resolution for the Holocene and were aimed mainly at resolving general Late Quaternary chronostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental reconstructions, yet not climate variations.…”

A review of last interglacial sea-level proxies in the eastern Mediterranean coastal region

“…LIG deposits occur on the sediment-starved Galilee coast at elevations 1-2 m (Sivan et al, 2016), in Haifa bay at around -25 m ( Fig. 2; Avnaim-Katav et al, 2012). No onshore coeval deposit is reported from this bay (Zviely et al, 2006).…”