Geology of Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The geology of Israel includes igneous and metamorphic crystalline basement rocks from the Precambrian overlain by a lengthy sequence of sedimentary rocks extending up to the Pleistocene and overlain with alluvium, sand dunes and playa deposits.[1]
Israel is underlain by igneous and metamorphic crystalline basement rocks of the Arabian Craton formed during the Precambrian, although in places these rocks remain poorly studied. Precambrian rocks are only exposed in southern parts of the country, such as amphibolite at Makhtesh Gadol. Other Precambrian units include the Taba Gneiss, Roded and Elat schist, gneiss and migmatite, syenite, Duhayla Granodiorite, Darba Tonalite, Abu Saq'a Schist, Abu Barqa Metasedimens, Saramuj Conglomerate, Sammaniya Microgranite, Yutum Granite, Quani Diorite, Elat Conglomerate, rhyolite, gabbro and other basic rocks.[2]
Mantle-derived basalt magma ascended through rocks in the Timna Valley in southern Israel, providing the heat to form alkali granite, alkali rhyolite dikes and layered serptinized gabbro in the core of Har Timna.[3]
Paleozoic
The Burj Dolomite Shale formation (which includes sandstone, dolomite, and mudstone) and the Umm Ishrin Sandstone formation both date to the Cambrian and appear in the stratigraphic record of central Israel. The region has little evidence of mid-Paleozoic rocks; sandstone, limestone, clay, and gypsum represent most of the sequence from the Permian and Triassic.
Southern Israel has Ordovician age rocks in the Disi Sandstone Formation. Other Paleozoic rock units such as the Yam Suf Group (sandstone, conglomerate, mudstone, dolomite and limestone, Amudei Shelomo and Timna formations), and Shehoret and Netafim formations (all from the Cambrian) appear only in the south.[4]
Mesozoic
Limestone up to 193 meters thick marks the Upper Jurassic in central Israel, followed by the basalt Tayasir volcanic rocks; the 120 meter Kurnub Group (sandstone, limestone and clay); and 670 meters thick Nabi Sa'id, Ein el Esad, Hidra, Rama and Kefira formation (marl, chalk, sandstone and limestone) from the early Cretaceous. Basalt and basanite are both exposed from the Cretaceous in the north.
Limestone, dolomite, chalk and marl formed during Turonian and Santonian times, chalk and chert during the Campanian. The Mishash Formation of the same age contains similar rocks, 86 meters thick, as well as phosphorite. The Hatrurim Formation, or "Mottled Zone," encompasses metamorphosed Maastrichtian through Miocene rocks. In places the Mesozoic was a time of microgabbro and diabase intrusion.[5]
