Paleoenvironmental record of the Amik Basin (Amuq Plain, Southern Turkey) over the last 4000 years

Continous human occupation is attested in the Amik Basin since 6000-7000 BC. The low-lying Amuq plain is covered by tell settlements first explored by Robert Braidwood in the 1930s. The Basin also is crossed by The Dead Sea Fault (DSF), a major neotectonic structure in the Middle East extending from the Red Sea in the south to Turkey in the north. The study focuses on the sedimentary record of the Amik Lake occupying the central part of the Basin. Our objective is to constrain major paleo-environmental changes in the area over the last 4000 years and assess possible human impact. The lake has been drained and progressively dried up since the mid-50s so that it is not watered during the summer season and constitutes a unique opportunity to collect sediment records. Sediments were collected at 1 cm to 2 cm intervals in a trench and in cores up to a depth of 5 meters in the clay deposits. A diverse array of complementary methods is applied to study the records: magnetic susceptibility, grain size, organic matter and inorganic carbon (L.O.I), XRD mineralogy, XRF geochemistry, carbon geochemistry. The age of the record is constrained combining radionuclide and radiocarbon dating. The record shows two intense phases of soil erosion with enrichments in Chromium and Nickel. The most recent erosion phase might be linked with enhanced development during the Roman and the growth of the Antioch City. The oldest one would occur around 3000 BC. The record also allows reconstructing past lake level variations and discusses the results in comparison with variations of the Dead Sea.