Short-term climatic oscillations versus long-term delta propagation: Controls on sand transport into the deep Levant Basin since the Pliocene

Sand transport and its deposition in deep marine basins are controlled by diverse climatic, tectonic, physiographic and oceanographic processes. Disentangling the impact of each of these drivers on the sedimentary record is a fundamental challenge in the study of source to sink systems. In this study, we investigate seismic and borehole data by combining statistical and spectral analyses to identify the factors controlling sand deposition in the deep Levant Basin (Eastern Mediterranean) during the Pliocene–Quaternary (PQ). We interpret the sand content in boreholes from gamma ray (GR) logs and identify two major trends in sand/shale ratios. On a million-year scale, we demonstrate that since the Early Pliocene (5.3 Ma), sand content gradually increased until it formed a ca. 100 m thick and widespread sheet of sand at the top of the section. On a shorter time scale, we identify oscillations in sand content depicting significant power of periodic components at the 350–450 ky, 90–150 ky and 10s ky bands. The long-term increase in sand content reaching the deep Levant Basin is interpreted as a result of the Nile Delta propagation, which had continuously shortened the distance between the edge of the Nile delta that is the source of sand, and the deep Levant Basin. The superimposed short-term oscillations are interpreted as Milanković cycles, reflecting hydroclimatic oscillations of water and sediment discharge into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea by the Nile River. This demonstrates the hydroclimatic control on sand deposition in the deep Levant Basin. Our observations are consistent with the development of a submarine channel system along with the accretion of the Nile delta, which may have served as a pathway for sand delivery via high-energy turbidity currents that reached the Levant Basin.