Israel/Northern valleys/rounded sedimentary and volcanic fluvial sands
| ID | Name | Country/Region | General Information | Contributors | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Israel/Northern valleys/rounded sedimentary and volcanic fluvial sands | Israel/Jordan Valley, Israel/Beth She’an Valley, Israel/Jezreel Valley | Fabric characterized by a calcareous silty matrix, colored dark-brown to opaque under crossed polarized light, and brown under regular polarized light; particles are usually single-spaced and voids are usually 10-20% of slide area with several examples showing laminated voids; the coarse:fine:voids20μm ratio (c:f:v) is 30–50:30–60:15–25. The non-plastic inclusions contain mainly several populations: Limestone fragments, travertine and calcareous concentrations, usually 10–15% of slide area in various sizes, reaching usually 1 mm occasionally larger at up to 3 mm; most are sub-angular to rounded in shape. Some of the particles have the pisolitic appearance (spheroid with a concentrically laminated internal structure) typical of travertine, but most do not. The second component is basalt rock fragments, usually appear quantities of 2–5% of slide area (but in some cases less), and are usually sized up to 0.5–0.6 mm, sub-angular. Other less frequent inclusions are opaque minerals (up to 1% of slide area rounded, up to 0.2 mm), chert (up to 2% of slide area, angular, up to 0.8 mm in size) and quartz (up to 5%, usually angular up to 0.1 mm). Inclusions appearing in small quantities or rarely include chalk, micro-fossils, shell, feldspars, hornblende and olivine (the latter three are mostly basaltic derived). Laminated voids may indicate organic inclusions as straw. | David Ben-Shlomo |
Israel/Lower Cretaceous/argillaceous/shales-mature sandstone-siltstone
| ID | Name | Country/Region | General Information | Contributors | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Israel/Lower Cretaceous/argillaceous/shales-mature sandstone-siltstone | Israel/Jordan Valley, Israel/Central Highlands, Israel/Hula Valley | The fabric is characterized by a matrix dark to opaque in crossed polarized light and dark brown in regular polarized light. Particles are usually double-spaced and voids are 10–20%. This is probably a non-calcareous clay. the coarse:fine:voids20μm ratio (c:f:v) is 30–45:30–60:10–25. Several examples were probably fired in a temperatures 900 degrees or higher. Non-plastics include mainly limestone, travertine and calcareous concentrations, together about 20% of slide area (chalk, limestone, travertine; usually up to 0.5 mm fragments), opaque minerals, quartz (5–20%, silty or bimodal, see below), shale (up to 5%, usually rounded up to 0.8 mm, occasionally up to 1.8 mm) and pellets. In several examples rounded oolitic limestone appears (as Samples Rehov 102 and 141; see e.g., Buzaglo and Goren 2006:387). Also, in smaller quantities there are chert fragments, basalt, feldspar, shell, micro-fossils and micas. The shale fragments are sometimes in moderate quantities (less than 1% of slide) but are quite dominant in this group. The quartz component is lower in several of the examples mostly angular silty with few sand sized up to 0.6 mm. In Group 3b there is more quartz (10–20%) with a poorly sorted/bimodal texture, with silty angular and sand sized angular to rounded particles. | David Ben-Shlomo |
Israel/Calcareous/foraminiferous rendzina soil on Upper Cretaceous formations
| ID | Name | Country/Region | General Information | Contributors | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Israel/Lower Cretaceous/argillaceous/shales-mature sandstone-siltstone | Israel/Central Highlands, Israel/Carmel Mountains, Israel/Galilee, Israel/Jordan Valley, Lebanon/Southern Coast | This petro-fabric refers to calcareous and Upper Cretaceous foraminiferous matrices that are rendzina soils. If it is possible to identify the date of the foraminifera to the Upper Cretaceous (as here) then the material should be related to this petrofabric (#7). If the foraminifera are undatable, then the material should instead be related to petrofabric calcareous-foraminiferous-rendzina-soil (#24). Rendzina soils develop as a result of erosion and attrition processes mainly on Senonian and Eocene chalk and Cenomanian marl formations. They are very common throughout the hilly and mountainous regions of the eastern Mediterranean, where average annual precipitation is 400–900 mm (Dan et al. 1975; Ravikovitch 1981: 87–101; Singer 2007: 103–123).
Rendzina soils are widely distributed in Israel, the Lebanon and Syria. In Israel, these soils cover broad areas, mainly along the Judean-Samarian ridges, along the Carmel ridge (mainly the Menashe region) and throughout the Galilee. Rendzinas also occur in the upper Shephelah. The use of rendzina soil as raw material for ceramic products is widely attested throughout all periods, mainly in the Shephelah and in northern Israel. |
David |
