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2006 Philadelphia Annual Meeting (22–25 October 2006)

Paper No. 7
Presentation Time: 10:00 AM

THE TSUNAMI OF DECEMBER 13, 115 A.D. AND THE DESTRUCTION OF HEROD THE GREAT'S HARBOR AT CAESAREA MARITIMA, ISRAEL


REINHARDT, Eduard G.1, GOODMAN, Beverly N.2, BOYCE, Joe3, LOPEZ, Gloria1, VAN HENGSTUM, Peter1, RINK, W.J.4 and MART, Yossi5, (1)School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada, (2)Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, P.O. Box 469 Coral Beach, Eilat, 88103, Israel, (3)School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada, (4)School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, Canada, (5)Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, 31905, Israel, ereinhar@mcmaster.ca

Underwater geoarchaeological excavations on the shallow shelf (?10 m depth) have documented a tsunami that struck and damaged the ancient harbor at Caesarea, Israel on December 13, 115 A.D. The tsunami was recorded in the Talmud and was likely triggered by an earthquake that destroyed the city of Antioch on the same date. The tsunami deposit consisted of a ?0.5 m thick bed of reverse-graded shells, coarse sand, pebbles, and pottery deposited over a large area outside of the harbor. The lower portion of the deposit was composed of angular shell fragments and the upper, whole convex-up Glycymeris spp. shells. The deposit sedimentary and taphonomic characteristics are consistent with tsunami downcutting (?1m) into shelf sands, with return flow sorting and deposition of angular shell fragments followed by oriented whole shells. Radiocarbon dating of articulated Glycymeris shells and OSL dates constrain the age of the deposit to the 1st c. B.C. to 2nd c. A.D. and point to the tsunami of 115 A.D. as the most likely candidate for the event and the probable cause of the harbor destruction.

Session No. 66

T5. Archaeological and Geoarchaeological Records of Natural and Human—Induced Disasters
Monday, 23 October 2006: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 38, No. 7, p.177
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