20901 The Mediterranean Coast of Israel: Geological and Environmental Aspects
Credits: 3 advanced credits in Geology
Prerequisites: Secrets of the Earth (or Introduction to Earth Sciences), Oceanography.1 Students must also fulfill all English requirements and take bibliographic instruction in the Library.
Recommended: Geology of Israel, Introduction to Meteorology
The course is based on The Mediterranean Coast of Israel by G. Almagor (Geological Survey of Israel, 2002) and a reader edited by Shlomo Shoval, as well as two mandatory one-day field trips that demonstrate phenomena unique to the Mediterranean coast of Israel: the Sharon coast, and the Western Galilee coast. Articles and research studies that serve as background for the fieldtrips, photographs, and a glossary of relevant terms in geology, geomorphology and the environment are posted on the course website.
The course focuses on the Mediterranean coast in the context of marine geology.
Topics include: The coastal plain, shore and beach; Wind waves, tidal waves and currents; Sandy coasts and movement of sand; Rocky coasts, the coastal cliff, wave-cut notches, abrasion platforms, solution basins, sea grottos and sea stacks; The geology and the geomorphology of the shore and the coastal plain; Formation of calcareous aeolianite (kurkar) and paleosol (hamra) on the coast; Environmental aspects of the construction of coastal groins, jetties and breakwaters; Sandbars and tombolos.
1The course Oceanography (20270) is being revised and is temporarily not being taught: Until the new version is offered, students who haven’t taken the course can submit an application to enroll in The Mediterranean Coast of Israel (20901) on the basis of independent study of the required material from Oceanography, and submission of assignments on the material.