Interests:

Earthquake geology and mechanics, mid-ocean ridge and ophiolite dynamics, geo-archaeology, sea-level change and glaciation.

Neev center for Geoinformatics

Together with my students, postdoctoral scholars, and affiliated researchers, I combine field and laboratory studies to understand the origin of Earth's continental crust, its composition and architecture. Within this broad research avenue I concentrate on aspects of continental tectonics with emphasis on Precambrian crustal evolution, old and young orogenic belts, continental extensional tectonics, and the link between orogeny, erosion and sedimentation. We seek to unravel plate tectonics processes around the Eastern Mediterranean with special emphasis on the Cadomian and Avalonian continental collage of SE Europe and Asia Minor, Precambrian crustal evolution of the Arabian-Nubian Shield in Eilat and Ethiopia, the provenance of the great Paleozoic sand sea of northern Africa and Arabia, and its linkage to Pan-African orogens and to coeval silisiclastic sediments in Europe.

Our research is funded by the Israel Science Foundation, the Israel Ministry of Infrastructure, the German-Israel Binational Science Foundation and the USA-Israel Binational Science Foundation. We currently collaborate with scientists from Israel, USA, Australia, Germany, Turkey, France and Ethiopia

Curriculum Vitae

Research interests: Paleoclimate, hydrology, limnology, sedimentary petrography, sedimentology, pedology, quaternary research, geochronology

Reasearch Topic: Saharan dust & the Neolithic Agriculture Revolution in the Jordan Valley

Abstract:

My current study focuses on the environmental and soil-related conditions in the Levant that could have provided prehistoric humans with the advantages required to initiate the Neolithic Agriculture Revolution (NAR) following the end of the last glacial period (~15^th to 11^th millennium BP). We investigate the properties and origins of soils and sedimentary sequences that accumulated prior, during and after the NAR with close context to renowned archaeological sites including Gilgal, Netiv Hagdud and Fazael, and analyze them within the broad climatological and hydrological framework. Through this inter-disciplinary study of the soils that served the earliest farmers of the Levant, we wish to see whether local conditions that followed the last glacial period provided an unplanned natural advantage to the people that inhabited the Jordan Valley. This research relies on establishing the chronology of the studied sections using OSL and ¹⁴C dating techniques, and further sedimentary and soil-related analyses, which include detailed field description and mapping, soil texture and grain-size measurements, and other fertility-related properties such as exchangeable cations composition, sodium and potassium adsorption, available sulfur and phosphorus, as well as chemical and multiple isotopic analyses.

I am a postdoc working with Dr. Uri Ryb on understanding dolomitization processes using different geochemical methods.

I am generally interested in surface processes and finding new ways to understand how different natural forcings shape the surface of our planet.

Curriculum Vitae

My research involves the application of trace-element ratios and Sr, Nd, Pb, Mo and Fe isotopic compositions to follow the fate of metals in the environment, in archaeological artifacts and in humans. The clean lab and our sensitive analytical instruments enable me and my students to study small-samples and/or materials with low elemental concentrations (e.g., dust samples, teeth and brain). Currently, my group is involved in research projects centering around:

1.     Records of aeolian, fluvial and lacustrine sediments as tracers of paleo-environment conditions and sediment sources.

2.     Tracing metal artifacts in antiquity.

3.     The dark side of ancient metallurgy: Measuring toxic metals and metallic isotopes (and aDNA) in human populations and in artifacts to trace the impact of early industries through time.

4. The association between elemental anomalies in the human brain and mental diseases.

We carry out these projects in collaboration with researchers from the Hebrew University (Earth Science, Archaeology, Medicine), the Geological Survey of Israel, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, The Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University, GFZ - Potsdam, Germany, Columbia University, University of California San Diego, University of Michigan, and the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.