During Holocene sea-level rise, coastal areas became transitional environments as marine incursion covered the land. Changing conditions resulted in dynamic depositional environments that recorded the migration and stabilization of modern shorelines. These processes are viewed in the Zevulun Plain (Haifa Bay, Israel) record located in the northern edge of the Nile littoral cell. Sedimentological and palaeontological analyses combined with dating enabled the reconstruction of the Holocene chrono-stratigraphical frame. The results reveal an unconformity representing a long period of exposure and erosion during the last glacial. The interplay between relative sea-level rise and sediment supply was first set out by the deposition of alluvial sediments, evidence of the hydrological system reactivation and base level landward migration. Sea flooding of the Zevulun Plain started about 7.8 cal ka BP and the coastline was pushed eastward. Nile-driven sands transported by longshore currents formed dunes that blocked the rivers estuaries and led to wetlands formation. Peat accumulation is evident first in the north of the plain at 7.6–6.2 cal ka BP and later in the south at 6.5–5.5 cal ka BP. Both wetlands showed a change from fresh to brackish water environments at the end of their existence. Following the maximum sea-level rise and inland sea invasion at about 4 ka BP, alluvial sediments covered the plain and the coastline moved westward to its current position. This record serves as a model for the development of Mediterranean clastic coasts controlled by sea rise and infill processes.
The Discrete Element Method has been widely used to simulate geo-materials due to time and scale limitations met in the field and laboratories. While cohesionless geo-materials were the focus of many previous studies, the deformation of cohesive geo-materials in 3D remained poorly characterized. Here, we aimed to generate a range of numerical ‘sediments’, assess their mechanical response to stress and compare their response with laboratory tests, focusing on differences between the micro- and macro-material properties. We simulated two endmembers—clay (cohesive) and sand (cohesionless). The materials were tested in a 3D triaxial numerical setup, under different simulated burial stresses and consolidation states. Variations in particle contact or individual bond strengths generate first order influence on the stress–strain response, i.e., a different deformation style of the numerical sand or clay. Increased burial depth generates a second order influence, elevating peak shear strength. Loose and dense consolidation states generate a third order influence of the endmember level. The results replicate a range of sediment compositions, empirical behaviors and conditions. We propose a procedure to characterize sediments numerically. The numerical ‘sediments’ can be applied to simulate processes in sediments exhibiting variations in strength due to post-seismic consolidation, bioturbation or variations in sedimentation rates.
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