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5 - Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Late Cenozoic Volcanism in the Levant

from Part I: - The Evolution of Current Landscapes and Basins

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

The Levant’s late Cenozoic volcanism is part of the western Arabia volcanic province, where. volcanism commenced at its south, in association with the emplacement of the Afar plume. There is no clear temporal pattern and basalts as old as Late Oligocene (26 Ma) and as young as the 100-200 years exist both in Yemen and in Jordan. Nevertheless, temporal patterns are identified locally: the northward migration of volcanism in the Harrat ash Shaam, and along the northern reaches of the Dead Sea transform (DST), northern Syria, or the eastward shift of Pleistocene activity in the northern Harrat ash Shaam, from eastern Israel to southern Syria. The lavas are typical intra-plate continental magmas (mostly alkali-basalts to basanites), and they are associated with the rifting along the Red Sea and the Azraq-Sirhan Graben, as well as the Dead Sea transform. The magmas’ source is either the lithospheric mantle or a mixture of lithospheric and sub-lithospheric sources. The Pleistocene magmas tend to be more alkaline and enriched with incompatible elements, compared with Pliocene basalts, which is attributed either to lower degree of melting or to more constrained/shallower sources. Both explanations imply decreasing intensity of magmatism with time; this is supported by the lower distribution and volume of the Pleistocene magmatism, compared with earlier periods.
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Quaternary of the Levant
Environments, Climate Change, and Humans
, pp. 45 - 52
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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