Sediment distribution in Akhziv Canyon off northern Israel

Akhziv Canyon is one of a series of submarine canyons incised into the continental margin of the northern Levant. The Canyon is steep and sinuous, bounded by precipitous walls. Located off northern Israel, the Canyon was recently surveyed by a series of submarine video observations that show that both the thalweg and the walls are covered by ubiquitous apron of silty clay. Evidence for downslope sediment mass movement was encountered only in places. Earlier studies show that the silty clay is of Nilotic origin. Since the northern Levant margin has not been a part of the Nile sedimentary cell since the Pleistocene, the widespread Nilotic sediments indicate that the Quaternary sedimentary processes in the area differ considerably from the Neogene depositional regime.