Reconstruction of the Mesopotamian coastline in the Holocene

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6614268

Cooke, G A

At the end of the last glacial period, a major marine transgression inundated the entire Persian Gulf. The precise position of the coastline with time has been the subject of several alternate interpretations. Utilizing sea level curves, shallow well data, sediment loads, satellite imagery, geomorphology, archeologic information, and historical data; the transgression and subsequent delta progradation at the head of the Persian Gulf can be delineated. The maximum transgression, at about 6000 B.P., extended about 400 km inland from the present shoreline. After 6000 B.P., the Shatt-al-Arab Delta prograded southward to its current position. Previous uncertainty about the extent of innundation and sedimentation in this archaeologically important area is, in part, the result of assymetric infilling of the embayment by large quantities of sediment from the Karun-Karkheh-Jarrahi River system. This portion of the delta prograded rapidly to the south, isolating a large portion of the embayment from the rest of the Gulf. The Hawzr marshes of today are the remnant of the freshwater lake(s) that formed in this fashion. The impact of these events on our knowledge of early human occupation and the development of civilization in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, is profound.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6614268
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Journal Information: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28 Oct 1985
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
PERSIAN GULF
SEA LEVEL
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
VARIATIONS
ARCHAEOLOGY
COASTAL REGIONS
GEOMORPHOLOGY
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
IRAN
IRAQ
QUATERNARY PERIOD
REMOTE SENSING
SAUDI ARABIA
ARABIAN SEA
ASIA
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGY
INDIAN OCEAN
LEVELS
MIDDLE EAST
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
580100* - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)