Recent Aeolian Origin of Surficial Gypsum Crusts in Southern Tunisia: Geomorphological,Archaeological and Remote Sensing Evidence

Recent quarring of the surficial gypsum crusts adjacent to Djebel Sidi Bou Hellas has revealed sections typically showing a discontinuous surface gravel cover underlain by more than 7 m of microcrystalline gypsum. The location, elongate shape, form in cross-section and chemistry of this deposit suggests an aeolian origin, whereby aeolian sands have been trapped against a glacis d'erosion terrace, and subsequently consolidated by meteoric waters. One gypsum quarry revealed a midden and the remains of a Roman dwelling now buried within the crust. A radiocarbon date of organic matter in the midden and a Roman coin found within it suggest an age of AD324–345 for the deposit. This is the first firm date for a surficial gypsum crust in southern Tunisia and the age is surprisingly young. Previous studies have speculated on phases of crust development between the Villefranchian and early Holocene but none since. Remote sensing and field evidence show that gypsiferous sands are currently deflated from the dry parts of the mudflats of Chott Fedjaj. They are subsequently transported in a southwesterly trajectory and trapped against glacis on the southern margins of Chott Fedjaj, forming contemporary analogues of the Roman deposit. Sands that are not trapped form dune fields and sandflats where gypsum crusts appear to be forming today. If the source area of gypsum sands has remained constant since Roman times, then the predominant wind direction has moved 45° to the southwest since then. The other possible source of aeolian gypsum for the Roman deposit, the vast mudflats of Chott Djerid, involves an even greater change in predominant wind direction. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.