NEOTECTONIC ACTIVITY IN CAESAREA, THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF CENTRAL ISRAEL

Evidence for neotectonic activity along the coast of the southern Leva nt exists in the ancient harbor of Caesarea in central Israel, where l arge Herodian breakwaters are presently submerged 5-8 m below sealevel , whereas other contemporary coastal installations in the same area re main at sealevel. High-resolution seismic reflection surveys on the ve ry shallow continental shelf encountered a series of coast-parallel fa ults that displace both the eolianite, which crops out along the coast al zone and the submerged breakwaters. The faults have 1-3 m of offset s, downthrowing their seaward flank and leaving their landward flank s table. We suggest that the subsidence of the ancient breakwaters was c aused by neotectonic displacements on these faults and enhanced by sol ifluction. Records of historical earthquakes in the coastal Levant reg ion and archaeological evidence of faulting are compatible with the ge ophysical findings. The neotectonic activity of the Mediterranean coas t of Israel, which is a consequence of the Plio-Quaternary subsidence of the southeastern Mediterranean basin, has shaped the coast of the s outhern Levant even during the past 2000 years.