Combined paleomagnetic, paleogeographic, and event stratigraphy studies increase the age of the anthropological site 'Ubeidiya in the Levantine Corridor (northern Israel) by 1.0 Ma

The study of the ancient anthropological sites of the Levantine Corridor is very significant for understanding the evolution of ancient hominins and the time of their dispersal from East Africa to the Caucasus and Eurasia (Eppelbaum and Katz, 2022a). In such geologically complex regions as the northern Levantine Corridor (in the area of ​​development of the Dead Sea Transform's pluvial basins in the Eastern Mediterranean), the application of single Earth Science methods, as a rule, is ineffective. Therefore, we analyzed in detail, for the first time, an integrated geological-geophysical data set: paleomagnetic correlation, magnetostratigraphy, and paleomagnetic and paleogeographic mapping (considering radiometric data) (e.g., Eppelbaum and Katz, 2022b), event, cyclic and eco-stratigraphy, lithological-facies analysis, and tectonic-geodynamic constructions with the attraction of the hydrospheric disturbances' data. One of the most important sites is the multi-layered site of 'Ubeidiya, located in the Kinnarot Basin. The age of this site was reviewed several times and is now determined as 1.6-1.2 Ma. Based on the numerous geological-paleomagnetic data analysis, the first integrated structural-paleomagnetic-event stratigraphic chart of the northern Levantine ancient hominin sites was developed. The results of the paleomagnetic mapping of the Sea of Galilee, Kinnarot, and Hula basins were used to construct the first palinspastic map for this region (for the period of 3.6 – 2.0 Ma). This map unmasked the tectonic-magmatic evaluation of this area and confirmed our assumption that the 'Ubeidiya Formation belonged to the Gelasian. It has been shown that the correlation of the 'Ubeidiya Formation with the Lower Matuyama Chron (C2r) is most likely correct than with its upper part (close in location to the strata with artifacts from the Evron quarry (Israel)). The correlation with the excellent radiometrically and paleomagnetically dated Zarqa section (western Jordan) (2.52 - 1.98 Ma) testifies that the 'Ubeidiya section most likely cannot be younger than this rock series. First, it follows from the event-stratigraphic and paleomagnetic correlation characteristics. The event-stratigraphic and rhythm-stratigraphic analyses indicate that the 'Ubeidiya and Erq El-Ahmar (Israel) formations do not contain a significant break and form a single sequence of the lacustrine-alluvial cycles of the Gauss and Matuyama Chrons. The analysis of finds of marine foraminifers confirms the paleogeographic relationship between the fluvial-lacustrine stratum (formation) of 'Ubeidiya and the transgressive Middle Akchagylian-Gelasian marine basin located nearby. Thus, the multifactor geological-geophysical analysis indicated that the ages of the most ancient archaeological sites of 'Ubeidiya and Zarqa correspond to the extremum of the Middle Akchagylian-Gelasian hydrospheric maximum (2.6–1.9 Ma) in contrast to the earlier suggested Middle Calabrian (1.6–1.2 Ma) age of the 'Ubeidiya site. The new proposed age may require revising the global process of dispersing hominins from Africa to the north.

References

Eppelbaum, L.V. and Katz, Y.I., 2022a. Combined Zonation of the African-Levantine-Caucasian Areal of Ancient Hominin: Review and Integrated Analysis of Paleogeographical, Stratigraphic and Geophysical-Geodynamical Data. Geosciences (Switzerland), 27, No. 1, 1-23.

Eppelbaum, L.V. and Katz, Y.I., 2022b. Paleomagnetic-geodynamic mapping of the transition zone from ocean to the continent: A review. Applied Sciences, 12, Advances in Applied Geophysics, 1-20.