Coastal Plain Of Israel Research Articles

Intensification and sedentism in the terminal Pleistocene Natufian sequence of el-Wad Terrace (Israel)

Measuring subsistence intensification in the archaeofaunal record has provided strong evidence for socioeconomic shifts related to sedentarization in the terminal Pleistocene Mediterranean Basin, but the precise timing and scale of the intensification trend and its place in the evolution of settled societies remain contentious. New archaeofaunal data from the key Natufian sequence of el-Wad Terrace (Mount Carmel, Israel, ca. 15.0–11.7 ka [thousands of years ago]) is used here to clarify and contextualize paleoeconomy and mobility trends in the latest Pleistocene Levant, representing the culmination of Epipaleolithic subsistence strategies. Taphonomic variables serve as supplementary indicators of habitation function and occupation intensity along the sequence. At el-Wad, a very broad range of animals, mostly small to medium in size, were captured and consumed. Consumption leftovers were discarded in intensively occupied domestic spaces and suffered moderate attrition. The Early (ca. 15.0–13.7/13.0 ka) and Late (ca. 13.7/13.0–11.7 ka) Natufian phases display some differences in prey exploitation and taphonomic markers of occupation intensity, corresponding with other archaeological signals. We further set the intra-Natufian taxonomic and demographic trends in perspective by considering the earlier Epipaleolithic sequence of the same region, the Israeli coastal plain. Consequently, we show that the Early Natufian record constituted an important dietary shift related to greater occupation intensity and sedentarization, rather than a gradual development, and that the Late Natufian record appears to be maintaining, if not amplifying, many of these novel signals. These conclusions are important for understanding the mode and tempo of the transition to settled life in human evolution.

URBANIZATION AND SAND DUNES IN ISRAEL: DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS

ABSTRACT Considerable attention has been given lately to the effects of habitat fragmentation and destruction on wildlife. Here, we summarize their effects on animal abundance and plant cover during a three-year study period (1987–90) of the sand dunes of the coastal plain of Israel. Populations of the gray monitor Varanus griseus, the spur-thighed tortoise Testudo graeca, and the mountain gazelle Gazella gazella in the study area declined markedly and plant cover increased significantly. Habitat destruction and fragmentation, introduced animals (especially dogs and carrion crows), a continuing change in the native herbivore fauna, and blockage of wind-borne sand are all believed to be responsible for the observed changes. We recommend that small areas, unsuitable for full protection, be declared “city reserves,” to be used for educational and recreational purposes. Nature reserves need to be managed in order to maintain the existing fauna and flora.

PLEISTOCENE LANDSNAILS FROM THE COASTAL PLAIN OF ISRAEL

ABSTRACT The landsnail fauna of five fossil layers from two sites in Israel's Coastal Plain, Shefayyim and Netanya, was analyzed. The layers date from about 45,000 years ago to Subrecent. Four species were found: The Jaminia ovularis-sulcidens complex, Trochoidea (Xerocrassa) davidiana, Xeropicta vestalis and Monacha syriaca—all present in the Coastal Plain today. Remarkable is the absence from all fossil layers of Theba pisana, the landsnail most abundant today in the Coastal Plain. As T. pisana has also not been found in any other Pleistocene sites in Israel, it is suggested that this species was introduced into Israel during historic times. Thereafter, competition with Xeropicta vestalis was inevitable, as both occupy a similar habitat. Rich morph diversity occurs in recent Xeropicta as compared with the fossil samples; it is tempting to suggest that this outburst of diversity is related to some ecological displacement into which Xeropicta was perhaps forced, due to competition with Theba. Within Jamin...

Statistical analysis of temperature changes in israel: an application of change point detection and estimation techniques

The main goal of this study is to present and apply recently developed nonparametric change point detection and estimation techniques for confirming patterns of regional changes in temperature. Utilizing these methods, monthly temperatures (mean, mean maximum, mean minimum) and diurnal temperature ranges in different regions of Israel have been investigated over a period of 37-years, (1967-2003). The results were supported also by traditional statistical methods. The temperature and the diurnal temperature range analyses reveal a complex pattern of change. In particular, we found an increase in the monthly mean temperatures in the warm season in all areas of Israel approximately from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, namely, the summers have become warmer. Also detected was a significant increase in the monthly mean minimum temperature in Israel's coastal plain area for all months of the year. Whereas, in mountainous and desert areas a significant increase in the monthly mean minimum temperature was detected only in months of the warm season. The winters have become warmer in the Israeli coastal plain and have not significantly changed in its mountainous and desert areas. In addition, in Israel's coastal plain the monthly mean DTRs are decreasing, while in mountainous and desert areas the situation is reversed, that is, monthly mean DTRs are increasing.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIOLOGY OF THE BANDED NEWT (TRITURUS VITTATUS VITTATUS) IN RAINPOOLS IN ISRAEL

ABSTRACT The period of activity, population parameters and food habits of adult Triturus v. vittatus were studied in a small rainpool system, in the central coastal plain of Israel. During November-December adults occurred on land. Thereafter, until the end of February, they occurred mostly in water. Breeding took place in February. The newts disappeared from the area of the pools by the end of February. The period of activity in and around the pools was shorter by 2–4 months than that reported for a northern population. On land as well as in water the highest proportion of newts were found when the ambient midday temperature ranged from 17° to 21°C. The observed population comprised more males than females. Males were significantly longer than females. Adult T. v. vittatus feed on a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates but may exhibit some degree of food selection.

Host Preference of Mating Type in Pseudoperonospora cubensis, the Downy Mildew Causal Agent of Cucurbits.

The A2 mating type of Pseudoperonospora cubensis was first discovered in Israel in May 2010 on butternut gourd (Cucurbita moschata) (1). We monitored the occurrence of the A2 mating type of P. cubensis in isolates collected during May 2010 through September 2012 from downy mildew-infected cucurbit crops growing along the coastal plain of Israel. Mating type was determined by oospore production in melon leaf discs co-inoculated with sporangia of a test isolate mixed with sporangia of A1 or A2 tester isolates (2). The A1 and A2 tester isolates were maintained at 14°C (14 h light/day) by repeated inoculation of detached leaves of cucumber and pumpkin, respectively. The 29 isolates that were collected from cucumber (Cucumis sativum) were all A1. Of the 33 isolates collected from pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), squash (C. pepo), or butternut gourd (C. moschata), 88% were A2 and 12% were A1. The host preference of mating type in P. cubensis was monitored at Bar-Ilan University farm during April to July 2012, among about 800 plants of eight cucurbit species (~100 plants per species) that were grown side-by-side in three adjacent net-houses (two 6 × 50 m and one 6 × 100 m) and exposed to natural infection. Downy mildew developed on cucumber, melon, pumpkin, squash, and butternut gourd, but not on watermelon, sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica), or Momordica balsamina. Three-hundred and three isolates of P. cubensis were collected and tested for mating type: 123 from cucumber, 53 from melon, 30 from pumpkin, 48 from butternut gourd, and 41 from squash. The cucumber isolates expressed A1, A2, and A1A2 at a ratio of 94.3%, 3.3%, and 2.4%, respectively; the melon isolates 58.5%, 26.4%, and 15.1%; the pumpkin isolates 0%, 96.7%, and 3.3%; the butternut isolate 7.3%, 87.3%, and 5.5%; and the squash isolates 2.4%, 97.6%, and 0%, respectively. A1A2 isolates produce oospores when crossed with either A1 or A2 tester isolates. This is the first evidence suggesting a preference of A1 isolates to Cucumis spp. and of A2 isolates to Cucurbita spp. similar preference was recently observed among Chinese isolates of this pathogen (unpublished data). The mechanism(s) controlling this preference is not known. Classical genetics is currently employed to P. cubensis in order to understand if it derives from true linkage. The practical implication for downy mildew management is that growing cucumber/melon in close proximity to pumpkin/squash/butternut gourd should be avoided as it may enhance oospore production in nature. Oospores in soil were recently shown to serve as a primary source of downy mildew infection in cucumber (3).

The roles of water vapour, rainfall and solar radiation in determining air temperature change measured at Bet Dagan, Israel between 1964 and 2010

Monthly mean values of climate at Bet Dagan in the central coastal plain of Israel, downwind of Tel Aviv, were analysed to yield seasonal and annual values of long- and short-wave irradiance which were then related to changes in air temperature measured between 1964 and 2010. Over half the large interannual variation and significant increase in atmospheric long-wave radiation, which averaged 0.7 W m−2 per decade, was associated with concurrent changes measured in specific humidity. The remaining changes were attributed to increases in concentrations of carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic radiatively active gases. Large decadal variations and a significant overall reduction in short-wave solar radiation were measured averaging 3.6 W m−2 per decade which were, in part, attributed to urban pollution. Changes in downwelling long- and short-wave irradiances together accounted for 58% of interannual variation in the mean annual temperature. Climate sensitivity to short-wave radiation forcing was very low compared with that of long-wave forcing resolving the paradox of the sharp rise in temperature accompanying negative all-wave radiative forcing (RF). Possible physical mechanisms explaining the decoupling between annual values of solar irradiance and air temperature are discussed. A significant, inverse correlation between temperature and the annual number of rain days was found, accounting for 21% of the interannual variation in air temperature unexplained by surface RF. During the last 45 years, changes in annual temperature at Bet Dagan, a near-coastal site with a strong urban influence situated in the semi-arid Mediterranean climate, were associated, in the following order of importance, with changes in water vapour, rainfall and solar radiation. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society

Generalising urban runoff and street network density relationship: A hydrological and remote-sensing case study in Israel

This paper describes the relationship between urban road network density and urban runoff coefficient in the coastal plain of Israel. The study assessed 30 years of recorded changes in rainfall-runoff coefficient in an urban catchment in the coastal plain of Israel. Rain and runoff were measured and sampled at measurement stations. Insight into the factors affecting urban runoff was gained by applying GIS and remote-sensing analysis, including street network density assessment and urban impermeable area recognition. Street network density was found to be a reliable indicator for both urban impermeability (R2 = 0.83) and runoff (R2 = 0.92) change dynamics, showing a strong linear correlation. Thus the urban street drainage network can help explain the dynamics of change in urban runoff. To prevent urban flooding hazards, and to help conserve water resources, regional planners should take into consideration road network density in built-up areas.

Chemical and isotopic composition of diagenetic carbonate cements and its relation to hydrocarbon accumulation in the Heletz-Kokhav oil field (Israel)

Israel's recent offshore gas discovery and possible onshore oil discoveries put Israel as an energy independent country. Up to now, the Heletz-Kokhav oil field is the largest oil finding in Israel. The main reservoir units in this oil field contain sandstone and shale layers intercalated with limestone and dolostone of the Lower Cretaceous Heletz Formation, found at an average depth of about 1600 m below surface on the Israeli coastal plain. The chemical composition and isotopic values (δ 13C and δ 18O) of the carbonate cement minerals along with the paragenetic sequence have been used to identify the changes in the pore-water composition during the diagenesis of the clastic rocks. The diagenetic carbonate phases in the clastic units include early low-Mg calcite (δ 18O Calcite of −3.53 and −3.46‰ VPDB; δ 13C Calcite of -2.53 and + 1.15‰ VPDB) and siderite (δ 18O Siderite of −4.28 and + 1.45‰; δ 13C Siderite of −4.22 and −2.65‰). Ankerite, the dominant authigenic phase in the Heletz Formation (average composition of Ca 1.09 Mg 0.62Fe 0.28Mn 0.013(CO 3) 2 with δ 18O Ankerite of −4.73 to + 0.52 ‰ and δ 13C Ankerite of −11.92 to + 0.04‰), and low-Mg poikilotopic calcite (δ 18O Calcite of −8.77 to −2.84‰; δ 13C Calcite of −9.45 to −1.60‰) were formed later in the diagenetic history. Fracture-related diagenesis of ankerite, dolomite, and high-Mg calcite (δ 18O Calcite of -6.86 to -1.66‰; δ 13C Calcite of -12.94 to + 1.74‰) is found in the dolostone rocks of Kokhav Dolomite Member. Petrographic interpretation, the iron content in the ankerite, and the δ 13C values indicate that the formation of the ankerite took place during the migration and accumulation of hydrocarbons in the Heletz trap. Based on the δ 18O values, we suggest that early in the burial history shallow diagenesis (calcite, siderite) occurred in the presence of fresh water within different levels of oxic to redox microenvironments. As burial proceeded, the δ 18O values of the pore-water increased due to water/rock interaction. Ankerite and calcite cement were deposited from this 18O-enriched water at or near maximum burial temperatures (~ 60 °C). Fracture-related diagenesis of vein filling minerals (ankerite, dolomite and calcite) took place very late in the diagenetic history, probably during the Messinian desiccation event of the Mediterranean Sea (Upper Miocene) from the Mavqi'im seawater penetrating into the subsurface of the coastal plain of Israel. The reconstructed burial and diagenetic history attest to a large-scale pore-water movement in this sedimentary basin, even down to several thousand meters below surface.

Management of Heat Stress to Improve Fertility in Dairy Cows in Israel

Management of Heat Stress to Improve Fertility in Dairy Cows in Israel

Settlement Fluctuations and Environmental Changes in Israel's Coastal Plain During the Early Bronze Age

The possibility of a decline of settlement in the coastal plain during the urban phases of the Early Bronze Age has been noted in passing by many researchers, but as these were usually working on a local or regional scale, the evidence has not yet been addressed systematically. In the present paper, we seek to quantify the extent of this decline, and attempt to explain it, by linking the archaeological data to climatic evidence which seems to point to environmental change at that time. In particular this took the form of increased precipitation which would have intensified existing drainage problems leading to increased flooding and the transformation of arable land into unhealthy marshland, which would have encouraged a decline in human settlement activity. We propose that these processes are responsible for the fact that the 'urban revolution' of the Early Bronze Age (characterized by large, densely occupied, fortified and relatively complex settlements) appears to have by-passed much of the coastal plain, where such developments are not attested before the 2nd millennium BC.

A Linear Photogrammetric Method for Measuring Erosion in Agricultural Fields

Erosion is defined as the displacement of solid particles originating from soil, rock, and sediments by forces of wind, water, and ice. Erosion affects soil microtopography and surface roughness, leading to clogging of surface drainage systems, flooding, and destruction of the upper part of the soil structure cross-section, and cause damages to cultivated land. Therefore, monitoring changes in the amount and rate of soil erosion is important for agricultural planning as well as for planning the use of different soil conservation systems. This article describes a scheme combining terrestrial photogrammetry and image analysis for measuring erosion amounts and estimating the change in volume of raised beds resulting from irrigation or rainstorms in cultivated fields. The method was validated on ridged and furrowed potato fields on sandy and loam soils (Typic Rhodoxeralfs) in the coastal plain of Israel. Unlike existing methods that are labor intensive and error prone, the approach described here enables a high-level of automation and accuracy while making use of low-cost digital cameras. Emphasis is placed on parameters for robustness of the model and on linear methods that do not require approximate parameters for the photogrammetric solution, thus enabling the use of consumer cameras. Experiments show that accurate results can be achieved in estimating volume and erosion. The accuracy of the measurements is of 0.007 m3 per 1000 m2.

Late Tertiary faulting along the coastal plain of Israel

This study documents a 70‐km long and 200–400 m high step at the base of the Pliocene section in the Israeli coastal plain. Depositional explanations for this lineament, such as a buried shelf edge or reef front, are very unlikely; whereas a fault scarp explanation is supported by seismic profiles and geological cross sections. The eastern elevated side of the fault was eroded before its burial, though a quantitive distinction between this erosion, earlier truncations, and original hiatuses, is not possible at this stage. Sediments covering the fault scarp constrain its age to Late Miocene and/or Early Pliocene. The presence of such a fault along the Israeli coastal plain may also shed light on numerous post‐Mid‐Cretaceous faults previously documented along the coastal plain, but never explained. In a wider perspective, the fault described here along with other documented processes indicate that in the Late Tertiary tectonism along the Levant continental margin resumed after a long passive history. This renewed activity is coeval with the Africa‐Arabian breakup and the Red Sea‐ Suez rifting. In particular, the fault described here is coeval with plate reorganization and vertical motions along the Dead Sea transform and possibly along the Cypriot Arc during the Late Miocene‐Early Pliocene.

In Situ Accumulation of Copper, Chromium, Nickel, and Zinc in Soils Used for Long‐term Waste Water Reclamation

We studied the long-term in situ accumulation of Cu, Cr, Ni, and Zn in the soil profile of a large-scale effluent recharge basin after 24 yr of operation in a wastewater reclamation plant using the Soil Aquifer System approach in the Coastal Plain of Israel. The objective was to quantify metals accumulation in the basin's soil profile, clarify retention mechanisms, and calculate material balances and metal removal efficiency as the metal loads increase. Effluent recharge led to measurable accumulation, relative to the pristine soil, of Ni and Zn in the 0- to 4-m soil profile, with concentration increases of 0.3 to 1.3 mg kg(-1) and 2.9 to 6.4 mg kg(-1), respectively. Copper accumulated only in the 0- to 1-m top soil layer, with concentration increase of 0.28 to 0.76 mg kg(-1). Chromium concentration increased by 3.1 to 7.3 mg kg(-1) in the 0- to 1-m horizon and 0.9 to 2.3 mg kg(-1) at deeper horizons. Sequential selective extraction showed Cu tended to be preferentially retained by Fe oxides and organic matter (OM), Cr by OM, Ni by OM, and carbonate and Zn by carbonate. The average total retained amounts of Cu, Cr, Ni, and Zn were 0.7 +/- 1.0, 13.6 +/- 4.8, 4.3 +/- 3.6, and 28.7 +/- 5.4 g per a representative unit soil slab (1 m(2) x 4 m) of the basin, respectively. This amounts to 3.6 +/- 4.9%, 79.5 +/- 28.0%, 8.0 +/- 6.9%, and 9.3 +/- 1.8% of the Cu, Cr, Ni, and Zn loads, respectively, applied during 24 yr of effluent recharge (total of approximately 1880 m effluent load). The low long-term overall removal efficiency of the metals from the recharged effluent in the top horizon may be due to the metals' low concentrations in the recharged effluent and the low adsorption affinity and retention capacity of the sandy soil toward them. This leads to attainment of a quasi-equilibrium and a steady state in element distribution between the recharged effluent solution and the soil after few years of recharge and relatively small cumulative effluent loadings.

Rural Settlement in the Vicinity of Yavneh in the Byzantine Period: A Religio-Archaeological Perspective

This article deals with the rural vicinity of the towns of Yavneh and Yavneh-Yam (on Israel's coastal plain) in the Byzantine period (ca. mid-fourth to mid-seventh centuries C.E.), and synthesized archaeological data relating to the Jewish, Christian, and Samaritan populations of this region. The present study is based on literary sources and a few previous archaeological discoveries, but mainly is focused on the results of comprehensive archaeological surveys conducted in the region by the authors on behalf of Tel Aviv University since 2001. The main aim is to assemble data about the hinterland of Yavneh and Yavneh-Yam throughout their history. Inter alia, these surveys have revealed much new evidence about rural settlement in the discussed area in the Byzantine period, including some important details about the religious identity of the settlement in this region.

Ophel: a groundwater biome based on chemoautotrophic resources. The global significance of the Ayyalon cave finds, Israel

The discovery, in the inner coastal plain of Israel, of a deep, secluded subterranean ecosystem, supported by chemosynthetis producing by sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, suggests the existence of a new biome, “Ophel”, with an autonomous energy basis. This biome could provide an ecological and historical basis for explaining the high taxonomic diversity of subterranean faunas, especially of crustaceans. A continuum with the anchialine ecosystems, in which chemoautotrophy is also encountered, as well as with marine hot vents and cold seeps, implies the existence of a second, parallel chemosynthesis-based eukaryotic biosphere.

Excess in precipitation as a cause for settlement decline along the Israeli coastal plain during the third millennium BC

Although the relations between climate and settlement are not straightforward, there is a general agreement that arid conditions are less favorable for human settlement in the semiarid Near East than humid conditions. Here we show that humid conditions resulted in the abandonment of settlements along the Israeli coastal plain. We first present archaeological evidence for a drastic decline in settlement along the Israeli coast during most of the third millennium BC (Early Bronze Age II–III). Then, based on archaeological and climatic evidence, we link this decline to an environmental change occurring at that time. We propose that increased precipitation intensified the already existing drainage problems and resulted in flooding, which led to the transformation of arable land into marshes and to the spread of diseases, gradually causing settlement decline and abandonment.

The hydrochemical evolution of brackish groundwater in central and northern Sinai (Egypt) and in the western Negev (Israel)

Summary Cretaceous trans-boundary aquifers in the central and northern parts of Sinai (Egypt) and the Negev (Israel), are geographically and geologically both contiguous and continuous. Hydrogeological and hydrochemical studies of these aquifers, with disregard to political boundaries, are scarce. The Lower Cretaceous Kurnub Group aquifer in Sinai and the Negev hosts paleowater mostly replenished during the Pleistocene. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the relationship between regional structural elements and the salinization of groundwater in the Kurnub Group in Sinai and further downstream in the Negev. The stable plateaus in southern Sinai and the fold structures in the north continuing into the Negev are separated by the W–E striking Minshara–Ramon shear zone. With the exception of higher salinities in the north, the chemical composition of Kurnub Group groundwater north and south of the shear zone is similar. Similarly, groundwater in the overlying Upper Cretaceous aquifer differs from Kurnub groundwater only within and north of the shear zone and is characterized by higher Cl concentrations, lower Mg/rCa ratios (due to high Ca in the calcareous aquifer) and by a “heavier” isotopic signature. Inverse hydrogeochemical modeling using PHREEQC indicates that the increase in salinity of Kurnub groundwater within the shear zone and in adjacent areas could be due to two different sources: First, the salinization process could be the result of mixing with sulfate-rich brackish groundwater occurring in Jurassic formations, which are in fault-controlled lateral contact with the Kurnub Group aquifer. Second, the salinity differences could be from unflushed seawater in the subsurface of the northern Sinai and western Negev, i.e. possible remnants of the post-Messinian (Lower Pliocene) transgression, which penetrated into northern Sinai, the western Negev and the Coastal Plain of Israel both through erosional channels, which were incised during the Neogene, and by flooding over outcrops of permeable formations.

Asphalt in iron age excavations from the Philistine Tel Miqne-Ekron city (Israel): Origin and trade routes

Asphalts found as pure lumps or coatings on potsherds were excavated at the Philistine site of Tel Miqne-Ekron (12th to 7th century BC) in the southern Inner Coastal Plain of Israel. They were studied using the techniques of petroleum geochemistry and were compared to some natural asphalts from the area: Dead Sea floating blocks (Israel), Wadi Weida’a asphalt (Jordan) and Hasbeya (Lebanon).Tel Miqne-Ekron bitumens show evidence of weathering, indicating biodegradation and oxidation. They contain less aromatics and more asphaltenes than Dead Sea asphalt. Evaporation and biodegradation are recorded at a molecular level, especially via the phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes. However, several isotopic and molecular parameters allowed us to correlate the Tel Miqne-Ekron asphalt with the Dead Sea asphalt from the floating blocks. The asphalts of Hasbeya and Wadi Weida’a do not match the Tel Miqne-Ekron asphalt. The latter, in particular, is much more biodegraded, based on its steranes. The study shows that the Dead Sea asphalt was imported to Tel Miqne-Ekron over a 500 year period. This trade posed no problem in the 7th century BC when Philistia, Israel and Judah were at peace as part of the Pax Assyriaca of the Assyrian Empire. However, trade during the 12th century BC is puzzling since the asphalt had to be transported across Israelite territory that was hostile to the Philistines, as indicated in the Bible (e.g., Samson and Delilah, David and Goliath). Consequently it seems that profitable commerce surpassed ethnic, religious and political conflict, as can also be observed in the contemporary world.

Distribution of Sharon goat grass ( Aegilops sharonensis Eig) in Israel

Sharon goat grass (Aegilops sharonensis Eig) is endemic to the Coastal Plain of Israel and south Lebanon where it grows exclusively on sandy soils. Plants of this species were reported in many locations, but most of these reports are old and many of these locations have undergone urban and agricultural development in recent decades. This study is aimed at determining the current area and mode of distribution of this species. In a systematic survey of the Coastal Plain in Israel, we have located 42 disjunct populations in the area between Acre in the north and Gaza in the south. Physical and ecological data of the populations were recorded. The possibility of diminishing genetic diversity of this species due to extinction of populations is discussed.