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ULVS XVIII: The Quaternary Geomorphology and Calcretes of the Area around Gasr Banat in the Pre-desert of Tripolitania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

D. D. Gilbertson ,
C. O. Hunt ,
D. J. Briggs ,
G. M. Coles  and
N. M. Thew
D. D. Gilbertson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield
C. O. Hunt
Affiliation:
Creswell Crags Visitor Centre, Worksop, Notts
D. J. Briggs
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Sheffield
G. M. Coles
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield
N. M. Thew
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield
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Abstract

This paper describes the Quaternary geology of the area around Gasr Banat which lies near the confluence of the Wadis N'f'd and N'fed in the pre-desert of Tripolitania. The site is of interest because of its aridity, the notable archaeological remains that occur in the region and the opportunity it offered to map the surficial deposits of an area otherwise largely unknown. The survey revealed that two Pleistocene cobble and gravel units laid down by ‘torrential’ rivers could be distinguished: the older of which had been cemented by calcrete. Polyphase slope deposits occur. Thin section studies of the calcrete suggests it is possible to recognise two arid and two humid episodes from its micromorphology.

The Holocene period is represented by water-lain and aeolian deposits on the wadi floodplain, and climbing and barchan dunes on the adjacent hills. The period immediately prior to the construction of major cross wadi barrages may have been characterised by larger or more frequent floods than occurred immediately prior to the 1984 survey; the palaeoclimatic significance of this observation is unclear. One major barrage in the area is shown to have been built on substantial earth foundations. The assumed Romano-Libyan date of these barrages still remains to be proven, but, conversely, it is now demonstrated that they were not constructed or reconstructed in the 1950s.

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 18 , 1987 , pp. 15 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1987

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