LATE HOLOCENE STRATIGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE GULF OF AQABA COASTAL PLAIN, JORDAN A THESIS IN Environmental and Urban Geosciences Presented to the Faculty of the University of Missouri – Kansas City in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science By Janet E. Smith B.S. Geology, University of Missouri – Kansas City, 2015 B.A. Communication, University of Arkansas, 1999 Kansas City, Missouri 2020 © 2020 Janet Smith ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LATE HOLOCENE STRATIGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE GULF OF AQABA COASTAL PLAIN, JORDAN Janet E. Smith, Candidate for the Master of Science Degree University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2020 ABSTRACT Construction of the lower tidal lagoon at the Ayla Oasis Development in Aqaba, Jordan provided a unique opportunity to study the 3-D architecture of coastal plain sediment of the northern Gulf of Aqaba. Previous studies of sediment cores had identified a mid-Holocene transgression and a late Holocene regression. In this study, one cross-section of buried structures adjacent to the archaeological site of Tel el-Kheleifeh (8th-4th C. BCE) and two stratigraphic columns of 7 m-high outcrops that extended to a depth of 3.2 m below sea level were described and sampled for grain-size, SEM, and radiocarbon age analyses. The base of the section contains subtidal and beach sand and cobble gravel containing abundant shells and coral fragments. Three vertically stacked beachrock layers that developed in the intertidal zone indicate a rising sea level. The uppermost beachrock is found at an elevation of 1.3 m above present sea level and is constrained to be younger than 3.5 ka based on radiocarbon dating of shells. Raised reef, wave-cut notches, and other sea level indicators across the Gulf of Aqaba and northern Red Sea attest to a mid-Holocene highstand. A down-cutting event that eroded the beach sediment and is marked by an irregular unconformity and channels cut to depths below modern sea level. The channels are filled with a blue-gray gravel and sand with abundant rip-up clasts, terrestrial organic material, cross-bedding and convolute bedding which denote high flow velocities and rapid sedimentation. Radiocarbon dating of sediment above the channel constraint its age to before 3.1 ka. As rapid sea level change is not supported by iii regional evidence, the erosion and deposition of blue-gray channels are interpreted to represent inundation and drawdown of the sea by a tsunami. Similar erosion and deposition in low-lying areas has been documented in tsunamis in Sumatra, Chili, and the Kuril Islands. iv APPROVAL PAGE The faculty listed below, appointed by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, have examined a thesis titled “Late Holocene Stratigraphic History of the Gulf of Aqaba Coastal Plain, Jordan” presented by Janet Smith, candidate for the Master of Science degree, and certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. Supervisory Committee Tina M. Niemi, Ph.D., Committee Chair Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Alison H. Graettinger, Ph.D., Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences James B. Murowchick, Ph.D. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences v TABLE OF CONTENTS ASTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 2. REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING ............................................. 8 3. METHODS ................................................................................................. 14 Fieldwork ............................................................................................. 14 XRD .........................................................................................................16 SEM/EDS ................................................................................................16 Grain Size ...............................................................................................16 Radiocarbon ............................................................................................17 4. RESULTS .................................................................................................. 20 Stratigraphic Sections .......................................................................... 20 Facies Model ........................................................................................ 23 Buried Archaeological Structures ........................................................ 31 Age Control and Elevation .................................................................. 35 5. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 38 Tell el-Kheleifeh ................................................................................... 38 Sea Level Highstand .................................................................................39 vi Blue-gray Channels ................................................................................... 43 6. CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................46 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................47 APPENDIX A. SAMPLE METADATA ................................................................................ 53 B. WEIGHED GRAIN-SIZE FRACTIONS .......................................................58 C. GRAIN-SIZE ANALYSES USING GRADISTAT SOFTWARE ...............101 D. RADIOCARBON CALIBRATION DATA ..................................................147 E. XRD, SEM, EDS DATA ..............................................................................156 VITA ................................................................................................................................177 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Map of the Aqaba, Jordan showing the location of archaeological sites ............1 Figure 2: Photographs of the archaeological sites in Aqaba ...............................................2 Figure 3: Google Earth image showing location of the Ayla Oasis development site from 2010 ................................................................................................5 Figure 4: Dead Sea Transform ............................................................................................8 Figure 5: Geologic map of the Aqaba-Eilat region ........................................................... 10 Figure 6: Location of stratigraphic sections described in this study plotted on a 2012 Google Earth image ..........................................................................................................14 Figure 7: Photographs of the AO-2 section location ........................................................15 Figure 8: Stratigraphic Section AO-2 ...............................................................................21 Figure 9: Stratigraphic Section AO-3 ...............................................................................22 Figure 10: Facies Model ...................................................................................................28 Figure 11: Beachrock exposed in the Ayla Oasis outcrop, hand specimens, and thin sections ................................................................................................................25 Figure 12: Coral and shell fragments found in the intertidal zone section of AO-2 .........26 Figure 13: Details of the channel exposed at the AO-2 outcrop .......................................29 Figure 14: Convolute beds and terrestrial organic matter at the AO-3 outcrop ................ 30 Figure 15: Photographs of buried walls near Tell el-Kheleifeh exposed in the Ayla Oasis lagoon construction in August 2010 .......................................................................32 Figure 16: Section drawing of the TK-4 buried structure .................................................34 Figure 17: Holocene sea level curve for the Gulf of Aqaba and Northern Red Sea .........41 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Radiocarbon results from the Ayla Oasis exposures ..........................................18 Table 2: Recalibration of the radiocarbon data from the Brückner (1999) study near Tel el-Kheleifeh ...............................................................................................19 Table 3: Holocene higher-than-present sea level indicators along the Gulf of Aqaba and northern Red Sea ........................................................................................................43 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to Dr. Tina Niemi, who through her endless patience, words of encouragement, and critique have taught me what it means to become a scientist. Tina’s enthusiasm for field work, dedication to supporting literature, and asking questions from every angle has shown me that science isn’t necessarily the end result, but rather the pursuit because the answers are always changing based on what is learned in the process of discovery. Thank you to the members of my committee Dr. James Murowchick, and Dr.