#8218Löß‛ am Rande der Wüstensteppe? Ein Beitrag zur Frage der Entstehung von Staubsedimenten im Wüstenrandbereich am Beispiel der südsyrischen Basaltlandschaften

Abstract

The volcanic areas of southern Syria - situated at the north-western margin of the Arabian desert - are built of basaltic sheets ranging from Miocene to sub-Recent age. At the first sight no definite aeolian deposits are perceptible. However, by the aid of sedimentological examinations it is possible to show that the fine-grained material on the middle Holocene lava field, the Legga, and in the ancient Roman settlement of Mismiyya ist not originated by basalt weathering in situ but is a loess-like material. The grain-size spectrum corresponds with the new results on desert loess formation and simultaneously differs considerably, least in some cases, from the grain-size distribution of the periglacial loess. It is possible to prove the loess formation up to post-Roman times. As to the question concerning the area of origin, reflections on the dynamics play an important role.