Abstract The Pliocene-to-Recent succession in the deep Levant basin is coeval to the development of the Nile River delta and to the progradation of the thick (~1500 m) Sinai-Israel shelf. It hides a series of paleo-channels exhibiting transportation and sedimentation patterns revealing a world class source to sink system feeding a deep (>1500 m) siliciclastic basin. The general agreement that the Pliocene-to-Recent succession originates from the Nile Delta dispersing sediments via a system of counterclockwise currents does not reveal how the sediments were transported to the deep basin. Particularly, how sediments originating from the Nile Delta could have bypassed the ~50 km wide Sinai-Israeli shelf. Here, we examine the various sources that contributed to the accumulation of the Pliocene-to-Recent succession in the deep Levant basin, and the temporal and spatial contribution of each source. Analysis of a unique seismic data set covering the shelf, slope and deep basin enable us to track submarine sediment transport systems; we map channel sets, analyze their morphological features and interpret their erosional and depositional patterns. We argue that sediments sources vary from eastward remnant Arabian drainage network at the onset of the Pliocene, to Nilotic origin during the Pliocene. Since the Late Pleistocene reworked sediments, deriving from the Israeli shelf and northern Sinai provide a major source to the deep basin. Furthermore, our results demonstrate an increase in channel's complexity since the Early Pliocene to Recent, suggesting a gradual transition from sporadic submarine flow events, carrying fewer sediments to the deep basin at the Early Pliocene, to more frequent events during the Late Pleistocene-to-Recent characterized by an increase in sediment load. The gradual increase of channel complexity from Pliocene-to-Recent is discordant to the general trend of sea-level fluctuation, suggesting that sea-level has a minor effect on sediment accumulation in the deep basin.

中文翻译：

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上新世的起源到黎凡特盆地最近的演替及其沉积模式，对源汇系统的新见解

摘要 黎凡特深部盆地上新世至近代的演替与尼罗河三角洲的发育和西奈-以色列大陆架厚 (~1500 m) 的进积同时期。它隐藏了一系列表现出运输和沉积模式的古河道，揭示了一个世界级的源汇系统，为一个深 (>1500 m) 的硅质碎屑盆地提供水源。上新世到近代的演替起源于尼罗河三角洲通过逆时针流系统分散沉积物的普遍共识并没有揭示沉积物是如何输送到深盆的。特别是，源自尼罗河三角洲的沉积物如何绕过约 50 公里宽的西奈-以色列大陆架。在这里，我们研究了促成黎凡特深盆地上新世至近代演替积累的各种来源，以及每个来源的时间和空间贡献。对覆盖陆架、斜坡和深盆的独特地震数据集的分析使我们能够跟踪海底沉积物输送系统；我们绘制通道集，分析它们的形态特征并解释它们的侵蚀和沉积模式。我们认为沉积物来源从上新世开始时向东的残余阿拉伯排水网络到上新世期间的尼罗河起源各不相同。自从晚更新世重新加工沉积物以来，源自以色列大陆架和西奈半岛北部的沉积物提供了深盆地的主要来源。此外，我们的结果表明，自上新世到近代以来，河道的复杂性有所增加，这表明从零星的海底流动事件逐渐过渡，在上新世将较少的沉积物带到深盆，到晚更新世到最近以沉积物负荷增加为特征的更频繁的事件。上新世至近代河道复杂性的逐渐增加与海平面波动的总趋势不符，表明海平面对深盆沉积物积累的影响较小。