new discoveries at the middle pleistocene acheulian site of gesher benot ya aqov israel abstract the gesher benot ya aqov archaeological site in the northern dead sea rift of israel contains acheulian artifacts and middle pleistocene fossils initial results of a new interdisciplinary study have shown that fluviolacustrine sediments of the benot ya aqov formation which contains several archaeological occupations were deposited in an embayment of the hula basin they were subsequently deformed by tectonic activity associated with the dead sea rift biostratigraphy magnetostratigraphy and k ar dating serve to constrain the age of the benot ya aqov formation to between 240 000 and 730 000 yr b p archaeological excavation of three areas and two trenches at the new study area have produced abundant basalt flint and limestone artifacts mammalian and avian fossils and considerable plant material the lithic materials provide an excellent opportunity to study large assemblages of in situ acheulian artifacts a rare phenomenon in the middle pleistocene levantine record in addition the organic materials will facilitate paleoenvironmental reconstructions from an ecological floral perspective

when did hominids first leave africa new high resolution magnetostratigraphy from the erk el ahmar formation israel new paleomagnetic results from the erk el ahmar formation israel resolve age ambiguities of one of the oldest hominid sites outside africa where ancient oldowan tools and artifacts were excavated we identified in the section the upper and lower boundaries of the olduvai subchron and we conclude that these sediments were deposited between ca 1 7 and 2 0 ma this result is consistent with the hypothesis that earliest hominid migrations from africa to eurasia during the early paleolithic traversed the levantine corridor

characterisation and engineering properties of tectonically undisturbed but lithologically varied sedimentary rock masses tectonically undisturbed sedimentary rocks deposited in a quiescent shallow marine environment often include a sequence of strata that may present significant lithological variety at the scale of an engineering structure such rock masses exhibit engineering properties that are significantly different from tectonically disturbed rock masses of similar composition for example molasse consists of a series of tectonically undisturbed sediments of sandstones conglomerates siltstones and marls produced by the erosion of mountain ranges after the final phase of an orogeny they behave quite differently from flysch which has the same composition but which was tectonically disturbed during the orogeny the molasses behave as continuous rock masses when they are confined at depth and the bedding planes do not appear as clearly defined discontinuity surfaces close to the surface the layering of the formations is discernible and only then similarities may exist with the structure of some types of flysch therefore extreme care is necessary in the use of geotechnical classification systems for the selection of design parameters in order to avoid penalizing the rock mass unnecessarily a discussion on the use of the geological strength index gsi for the characterisation of such rock masses is presented two gsi charts are proposed for estimating the mechanical properties of these masses one mainly for tunnels and the second for surface excavations an example is given to illustrate the process of tunnel design in molassic rocks

use wear analysis of an amudian laminar assemblage from the acheuleo yabrudian of qesem cave israel in this paper the results of use wear analysis of an amudian lithic assemblage recently discovered at qesem cave israel are presented although very old this assemblage maintains well preserved traces of use that indicate that butchering activities and plants collecting were carried out at the site cut marks on faunal remains confirm the observations obtained by use wear analysis

analytical evolution of tsunamis induced by near shore earthquakes on a constant slope ocean strong near shore earthquakes are the most frequent sources of tsunamis in many oceans of the world in the framework of the nonlinear shallow water theory the initial sea surface tsunami elevation is assumed to equal the sea floor co seismic displacement produced by the seismic event this is quantified by means of the analytical formulas due to okada 1985 1992 dealing with seismic faults buried in an elastic medium in this work the propagation of tsunamis is studied along two dimensional profiles on an idealized constant slope sea bed an approximation that allows one to reduce the governing nonlinear equations to a linear problem by means of the classical carrier greenspan 1958 approach we introduce an analytical solution that is sufficiently general to account for initial conditions associated with paradigmatic cases of sea bottom deformations produced by near shore earthquakes such as subsidence or uplift of the coastal area and can be also used to treat more complex deformations the main result is that the amplification of the tsunami height at the coast is found to range between approximately 1 and 2 the amplification is around 1 for tsunamis induced by earthquakes with their epicentre inland and tends to grow as the fault moves seaward we restrict our analysis to earthquakes that dislocate the shore region within the class of sources that we consider the tsunamis that are most amplified are the ones having initial profiles with a crest trough crest system or conversely with a trough crest trough system the bottom slope is found to have no effect on tsunami run ups and run downs but to influence tsunami periods and tsunami speed remarkably breaking analysis shows that wave breaking does not occur if the initial wave height is less than 8 9 m and that the simplest sea level profiles which are associated with earthquakes with their epicentre on land are not expected to break even if their initial height exceeds 19 m

the olduvai buffalo pelorovis and the origin of bos the origin of the genus bos is a debated issue from 0 5 ma until historic times the genus is well known in the eurasian large mammal assemblages where it is represented by bos primigenius this species has a highly derived cranial anatomy that shows important morphological differences from other plio pleistocene eurasian genera of the tribe bovini such as leptobos bison proamphibos hemibos and bubalus the oldest clear evidence of bos is the skull fragment asb 198 1 from the middle pleistocene 0 6 0 8 ma site of asbole lower awash valley ethiopia the first appearance of bos in europe is at the site of venosa notarchirico italy 0 5 0 6 ma although the origin of bos has traditionally been connected with leptobos and bison after a detailed anatomical and morphometric study we propose here a different origin connecting the middle pleistocene eurasian forms of b primigenius with the african late pliocene and early pleistocene large size member of the tribe bovini pelorovis sensu stricto the dispersal of the bos lineage in western europe during middle pleistocene times seems to coincide with the arrival of the acheulean tool technology in this continent 2007 university of washington all rights reserved

mid pleistocene acheulean like stone technology of the bose basin south china stone artifacts from the bose basin south china are associated with tektites dated to 803 000 3000 years ago and represent the oldest known large cutting tools lcts in east asia bose toolmaking is compatible with mode 2 acheulean technologies in africa in its targeted manufacture and biased spatial distribution of lcts large scale flaking and high flake scar counts acheulean like tools in the mid pleistocene of south china imply that mode 2 technical advances were manifested in east asia contemporaneously with handaxe technology in africa and western eurasia bose lithic technology is associated with a tektite airfall and forest burning

tl dates of burnt flints from jelinek s excavations at tabun and their implications abstract a selection of 37 burnt flints from jelinek s excavations at tabun were dated by thermoluminescence the results indicate that the bottom of unit i garrod s layer c should be given an age of 171 17 ky bp transition from oxygen isotope stage 7 to 6 and that units xiii to ii layers ed to d were deposited between c 330 and 210 ky bp i e during the oxygen isotope stages 9 8 and the beginning of 7 these dates raise the possibility that a a pre wurmian neanderthal population may have settled in the levant during the oxygen isotope stage 6 and that b the transition from mugharan acheuleo yabrudian yabrudian and amudian to levallois mousterian type lithic industries occurred at the end of stage 8 more than 200 ky ago these early dates whose reliability was consistent with isochron analysis of the data are not that different from those now accepted for the development of the levallois mousterian industries in europe

experimental investigation of mechanical properties of bedded salt rock abstract because of salt cavern utilization for liquid gas and solid waste storage salt rock mechanical properties are needed for assessments of facility stability and safety bedded salt deposits are widespread and used as much or more than diapiric salt bodies as storage facility hosts but experimental data on the mechanical properties of bedded salt rock with impurities are far less common than data available on relatively pure diapiric salt rocks through laboratory uniaxial and triaxial compression experiments on rock salt halite interlayers anhydrite and bedded composite specimens anhydrite halite and mudstone halite differences in mechanical properties of the various lithologies are explored in the composite specimens the weakest or the most deformable component governs the behavior also the properties of bedded composite lithology specimens tend to be in between the property ranges of the pure lithologies the elastic modulus of the bedded salt rock increases from 5 3 to 24 1 gpa with an increase in the confining stress from 0 to 15 mpa with some evidence of sample damage the ductile transition for halite at the strain rates used is at about 3 10 mpa with increasing 3 the anhydrite halite composite lithology deformation showed strain hardening and a strong trend to ductile behavior as the halite bands tended to dominate the behavior strain incompatibility effects exist along interfaces between creeping and non creeping phases in anhydrite halite composite lithologies mudstone halite rocks tended to be extremely weak compared with all other specimens

a numerical characterization workflow for assessing the strength and failure modes of heterogeneous oil sands understanding the strength and failure modes of overburden and reservoir are critical components in safety assessments for oil sands surface mining and in situ thermal recovery operations currentl

continual fire making by hominins at gesher benot ya aqov israel this paper presents the culmination of an extensive study of fire use at the early and early middle pleistocene site of gesher benot ya aqov using software available in the gis package we have examined the spatial distribution of burned and unburned flint microartifacts from eight acheulian archaeological horizons the results of this study demonstrate that the burned microartifacts are never evenly distributed and dense concentrations are observed the circumstances that introduced these burned flint artifacts to the archaeological layers are examined suggesting that anthropogenic rather than natural fires are responsible for the observed patterns as the evidence for the use of fire is recorded throughout the long stratigraphic sequence it seems that fire was continually used by the acheulian hominins of the site this repetitive use of fire indicates that the hominins of gesher benot ya aqov had a profound knowledge of fire making enabling them to make fire at will

the sahara east mediterranean dust and climate connection revealed by strontium and uranium isotopes in a jerusalem speleothem this paper explores the potential of sr and u isotope systems in speleothems as tracers of eolian dust transport and hydrological conditions the study focuses on a speleothem from jerusalem spanning the past 220 kyr this speleothem provides a precisely dated record of dust flux from the sahara to the east mediterranean enhanced dust flux and terra rossa soil development are reflected by elevated 87sr 86sr ratios in the speleothem 0 7082 0 7086 while lower 87sr 86sr ratios 0 7078 indicate higher contribution of the local bedrock due to low dust flux and low soil accumulation the strontium isotope system in the speleothem is a robust monitor of the sahara monsoon modulated climate since dust uptake is related to development or reduction in vegetation cover of sahara soil the 234u 238u activity ratios in the speleothem range between 1 12 and 1 0 the high activity values may indicate selective removal of 234u from the soil while the low values converge to the bedrock the migration of 234u to the cave reflects mainly the regional hydrological conditions that are modulated by the north atlantic mediterranean climate system thus the speleothem provides a combined record of the monsoon north atlantic climatic systems long term stability in glacial 87sr 86sr ratios 0 7083 0 0001 over the past 220 kyr suggests an overall similarity in eolian dust sources and uniformity in the synoptic conditions that dominate the dust storm tracks during glacial periods

early and middle pleistocene faunal and hominins dispersals through southwestern asia abstract this review summarizes the paleoecology of the early and middle pleistocene of southwestern asia based on both flora and fauna retrieved from a series of windows provided by the excavated sites the incomplete chrono stratigraphy of this vast region does not allow to accept the direct chronological correlation between the available sites and events of faunal and hominin dispersals from africa it also demonstrates that hominins survived in a mixed landscape of open parkland with forested surrounding hills in addition the prevailing environmental conditions are not sufficient to explain successful adaptations to new ecological niches away from the african savanna of the bearers of core and flake and the acheulian industries the differences in knapping and secondary shaping of stone artifacts probably reflect the learned traditions of different groups of hominins the current distribution of lithic industries across eurasia is undoubtedly incomplete due to lack of cultural continuities as well as paucity of field research in several sub regions this observation supports the contention that what we view as a constant stream of migrants was actually interrupted many times the continuous occupation of southwestern asia by the makers of the acheulian is in contrast with neighboring regions such as the iranian plateau and eastern europe a more complex model is required to explain the recorded eurasian archaeological cultural mosaic

an isotopic study of paleosol carbonates from olduvai gorge the isotopic composition of paleosol carbonates from olduvai gorge can be used to give estimates of the paleoclimatic history of east africa during the plio pleistocene oxygen isotopes are indicative of major changes in the isotopic composition of meteoric water while carbon isotopes are indicative of major changes in the fraction of biomass using the hatch slack c4 photosynthetic pathway three major periods of climatic change in this terrestrial setting occurred at about 1 67 1 3 and 0 6 myr these involved major changes in flora as well as major changes in the isotopic composition of meteoric water overall the climate has become warmer and more arid over the past 2 2 myr

early pleistocene lake deposits and lower paleolithic finds in nahal wadi zihor southern negev desert israel abstract an early pleistocene fluvio lacustrine sequence from the extremely arid southern negev desert israel indicates that climatic conditions during that period were humid enough to support the formation of a lake lake zihor there the lacustrine sediments were deposited in a tectonic valley that developed along the zihor tectonic line after the deposition of the pliocene arava formation they intercalate with fluvial sediments that contain several horizons of reddish calcic paleosols the lacustrine sequence comprises three sedimentary cycles each starts with a dark clay layer overlain by a white limestone unit both of which contain abundant freshwater fauna and terminates with a green detrital limestone that contains only one type of brackish water ostracod the top of each green limestone unit is characterized by pedogenic features and microrelief indicating desiccation of the lake and soil development isotope data support the hypothesis that the white limestone was deposited in an open freshwater lake the incision of the present channel of nahal wadi zihor in the lacustrine sediments is manifested by a series of rock cut and fluvial terraces q1 q4 capped by gypsic salic soils which reflect the onset of the present extremely arid climate over 100 find spots and larger occurrences of prehistoric artifacts assigned to the lower paleolithic were discovered near lake zihor on the basis of techno typological and stratigraphic considerations these assemblages are divided into two groups the first of which may be contemporaneous with the lake while the second is found mainly on the younger q1 and q2 terraces it is estimated that the lake existed for more than 100 000 years the climate during this period was probably semiarid but water budget calculations suggest that in addition to surface runoff seepage of groundwater along the zihor line contributed a considerable amount of water to the lake

determination of mechanical properties of flysch using laboratory methods abstract the paper deals with the determination of the mechanical properties of heterogeneous rocks in the laboratory and proposes a methodology for predicting the rock mass strength of flysch formations consisting of siltstone sandstone alternations in different proportions in order to simulate such formations composite specimens comprising superimposed disks of intact sandstone and siltstone material with different thickness ratios were prepared wave velocity p and s uniaxial and triaxial compressive strength and young s modulus of the composite samples were determined in the laboratory according to the laboratory results the uniaxial compressive strength and young s modulus decrease with the increase of the siltstone percentage in the specimens and yield the strength of siltstone when the siltstone percentage in the rock is equal to 37 additionally the triaxial compression tests on composite samples revealed a significant decrease of the m i parameter for a siltstone percentage of only 17 a comparison is made between the results of the present study with similar laboratory and empirical references from literature finally it was possible to suggest how the relation between uniaxial compressive strength ci and siltstone percentage sl may differ according to the ratio of the compressive strength of the two main rocks weak and strong which comprise the heterogeneous rock

magnetostratigraphic dating of early humans in china abstract china is a key area for research into human occupation in the old world after the initial expansion of early humans out of africa reliable age determinations are pivotal for assessing the patterns of human evolution and dispersal in this region this paper reviews magnetostratigraphic studies of some early pleistocene strata bearing hominin remains and or artifact stone tools from northern to southern china the quality and reliability of the paleomagnetic dates are also evaluated new magnetostratigraphic results for the xihoudu paleolithic site in north central china are also presented among the few hominin or paleolithic sites in china from the early pleistocene five have been well investigated three of these are in northern china at xiaochangliang donggutuo and gongwangling the remaining two in southern china at longgupo and yuanmou considerable progress has been made during the past three decades towards paleomagnetically dating these sites indeed the age estimates at xiaochangliang and gongwangling have been widely accepted magnetostratigraphic consensus about the age of the donggutuo site has also been reached however the age determination for the two sites in southern china is still contested the integration of rock magnetic stratigraphy with magnetic polarity stratigraphy has resulted in a determined age of 1 36 ma for a stone tool containing layer of lacustrine sediments at the xiaochangliang site in the nihewan basin lithostratigraphic constraints have significantly contributed to determining the age of lantian homo erectus at gongwangling which occurred in a loess paleosol sequence of the southern loess plateau its age paleomagnetically derived is about 1 15 ma these two paleomagnetic ages suggest an expansion and flourishing of human groups from northern to north central china during the early pleistocene this suggestion has been reinforced by our new magnetostratigraphic age estimate of about 1 27 ma for the xihoudu site as will be presented in this paper however more work is needed for the age determinations of the hominin bearing strata at the longgupo and yuanmou sites in southern china finally we stress that it is necessary to combine biostratigraphy lithostratigraphy and rock magnetic stratigraphy with the traditional magnetic polarity stratigraphy in order to obtain reliable age determinations for strata bearing hominin remains or stone artifacts

seven ambiguities in the mediterranean palaeoenvironmental narrative abstract a review of seven outstanding issues on mediterranean palaeoenvironments is presented these are related to the dominant orbital pacing of climate variability the length of the interglacial vegetation succession the influence of the african summer monsoon the seasonality of precipitation during boreal insolation maxima the moisture balance during glacial maxima and the appearance of the mediterranean type climate rhythm and evolution of mediterranean sclerophyllous plants what emerges is that 1 marine 18oplanktonic and sst records show that precession has been a fundamental tempo of mediterranean climate change representing both a low latitude signal runoff from north africa and the direct influence of insolation at mediterranean latitudes but high latitude glacial effects 41 kyr and 100 kyr cycles became superimposed after 2 8 ma sapropel and dust deposition patterns in marine cores reveal that obliquity also has an effect on mediterranean climate through dry wet oscillations which are independent of glacial interglacial variability 2 the temperate part of interglacial vegetation succession has a duration of approximately half a precession cycle this persisted during the interval of obliquity dominated glacial cycles 2 8 1 ma with distinct forest successions following the precessional cycles however these are not always separated by an open vegetation phase because of minimal ice growth producing an impression of a prolonged interglacial forest interval 3 the effect of an enhanced african monsoon during summer insolation maxima has been mainly indirect in terms of nile discharge and runoff along the north african coast leading to increased freshwater input into the mediterranean sea reduced deep water ventilation and sapropel deposition 4 the notion of an accentuated summer rain regime in the northern mediterranean borderlands also contributing to a freshening of the mediterranean sea during boreal insolation maxima is not supported by the available evidence which suggests increased summer aridity 5 recent improvements in chronological precision and data resolution point to an increase in aridity and decreased temperatures during the last glacial maximum 21 2 ka but suggest an increase in effective moisture during the immediately preceding interval of 24 27 ka 6 the mediterranean type climate is not exclusively a post 3 6 ma phenomenon but may have appeared intermittently during the course of the tertiary or before 7 if that is the case then the paradigm that the sclerophyllous evergreen habit represents a pre adaptation to summer drought may need re evaluation

the faunal remains from evron quarry in relation to other lower paleolithic hominid sites in the southern levant abstract the mammalian assemblage and archaeological finds from the lower palaeolithic hominid site of evron quarry situated on the northern coastal plain of israel are described and discussed in their lithic and faunal composition the sites of latamne qfiii latamne formation orontes syria and sitt markho nahr elkebir syria resemble evron and are probably contemporaneous it is suggested here based on their lithic and faunal composition that these sites may be chronologically closer to the site of ubeidiya ubeidiya formation jordan valley israel 1 4 myr than to the sites of gesher benot ya akov dated as

desert speleothems reveal climatic window for african exodus of early modern humans one of the fi rst movements of early modern humans out of africa occurred 130 100 thousand years ago ka when they migrated northward to the levant region the climatic conditions that accompanied this migration are still under debate using high precision multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry mc icp ms u th methods we dated carbonate cave deposits speleothems from the central and southern negev desert of israel located at the northeastern margin of the saharan arabian desert speleothems grow only when rainwater enters the unsaturated zone and this study reveals that a major cluster of wet episodes the last recorded in the area occurred between 140 and 110 ka this episodic wet period coincided with increased monsoonal precipitation in the southern parts of the saharanarabian desert the disappearance at this time of the desert barrier between central africa and the levant and particularly in the sinai negev land bridge between africa and asia would have created a climatic window for early modern human dispersion to the levant

the pliocene pleistocene succession of kvabebi georgia and the background to the early human occupation of southern caucasus abstract this article analyzes and discusses the chronological and zoogeographic context of the pliocene site of kvabebi in order to shed light into the background of the early human occupation of eurasia as evidenced by the early pleistocene site of dmanisi new paleontological and paleomagnetic research has allowed this site to be placed in a reverse interval which can be identified as chron 2an 1r the age of this site is therefore close to 3 07 ma coeval to the hadar beds of the afar depression and slightly older than the last hipparionine faunas in europe such as villarroya in spain the fauna of kvabebi is composed of a number of species common to europe and asia but also includes others with african affinities such as kvabebihyrax kachethicus protoryx heinrichi parastrepsiceros sokolovi and gazella postmitilinii however the presence these species cannot be explained as the result of a pliocene dispersal from africa but rather as the last remnants of the so called greek iranian province

climate variability in the upper jordan valley around 0 78 ma inferences from time series stable isotopes of viviparidae supported by mollusc and plant palaeoecology abstract the early middle pleistocene lacustrine sediments at gesher benot ya aqov gby in the upper jordan valley span ca 100 ka across the matuyama brunhes boundary mbb at 780 ka and oxygen isotope stages oiss 20 to 18 provide a continuous record of their sedimentary history and prevailing climate the lacustrine environment is investigated using ecological and stable isotope characteristics of gastropods belonging to the family viviparidae supplemented by other molluscan and floral indicators the sedimentary framework of the 34 m thick sequence is bounded by channel conglomerates at its base and top and consists of six sedimentary cycles each one starts with shore sediments coquina and sand and ends with deeper water sediments black mud or gray mud time series of 18o and 13c values were determined in individual shells belonging to two sympatric genera of viviparid gastropods viviparus apameae galileae and bellamya sp found in the sedimentary cycles 2 through 5 the total overall range of 18o in the time series of all the shells is from 10 5 to 5 2 vpdb and the 13c from 9 2 to 4 8 vpdb the 13c values of shells recovered from black mud are lower than those from the other sediment types suggesting a higher proportion of carbon of organic origin the 18o values show only a weak relation with sediment type the time series of the individual shells indicate a relative constancy in the water 18o and temperature whilst the variation in 13c could be related to the annual productivity cycle growth and decay of aquatic plants of the lake the 13c patterns in the time series and winter rings indicate that the rate of growth of the individual snails was ca 15 30 mm year the isotopic characteristics of the viviparid shells from these beds indicate diverse sedimentary environments and suggest that above the mbb cycles 2 5 the gby lake received constant and isotopically consistent water inflow our integrated data isotopic and ecological of molluscs and ecological of plants indicates that the geophysical magnetic phenomenon of mbb coincides with an environmental change from a relatively cold dry climate towards a warmer temperate subtropical climate in this region this change coincides with the occurrence of hominin artifacts which were found mainly in layers of the sedimentary cycles 3 5

empirical estimation of rock mass modulus the deformation modulus of a rock mass is an important input parameter in any analysis of rock mass behaviour that includes deformations field tests to determine this parameter directly are time consuming expensive and the reliability of the results of these tests is sometimes questionable consequently several authors have proposed empirical relationships for estimating the value of rock mass deformation modulus on the basis of classification schemes these relationships are reviewed and their limitations are discussed based on data from a large number of in situ measurements from china and taiwan a new relationship based upon a sigmoid function is proposed the properties of the intact rock as well as the effects of disturbance due to blast damage and or stress relaxation are also included in this new relationship