The effect of dust deposition on the soils of the land of Israel

Abstract

Loess and aeolian dust affected soil formation to different degrees in most parts of the land of Israel. In the arid desert the loess was re-eroded from slopes and sedimented as fluvial loess in along the valleys by flood-water. In areas with slight precipitation loess remains on slopes; sedimentation rates are slower and loessial serosems are formed. In the mildly arid areas, in the northern Negev, the loess covers most of the landscape and occurs in thick sequences intercalated with several superimposed strongly developed loessial brown soils: sedimentary and weathering processes occurred simultaneously and sediment/palaeosols profiles up to 12 m thick were formed. In areas further away from the desert, aeolian deposition decreased. As a result loessial brown soils grade into dark brown grumic soils and grumusols. Aeolian dust input also affected soils of the sand dunes of the coastal plain and in the terra rossa soils of the mountainous region.