Moshe Wieder

Micromorphological indications on the nature of the Late Quaternary Paleosols in the southern coastal plain of Israel

Abstract The nature of alternating layers of clayey soil material and calcareous soil material in the desert fringe area is discussed. In earlier work by other researchers, these soil materials were considered as representing different climatic environments: the clayey layers a wet period and the calcareous layers a dry period. Based on a pedogenic approach supported by micromorphological indications, however, it is concluded that the clayey layers together with the calcareous layers form a single pedogenic unit developed in the same climatic environment. The calcareous layers are in fact calcic horizons accumulated from the overlying leached clayey material and their appearance is similar to the modern Brown Grumusolic soils that occur in the semiarid area of the coastal plain. A sequence of four superimposed Brown Grumusolic paleosols, developed during the last glacial period, was recognized. In the western part of the coastal plain, Quartzic Brown soils and Husmas soils which developed on sand dunes occur. The former has an argilic horizon with a calcic horizon below. Microcalcites of eolian dust origin are homogeneously distributed in the plasma, the soil representing a monogenetic soil type developed during a semiarid climate. The latter is a Reddish Brown Mediterranean polygenetic soil with leached soil material, in which the calcic horizon accumulated from a loessial soil cover that settled during a drier climate. Both soils also developed during the last glacial period. In the eastern coastal plain, older paleosols which developed on sand dunes occur below the Brown Grumusolic soils. One type is a polygenetic leached Quartzic Gray Brown paleosol, not recognized in previous studies, which overlies a Red Hamra soil (sandy Red Mediterranean soil).

Geological and pedological aspects of an Early‐Paleolithic site: Revadim, Central Coastal Plain, Israel

An Early Paleolithic site was recently discovered within a sequence of paleosols in the Revadim Quarry, central coastal plain of Israel. The section is composed of three superimposed soils in a continuous sequence, but separated by two unconformity surfaces. The uppermost paleosol is a modern Dark Brown Grumusol (Vertisol), the middle is a Quartzic Gray Brown Soil (Haploxeralf), and the lower is a Red Hamra (Rhodoxeralf). Normal magnetic polarity was detected in the two lower soils, indicating that they are younger than the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary (<780 ka). A human occupation bed, enriched in secondary carbonate nodules, forms the lower part of the Quartzic Gray Brown Soil and overlies the Red Hamra. The living floor is located on top of the unconformity surface, separating the Red Hamra from the overlying Quartzic Gray Brown Soil. Middle to Late Acheulian handaxes, choppers, cores, and flake tools, including tools made by the Levallois technique, and man-laid flint pebbles were excavated in the human occupation bed. In addition, two elephant tusks, an elephant pelvis, an elephant tooth (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), tusk splinters, and bones of equid, suid, cervid, bovid, felid, and rodents were also collected. Based on well-documented nearby boreholes and on regional correlation, it appears that the underlying dune sands, the parent materials from which the Red Hamra developed, were deposited probably during a phase of high-stand sea level of Isotope Stage 9. The Red Hamra developed simultaneously with the human occupation of the site, probably during a phase of low-stand sea-level of Isotope Stage 8, before some 300–245 ka. The overlying dune sands, the parent materials from which the Quartzic Gray Brown Soil developed, were deposited probably during a phase of high-stand sea level of Isotope Stage 7. The climate prevailing in the area during Stage 8, as well as during the human habitation, was moist, with a dense vegetation cover of grassland and probably scattered trees. A small lake of trapped fresh water at a junction of two small tributaries of the Soreq River drainage system near the area occupied was available to hominids and animals.

Ceramics from Roman Galilee: A Comparison of Several Techniques for Fabric Characterization

AbstractAn extensive local provenience study of common pottery from Roman Galilee and Golan was carried out, employing neutron activation analysis. This pottery was then examined by binocular microscopy, xeroradiography and thin-section analysis and the results compared with the grouping by neutron activation analysis in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the former techniques for classifying these ceramic fabrics. It was found that xeroradiography alone would have led to the incorrect categorization of the pottery corpus, even at the level of major fabric groups. Thin-section analysts, on the other hand, was seen to be an effective means for sorting the collection into major fabric categories that comport with those defined by neutron activation analysis. In some cases, the description of micromorphological subgroups, comparable to the compositional subgroups distinguished by neutron activation analysis, was also possible. This discriminating classification by thin-section analysis was achieved by st...

Phases of calcrete (Nari) development as indicated by micromorphology

Abstract Wieder, M., Sharabani, M. and Singer, A., 1994. Phases of calcrete (Nari) development as indicated by micromorphology. In: A.J. Ringrose-Voase and G.S. Humphreys (Editors), Soil Micromorphology: Studies in Management and Genesis. Proc. IX Int. Working Meeting on Soil Micromorphology, Townsville, Australia, July 1992. Developments in Soil Science 22, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 37–49.

Paleoclimate deduced from some early Jurassic basalt-derived paleosols from northern Israel

Abstract Earthy red layers, intercalated amid basalt flows from an early Jurassic, 2500 m thick volcanic sequence in northern Israel were examined mineralogically, micromorphologically and chemically. Distinct pedological features, such as wavy illuviation argillans and iron oxide nodules, observed by micromorphological examinations, identified the clayrich layers as basalt-derived paleosols. The clay ( By comparison with the mineralogy and micromorphology of modern basalt-derived Vertisols, a moderately wet, mediterranean-type climate with pronounced seasonality was inferred for the formation time of the paleosols. A similar Lower Jurassic paleoclimate had previously been inferred from a paleosol in the Negev.

Micromorphological Study of Deep Buried Jurassic Basalt-Derived Paleosols from Northern Israel

Abstract An Early Jurassic sequence, the Asher Volcanics, composed of lava flows, 20–30 m thick, interbedded with reddish-brown clayey layers, was penetrated in the Atlit 1 borehole, at a depth interval of 2.9–5.4 km. Results of micromorphological analyses carried out on hand-picked well-cuttings from depths, of 3106, 3378, 3392 and 4189 m suggest that some of the samples represent paleosols. Despite the depth distinct pedogenic features similar to those of modern basalt-derived soil materials, could be recognized. Apparently, younger basalt flows protected the underlying layers, preserving the soil materials. X-ray diffraction showed significant amounts of 2:1 expanding clay minerals, indicating the absence of diagenetic changes. The pedogenic features include clay illuviation, iron-manganese nodules and many iron oxide inclusions within the plasma. Asepic plasmic fabric and craze planes strongly resemble modern soil fabrics. Some samples exhibit strong diagenetic features such as highly striated birefringence of omnisepic fabric. The clayey material in these paleosols presumably was subjected to high stress, though pedogenic indications were not obliterated entirely.

Micromorphological characteristics and paleoclimatic implications of lower cretaceous paleosols in southern Israel

Abstract Wieder, M., Gvirtzman, G. and Weissbrod, T., 1994. Micromorphological characteristics and paleoclimatic implications of lower cretaceous paleosols in southern Israel. In: A.J. Ringrose-Voase and G.S. Humphreys (Editors), Soil Micromorphology: Studies in Management and Genesis. Proc. IX Int. Working Meeting on Soil Micromorphology, Townsville, Australia, July 1992. Developments in Soil Science 22, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 277–284.

Source materials, micromorphology, and the provenance of the storage jars from Roman Galilee

Abstract Wieder, M., Adan-Bayewitz, D. and Asaro, F., 1994. Source materials, micromorphology, and the provenance of the storage jars from Roman Galilee. In: A.J. Ringrose-Voase and G.S. Humphreys (Editors), Soil Micromorphology: Studies in Management and Genesis. Proc. IX Int. Working Meeting on Soil Micromorphology, Townsville, Australia, July 1992. Developments in Soil Science 22, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 307–316.

Micromorphological Characteristics Induced by Subsurface Water Flow in the Judean Desert

Abstract Characteristic features formed by subsurface water flow were found in hillslope soils of the Judean Desert. One such feature consists of laminar carbonate crusts 3-30 mm thick, which cross hard calcrete. Their microstructure displays alternate laminae of residual rock and void-filling sparite. It seems that dissolution proceeded along narrow cracks which were later filled by calcite crystals. Gypsic horizons and gypsic crusts occur in soil further downslope. The microstructure of the gypsic crusts show many laminae of different fabric which are the product of dissolution-precipitation events along the path of lateral water flow. Strongly decalcified red material was found to occur within the crust whereas partially decalcified reddish layers appeared adjacent to the crust. The reddish soil material is due to the effect of the gypsum and is not a paleofeature of a former humid climate.