Publication Date:
2000-01-01
Description:
The Mt. Scopus Group in Israel consists of chalk, chert, phosphorite, organic-rich carbonate (locally known as oil shale), and shale of Coniacian- Paleocene age. The rock sequence includes several rock units, including the En-Zeitim Formation (with the related Har-Zefat Member), Mishash Formation, and Biriya Formation. Within the study area, the thicknesses of these rock units vary considerably (100-600 m), reflecting the geometry of basins that formed after the end of the Turonian and evolved during the early-late Senonian. Following the opening of the South Atlantic ridge during the Late Cretaceous, the convergence between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia generated a regional compressive regime throughout the eastern Mediterranean region. This compression formed the Syrian arc fold system that is characterized by a general northeastern direction; however, preexisting northeast- and northwest-directed fold and fault patterns responded differently in various areas. Chains of depocenters aligned along the northwest-directed faults subsided during different time increments. The bituminous chalk of Mt. Scopus Group preserved in these depocenters is considered a genuine petroleum source rock with a total organic carbon content of 10-15 wt. %. The tectonic pattern and the three-dimensional distribution of the impermeable sediments of Mt. Scopus Group are also important for groundwater exploitation in the area. Eliyahu Rosenthal is a senior scientist in the Hydrological Service of Israel. He received an M.Sc. degree in geology and a Ph.D in hydrogeology and geochemistry from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. His postgraduate studies in hydrogeochemistry were completed in France and in the United States. Most of his work deals with multiple aquifer systems, exact definition of interaquifer connections, groundwater in the arid Dead Sea Rift area, and ground water salinization processes, particularly hydrochemical interaction between brines and fresh groundwater.Gavriel Weinberger is currently a senior consultant to the Water Commission of Israel. He received B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in geology and mineralogy from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a Ph.D. from the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences of Tel-Aviv University. For the last decade he has been involved in developing a conceptual model for the hydrogeology of the karstic aquifer of the Yarkon-Taninim basin of Albian-Turonian age. His interest includes basin geometry, lithology and facies, hydrochemistry, and hydrology in multiple aquifer systems. Ahuva Almogi-Labin is a senior scientist at the Geological Survey of Israel and head of the Department of Stratigraphy and Oil Research. She received a B.Sc. degree in geology, an M.Sc. degree in oceanography, and a Ph.D. in marine geology from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Her work focuses on the biostratigraphy and paleo-oceanography of Upper Cretaceous sequences in Israel, and involves the development of micropaleontological criteria used for reconstructing its high-productivity regime. Her recent work has been mainly concerned with the paleo-oceanographic, paleoecologic, and paleoclimatic reconstruction of deep-water Quaternary sequences of the Red Sea. Akiva Flexer is a senior scientist and chairman of the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University. His academic background involved an M.Sc. degree and a Ph.D. in geology from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. His professional experience includes a multidisciplinary approach (lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, tectono stratigraphy, and chemostratigraphy) to research into the Cretaceous, basin analysis, and a tectonic mosaic of the Near East and eastern Mediterranean.
Print ISSN:
0149-1423
Electronic ISSN:
1943-2674
Topics:
Geosciences
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