An evaluation of the economic benefits and costs of conservation tillage

 The economic benefits of the adoption of conservation tillage depend on site-specific factors including soil characteristics, local climatic conditions, cropping patterns, and other attributes of the overall farming operation. While it is possible to draw some general inferences about components of economic returns and costs, a comprehensive assessment of the net private benefits from greater use of conservation tillage is not feasible. Received: 4 December 1997 · Accepted: 30 March 1998     

What triggered the early-to-mid Pleistocene tectonic transition across the entire eastern Mediterranean?

Subduction plays a fundamental role in plate tectonics and when interrupted it may trigger a series of geodynamic and sedimentary responses. Synchronous structural modifications recorded across the entire eastern Mediterranean region are dated to a relatively short period — early-to-mid Pleistocene. These deformations are documented within plates (e.g., Arabian, Sinai and African plates), along plate boundaries (e.g., Dead Sea and North Anatolian faults and Cyprus Arc), and in the Mediterranean basin. During the same period the northward subduction of the Sinai plate was interrupted when the Eratosthenes Seamount–Cyprus Arc collision initiated. Subduction–collision processes of the eastern Mediterranean serve as a unique modern analogue for similar settings worldwide. Understanding their association with accompanying neo-tectonic processes is therefore predominantly important. By fostering a detailed and comprehensive approach this research provides a coherent tectonic picture for the eastern Mediterranean early-to-mid Pleistocene tectonic transition in order to explore its triggering mechanisms. Since the Neogene convergence across the eastern Mediterranean was accompanied by Eurasian indentation by Arabia northward motion, westwards Anatolia escape and southwards Aegean propagation. This semi counterclockwise plate motion was temporarily interrupted by the incipient Seamount–Arc collision which is suggested here as a trigger of the early-to-mid Pleistocene tectonic transition.     

The climatic and physiographic controls of the eastern Mediterranean over the late Pleistocene climates in the southern Levant and its neighboring deserts

Modern-day synoptic-scale eastern Mediterranean climatology provides a useful context to synthesize the diverse late Pleistocene (60–12 ka) paleohydrologic and paleoenvironmental indicators of past climatic conditions in the Levant and the deserts to its south and east. We first critically evaluate, extract, and summarize paleoenvironmental and paleohydrologic records. Then, we propose a framework of eastern Mediterranean atmospheric circulation features interacting with the morphology and location of the southeast Mediterranean coast. Together they strongly control the spatial distribution of rainfall and wind pattern. This cyclone–physiography interaction enforces the observed rainfall patterns by hampering rainfall generation south and southeast of the latitude of the north Sinai coast, currently at 31°15′.The proposed framework explains the much-increased rains in Lebanon and northern Israel and Jordan as deduced from pollen, rise and maintenance of Lake Lisan, and speleothem formation in areas currently arid and semiarid. The proposed framework also accounts for the southward and eastward transition into semiarid, arid, and hyperarid deserts as expressed in thick loess accumulation at the deserts' margins, dune migration from west to east in the Sinai and the western Negev, and the formation of hyperarid (< 80 mm yr^− 1) gypsic–salic soils in the southern Negev and Sinai. Our climatic synthesis explains the hyperarid condition in the southern Negev, located only 200–250 km south of the much-increased rains in the north, probably reflecting a steeper rainfall gradient than the present-day gradient from the wetter Levant into its bordering southern and eastern deserts.At present, the rainiest winter seasons in Lebanon and northern and central Israel are associated with more frequent (+ 20%), deeper Cyprus Lows traversing the eastern Mediterranean at approximately the latitude of southern Turkey. Even these wettest years in northern Israel do not yield above average annual rainfall amounts in the hyperarid southern Negev. This region is mainly influenced by the Active Red Sea Troughs that produce only localized rains. The eastern Mediterranean Cyprus Lows also produce more dust storms and transport higher amounts of suspended dust to the loess area than any other atmospheric pattern. Concurrent rainfall and dust are essential to the late Pleistocene formation of the elongated thick loess zone along the desert northern margin. Even with existing dust storms, the lack of rain and very sparse vegetation account for the absence of late Pleistocene loess sequences from the southern Negev and the formation of hyperarid soils.When the north Sinai coast shifted 30–70 km northwest due to last glacial global sea level lowering, the newly exposed coastal areas supplied the sand and dust to these active eastern Mediterranean cyclones. This enforced the latitude of the northern boundary of the loess zone to be directly due east of the LGM shoreline. This shift of coast to the northwest inhibited rainfall in the southern Levant deserts and maintained their hyperaridity. Concurrently, frequent deep eastern Mediterranean Cyprus Lows were funneled along the northern Mediterranean increasing (probably doubling) the rains in central and northern Israel, Lebanon, southwestern Syria and northern Jordan. These storms and rains formed lakes, forests, and speleothems only a short distance north of the deserts in the southern Levant.     

The inter-relationship between coastal sub-aquifers and the Mediterranean Sea, deduced from radioactive isotopes analysis

Radioactive isotopes were used to estimate the rate of seawater intrusion into the coastal aquifer of Israel, the connection between the different sub-aquifers, and the connection between the sub-aquifers and the sea. This was done by dating both fresh and saline groundwaters from the vicinity of the shoreline, which were analyzed for their ¹⁴C and tritium content together with their chemical and stable isotope composition. The results indicate that the distinct sub-aquifers differ in their water chemistry and age. The saline groundwater in the lower sub-aquifers is older than ca. 10,000 years, as evidenced by the absence of tritium and low ¹⁴C activity (<12 PMC). On the other hand, saline groundwaters in the upper sub-aquifers contain tritium and are thus younger than 50 years, indicating recent intrusion of seawater. The ages of the saline groundwaters become younger upward from the lower sub-aquifers to the upper ones, reflecting the sea-level rise since the last glacial period. The older ages also imply slow groundwater flow in the lower sub-aquifers. The fresh groundwaters in most cases in the lower sub-aquifers were found to be older than ca. 10,000 years and this implies that the flow to the sea is blocked or restricted.     

Parametric study of near-wake structure of spherical and cylindrical bodies in the laboratory

Some aspects of the interaction between metal bodies and streaming rarefied plasmas were studied in a newly constructed Plasma Wind Tunnel as part of an attempt to investigate (via simulation) phenomena relevant to the spacecraft/space plasma interaction. Detailed near-wake ion current profiles for both spherical and cylindrical bodies at different body potentials (φ_S) and at different plasma flow parameters are presented. Various features of the profiles can be correlated, at least qualitatively, with both plasma and body characteristics. For example, the width of the wake zone appears proportional to the Debye length (λ_D) and depends on the potential of the target body although it appears to be relatively insensitive to the ratio $\text{S = V}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>flow</mtext>}}\text{/(}\text{2kT}{}_{\mathrm{e}}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$. The amplitude of the ion current peak(s) also appears proportional to λ_D while, for fixed φ_S, the location of the peak is directly related to S and possibly dependent upon body geometry. The general importance of body geometry is qualitatively demonstrated. In addition, a discussion of the relevance of the above studies to previous in situ data obtained from the Ariel I and Gemini/Agena missions is given.     

Stable isotope and Sr2+/Ca2+ evidence of diagenetic dedolomitization in a schizohaline environment: Cenomanian of northern Israel

The Cenomanian—Turonian Upper Judea Group of Israel comprises shallow-marine hypersaline dolomites passing laterally into ‘basinal’ limestones and chalks. Chertbearing diagenetic dedolomites characterize the transitional zone. The restriction of dedolomites to a narrow zone, their light δ¹³C (up to ?11%), and their low Sr²⁺ concentration (<16 ppm) all suggest that the dedolomites were formed diagenetically through exposure of this zone to fresh meteoric waters. This type of partly changing environments was referred to as schizohaline by Folk and Siedlecka (1974).     

Formation of sequential basins along a strike–slip fault–Geophysical observations from the Dead Sea basin

The Dead Sea basin is often cited as one of the classic examples for the evolution of pull-apart basins along strike–slip faults. Despite its significance, the internal structure of the northern Dead Sea basin has never been addressed conclusively. In order to produce the first comprehensive, high-resolution analysis of this area, all available seismic data from the northern Dead Sea (lake)–lower Jordan valley (land) were combined. Results show that the northern Dead Sea basin is comprised of a system of tectonically controlled sub-basins delimited by the converging Western and Eastern boundary faults of the Dead Sea fault valley. These sub-basins grow shallower and smaller to the north and are separated by structural saddles marking the location of active transverse faults. The sedimentary fill within the sub-basins was found to be relatively thicker than previously interpreted. As a result of the findings of this study, the “classic” model for the development of pull-aparts, based on the Dead Sea, is revised. The new comprehensive compilation of data produced here for the first time was used to improve upon existing conceptual models and may advance the understanding of similar basinal systems elsewhere.     

Epipalaeolithic occupations in Nahal Neqarot Rockshelter,Negev, Israel: Radiocarbon dating and identification of charred wood remains

Recent excavations at Nahal Neqarot Rockshelter in the Central Negev, Israel, revealed 60 cm of in situ sediments. The associated lithic industry is mostly attributable to the Middle Epipalaeolithic Ramonian industry, though there is also evidence for sporadic earlier and later Epipalaeolithic use of the site. This is confirmed by three accelerator ¹⁴C dates, which contribute to a better understanding of the chronological framework for the Epipalaeolithic in the region. Microscopic examination of charred wood remains uncovered with the lithics, revealed the dominance of juniper, which is presently extinct in the nearby contemporaneous vegetation, otherwise composed of still extant taxa. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.