Late Pliocene and Pleistocene reversal of drainage systems in northern Israel: tectonic implications

The arching of the Galilee, northern Israel, is associated with sediment lo ading in the Dead Sea Transform and Rift. During the Pleistocene, the archi ng caused the formation of the main North-South water divide in the region and the reversal of stream flow direction. A reconstruction of a main paleo channel which drained large areas in the eastern Galilee to the Mediterrane an enabled the determination of age and amplitude of the arching. This reco nstruction is based on topographic analysis of thirteen sites containing fl uvial remnants in the Beit-Hakerem Valley. We demonstrate that the widespre ad normal faulting cannot explain the present-day drainage pattern. Dating of basalt clasts from ancient alluvial remnants along the Beit-Hakerem Vall ey provides a maximum age limit of 1.8 Ma to the paleochannel. The Pleistoc ene tectonism arched the Galilee by 200 m over a wavelength of 40-60 Ecm. A comparison between arched and unarched segments of the rift's margins indi cates that fluvial and slope processes on the rift escarpment cannot explai n the location and shape of the main water divide. In the Galilee, tectonis m is the only factor that controls the formation, location and shape of the main water divide. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.