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15 - Quaternary Evolution of Caves and Associated Palaeoenvironments of the Southern Levant

from Part II: - Palaeoclimates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2017

Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
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Summary

Quaternary evolution of caves in the southern Levant is intimately associated with environmental conditions. Large river caves form during the Quaternary in the wetter regions, such as Mt. Lebanon. In the Judean Desert, Quaternary-age carbonate caves are commonly smaller, and in the Negev they are rare, developing mainly by physical processes. Large Quaternary caves in the desert are site specifics, e.g. salt caves in Mt. Sedom, and lava caves in the Hauran of Syria and Jordan. All types of known caves experienced some aging processes during the Quaternary, including filling, collapse and ultimately destruction. Until total destruction, the caves serve as natural time capsules, preserving natural and anthropogenic deposits, with some of the best palaeoenvironmental and anthropogenic records in the elevated areas of the Levant, where erosion often destroys surficial records.
Type
Chapter
Information
Quaternary of the Levant
Environments, Climate Change, and Humans
, pp. 135 - 144
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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