Pipes in the Coast Sandstone of Syria

Abstract

A calcareous sandstone is found at intervals along the coast of Palestine and Syria from Gaza to Lattakia, a distance of about 300 miles. It may be a thick deposit, extending for miles along the coast and covering a wide area, as at Beirut, or it may be thin and of small extent. Some parts of the coast are entirely without it. It is the principal building stone of the coast towns. It has been mentioned by various writers. Hull (Geol. and Geog. of Arabia Petraea, Palestine, etc., Pal. Expl. Fund, 1889, p. 9) refers to it as the “Calcareous Sandstone of Philistia”. No geologist, however, has noted the remarkable holes, which in some places penetrate it in great numbers.