The Jordan Rift Valley / Aharon Horowitz ; with contributions by Akiva Flexer ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Horowitz, Aharon.

Contributor:

Flexer, Akiva.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geology.

Jordan River Valley.

Geology--Jordan River Valley.

Geology--Arabah Valley (Israel and Jordan).

Physical Description:

xv, 730 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Lisse ; Exton, PA : A.A. Balkema Publishers, [2001]

Summary:

Horowitz (archaeology, Tel Aviv U.) and Israeli colleagues in geophysics and earth sciences combine geological, climatic, and anthropological evidence to offer a multidisciplinary perspective on the valley that since the early 19th century has been known as an important site of early hominid remains. They discuss the history of ideas and research, the valley's present state, the pre-neogene geology, the lithostratigraphy of the embryonic and eritrean stages, continuous sequences and unconformities, tectonic models and debates, the stratigraphy of the artifact- bearing sequences, and human paleoecology. c. Book News Inc.

Contents:

Acknowledgments for Permissions to Reproduce Data and Photographs XVII

1 Introduction: the Singularity of the Jordan Rift Valley 1

1.1 A geographically, geologically and environmentally unique entity 2

1.2 An oceanic feature on land? 12

1.3 A gateway in the history of human migration from Africa 14

1.4 Terminology 15

1.5 Concepts and aims of this book 22

1.6 Unpublished sources 23

2 History of Ideas and Research 25

2.1 Geology 26

2.2 Prehistory and archaeology 49

3 The Jordan Rift Valley at Present 65

3.1 Structure 71

3.2 Geology 81

3.3 Seismicity 86

3.4 Climate 88

3.5 Geomorphology, erosion and deposition 92

3.6 Natural environments and subsistence resources 95

4 The Pre-Neogene Geology of the Near East 123

4.1 Precambrian 124

4.2 Paleozoic 126

4.3 Triassic 130

4.4 Jurassic 133

4.5 Cretaceous 138

4.6 Paleogene 145

4.7 Tectonic mosaic 148

4.8 The Syrian Arc folding system 154

4.9 The transversal fault system of Israel 163

5 The Lithostratigraphy of the Embryonic and Eritrean Stages 173

5.1 Embryonic-stage formations 175

5.2 Eritrean-stage formations 198

5.3 Magmatism 232

5.4 In-Rift magmatics 246

6 Palynostratigraphy, Continuous Sequences and Unconformities 251

6.1 Sources of material 252

6.2 Present-day pollen 257

6.3 Biases in the pollen spectra 258

6.4 Late Cenozoic pollen associations and floras 259

6.5 Late Cenozoic palynostratigraphy of the Jordan Valley 260

6.6 Climatostratigraphy 276

6.7 Paleoclimatic models 288

6.8 Major unconformities 296

7 Chronostratigraphy, Paleogeography and Environments of the Embryonic and Eritrean Stages 303

7.1 Chronostratigraphy 305

7.2 Paleogeography 331

7.3 Natural environments 362

8 Geophysics 369

8.1 Regional background 370

8.2 The Dead Sea

Arava depression 373

8.3 The Dead Sea

Bet She' an segment 398

8.4 The Bet She' an

Lake Kinneret depression 402

8.5 The Hula depression 413

8.6 Overall structure of the Jordan Valley 418

9 Structural History 423

9.1 Tectonics or erosion base level changes? 425

9.2 Initial structure? The "geosuture" concept 428

9.3 Syrian Arc 431

9.4 Embryonic stage 434

9.5 Eritrean stage 443

9.6 Levantine stage 451

10 Tectonics: Models and Debates 469

10.1 The Red Sea spreading system 471

10.2 The Jordan Rift Valley: a continuation of the Red Sea spreading system 477

10.3 The elusive strike-slip fault 497

10.4 Tectonics of the Jordan Rift Valley 508

11 Stratigraphy of the Artifact-Bearing Sequences 515

11.1 Erosion, deposition and the locations of sites 516

11.2 Lithostratigraphy of the Levantine stage formations 518

11.3 Chronostratigraphy, correlations 574

11.4 Conclusion: chronology of cultures in the Jordan Valley 583

12 Paleoecology of Man 587

12.1 Paleogeography and environments 588

12.2 Springs 614

12.3 Settlement pattern 616

12.4 Subsistence 619

12.5 Conclusion: the Jordan Rift Valley, a propagation hub for early Man? 623

Appendix The Nature and History of Motion Along the Dead Sea Transform (Rift) 627

A.2 Development of interpretations 630

A.3 Indicators of the total lateral motion 631

A.4 History of the Dead Sea Transform 637

A.5 Structure of the Transform 644

A.6 Record of the recent motion 650.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page [653-699) and indexes.

ISBN:

9058093514

OCLC:

48846802