Pebble units in the lower Nahal Zin area: Environmental interpretation

The Late Pleistocene lacustrine sediments of the Lisan Formation penetrate the lower reaches of Nahal Zin, where they intercalate with fluvial sediments and form a high terrace. The directions of dip of pebbles within the intercalated sediments were analyzed in an attempt to distinguish between units that were deposited in a fluvial environment, and those that were deposited in a lacustrine environment. Paleocurrent analysis at two sites, 1.5 km apart, shows that in the basal and top units of the terrace the pebble dip orientation corresponds to the present-day stream directions, whereas the units that include typical lacustrine aragonite laminae show pebble orientations that are perpendicular to the present flow direction. In both sections, the pebbles underlying the lacustrine sediments show a pebble dip direction that is similar to that of the lacustrine unit.