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Sediment Provenance and Late Quaternary Activity of the Levant Submarine Channel, Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Sivan L. (1), Torfstein A. (1,2), Hymes-Kaphzan O. (3), Kanari M (4), Katz O. (3)

(1) The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

(2) Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, Eilat 88103, Israel,Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, Eilat 88103, Israel

(3) Geological Survey of Israel, 32 Yesha'ayahu Leibowitz, Jerusalem 9692100, Israel

(4) Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research Ltd., Tel-Shikmona, P.O.Box 8030, Haifa 31080, Israel

Submarine channels in the Levant Basin, Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS), are significant geological features that reveal crucial insights into sedimentary processes and basin evolution. These northwards trending channels, formed by turbidity currents and other sediment transport mechanisms, play a key role in shaping the basin's morphology and stratigraphy. Of these, the most prominent channel is the Levant Channel (LC), which is about 300 km long. Yet, we still lack knowledge on when the LC was formed, whether it is currently active, where it originates from, and what is the source of the sediments that it funnels. Here, we aim to address these knowledge gaps by sampling a series of downcore records along and near the LC, and studying their chemical, isotopic (εNd and 87Sr/86Sr) and sedimentological composition. These results will be applied to mixing models, considering two primary end members in this system: Nile River sediments and Sahara Desert dust. These models are integrated with age models that are based on radiocarbon dating of benthic foraminifera shells. Our results will provide insight into sediment transport dynamics and provenance, and their change over time, allowing to reconstruct the late Quaternary history of the LC.

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