Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vvkck Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T19:58:09.973Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ULVS XVIII: The Quaternary Geomorphology and Calcretes of the Area around Gasr Banat in the Pre-desert of Tripolitania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

D. D. Gilbertson ,
C. O. Hunt ,
D. J. Briggs ,
G. M. Coles  and
N. M. Thew
D. D. Gilbertson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield
C. O. Hunt
Affiliation:
Creswell Crags Visitor Centre, Worksop, Notts
D. J. Briggs
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Sheffield
G. M. Coles
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield
N. M. Thew
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper describes the Quaternary geology of the area around Gasr Banat which lies near the confluence of the Wadis N'f'd and N'fed in the pre-desert of Tripolitania. The site is of interest because of its aridity, the notable archaeological remains that occur in the region and the opportunity it offered to map the surficial deposits of an area otherwise largely unknown. The survey revealed that two Pleistocene cobble and gravel units laid down by ‘torrential’ rivers could be distinguished: the older of which had been cemented by calcrete. Polyphase slope deposits occur. Thin section studies of the calcrete suggests it is possible to recognise two arid and two humid episodes from its micromorphology.

The Holocene period is represented by water-lain and aeolian deposits on the wadi floodplain, and climbing and barchan dunes on the adjacent hills. The period immediately prior to the construction of major cross wadi barrages may have been characterised by larger or more frequent floods than occurred immediately prior to the 1984 survey; the palaeoclimatic significance of this observation is unclear. One major barrage in the area is shown to have been built on substantial earth foundations. The assumed Romano-Libyan date of these barrages still remains to be proven, but, conversely, it is now demonstrated that they were not constructed or reconstructed in the 1950s.

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 18 , 1987 , pp. 15 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adamson, D. A., Gasse, F., Street, F. A. and Williams, M. A. J. 1980. Late Quaternary History of the Nile. Nature 288: 50–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allan, J. A. and Richard, T. S. 1983. Use of Satellite Imagery in Archaeological Surveys. Libyan Studies 14: 4–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anketell, J. M. and Ghellali, S. M. 1983. Stratigraphie studies on Quaternary Floodplain deposits of the Eastern Gefara Plain, S.P.L.A.J. Libyan Studies 14:16–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, G. W. W., Gilbertson, D. D., Griffin, C. M., Hayes, P. P., and Jones, D. A. 1983. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey V: Sedimentological properties of Holocene wadi floor and plateau deposits in Tripolitania, north west Libya. Libyan Studies 14:69–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burns, J. R. and Mattingly, D. J. 1981. The Wadi N'f'd Survey. Libyan Studies 12: 24–33.Google Scholar
Butzer, K. W. and Hansen, C. L. 1968. Desert and River in Ancient Nubia. Madison, University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Coles, G. M., Gilbertson, D. D. and Hunt, C. O. 1985. Soil erosion and genesis in the Tuscan landscape II. Morphological sequences of carbonate induration in Quaternary slope deposits. Archaeologia Medievale XI: 255–295.Google Scholar
Dorsett, J. E., Gilbertson, D. D., Hunt, C. O. and Barker, G. W. W. 1984. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey VIII: Image analysis of Landsat Satellite data for archaeological and environmental surveys. Libyan Studies 15:71–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbertson, D. D., Hayes, P. P., Barker, G. W. W. and Hunt, C. O. 1984. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey VII: An Interim Classification and Functional Analysis of Ancient Wall Technology and Land Use. Libyan Studies 15:45–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H. 1961. A classification of Ca horizons in the soils of a desert region, Dona Ana County, New Mexico. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings, 25: 52–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H. 1966. Cambie and certain noncambic horizons in desert soils of southern New Mexico. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings, 31:773–781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H. 1977. Holocene soils and soil-geomorphic relations in a semi-arid region of southern New Mexico. Quaternary Research 5:112–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H. 1981. 1981 supplement to the Desert Project Soil Monograph. Los Cruces. New Mexico State University Library, Rio Grande Historical Collections, 84 pp., 43 soil maps.Google Scholar
Gile, L. H. and Grossman, R. B. 1979. The Desert Project Soil Monograph. Washington D.C. Soil Conservation Service U. S. Department of Agriculture, 984 pp.Google Scholar
Gile, L. H., Grossman, R. B. and Hawley, J. W. 1969. Effects of landscape dissection on soils near University Park, New Mexico. Soil Science 108: 273–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H. and Hawley, J. W. 1966. Periodic sedimentation and soil formation on an alluvial fan-piedmont in southern New Mexico. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings, 30: 261–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H., Hawley, J. W. and Grossman, R. B. 1970. Distribution and genesis of soils and geomorphic surfaces in a desert region of southern New Mexico. Soil Science Society of America, Guidebook: Soil-Geomorphology field conference. Loss Cruces, New Mexico State University, Department of Agronomy 155 pp.Google Scholar
Gile, L. H., Hawley, J. W. and Grossman, R. B. 1981. Soils and Geomorphology in the Basin and range area of Southern New Mexico — Guidebook to the Desert Project. Memoir No. 39. Socorro, N. M. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H., Peterson, F. F. and Grossman, R. B. 1965. The K horizon — a master soil horizon of soil carbonate accumulation. Soil Science 99: 74–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gile, L. H., Peterson, F. F. and Grossman, R. B. 1966. Morphological and genetic sequences of carbonate accumulation in desert soils. Soil Science 101: 347–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goudie, A. S. 1973. Duricrusts in Tropical Landscapes. Oxford, Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hawley, J. W. 1978. Guidebook to the Rio Grande rift in New Mexico and Colorado. Socorro, N. M. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Circular No. 163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, R. L. and Reeder, R. J. 1978. Calcretes of Olduvai Gorge and the Ndolanya beds of Northern Tanzania. Sedimentology 25:647–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hey, R. L. 1972. The Quaternary and Palaeolithic of northern Libya. Quaternaria 6:435–449.Google Scholar
Jakel, D. 1980. Current weathering and pluvio-geomorphological processes in the area of Jabal as Sawda. In Salem and Busrewil 1980: 861–875.Google Scholar
McBurney, C. B. M. and Hey, R. L. 1955. Prehistory and Pleistocene Geology in Cyrenaican Libya. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pachur, H.-J. 1980. Climatic history in the Late Quaternary in southern Libya and in the western Libyan desert. In Salem and Busrewil 1980: 781–788.Google Scholar
Petit-Marie, N., Casta, L., Delibras, G. and Gaven, Ch. 1980. Preliminary data on Quaternary palaeolacustrine deposits in the Wadi ash Shati' area, Libya. In Salem and Busrewil 1980: 797–807.Google Scholar
Salem, M. J. and Busrewil, M. T. (eds.) 1980. The Geology of Libya. Volume III. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Street, F. A. and Grove, A. T. 1976. Environmental and climatic implications of late Quaternary lake-level fluctuations in Africa. Nature 261:258–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vita-Finzi, C. 1960. Post-Roman Changes in Wadi Lebda. In Willimot, S. G. and Clarke, J. I., (eds.), Field Studies in Libya. Durham, University of Durham: 46–51.Google Scholar
Vita-Finzi, C. 1969. The Mediterranean Valleys. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Vita-Finzi, C. 1971. Alluvial history of northern Libya since the last interglacial. In Gray, C. (ed.), Symposium on the Geology of Libya. Tripoli, University of Tripoli: 409–429.Google Scholar