Soils of the Coastal Plain and the Shefela

Abstract

With uplift of the land and retreat of the sea during the Quaternary, the shorelines approached their present position. Further ingressions and regressions of the sea, concomitant with the pluvials and interpluvials, did occur but were limited in extent. Pleistocene marine and aeolian sediments are found only a few kilometers inland, eastward from the present shoreline, mainly in the form of calcareous eolianite sandstone (“Kurkar”) ridges. Continental sediments consist of eolianites, unconsolidated sand dunes, soils and alluvial clays in the coastal area and interior alluvial plains (Col. Fig. 2.1-1).