The city of Tyre,Lebanon and its semi-artificial tombolo

The sedimentological history of the peninsular city of Tyre, located on the southern coast of Lebanon, reflects the political events surrounding Alexander the Great's conquest of the East (332 B.C.E.). Like many other Phoenician settlements, the city was originally situated on a small, relict rocky islet, but was later connected to the mainland by an artificial causeway constructed by Alexander's troops. As a result of the causeway construction, a gigantic tombolo formed, composed of at least 10 million m³ of sediment, mostly sand. Calculations based on the present size of the land tombolo of Tyre show that the average regional yearly volume of sand drift from the south and the north for the past 2300 years was approximately 4000 m³. If the present composition of high carbonate tombolo sands is representative of the entire sand body of the tombolo, about two thirds of the mass originates from nearby beaches which formed as a result of the erosion of the Pleistocene carbonate sandstone known as “Hajar Ramli.” © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.