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| Levant volcanic field | |
|---|---|
| Name | Levant volcanic field |
| Location | Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan |
| Type | basaltic field, volcanic field |
| Last eruption | Holocene (disputed) |
Levant volcanic field is a broad volcanic province in the southern Levant spanning parts of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. It comprises numerous monogenetic cones, lava fields, and shield volcanoes distributed along plate-boundary structures such as the Dead Sea Transform and the Jordan Rift Valley. The field records Neogene to Holocene volcanism and has influenced landscapes linked to settlements like Jericho, Damascus, Beirut, and Amman.
The volcanic province extends across the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, the Golan Heights, the Hauran plateau, and margins of the Judean Desert, intersecting with the Dead Sea. Prominent volcanic centers include the Jabal al-Druze complex, the Golan basalt plateaux, and the Harrat Ash Shaam (Hauran) field. Stratigraphic relationships connect volcanic units to sedimentary basins such as the Jordan Valley and to tectonic features like the Red Sea rift and the East Anatolian Fault. Regional mapping by institutions including the Geological Survey of Israel, the Syrian Geological Survey, and researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem has documented lava-flow morphologies, scoria cones, and fumarolic alterations.
Volcanism in the province began in the Neogene and persisted through the Quaternary, with lava flows emplaced during the Pliocene and Pleistocene and reported Holocene eruptions debated in the literature from the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Radiometric dating campaigns using methods developed at laboratories associated with Weizmann Institute of Science and Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have yielded K–Ar and Ar–Ar ages that constrain eruptive episodes. Historic and archaeological records from sites such as Petra, Hazor, and Tell es-Sultan indicate lava emplacement contemporaneous with human occupation. Seismicity along the Dead Sea Transform and geodetic measurements from GPS networks operated by European Space Agency projects tie volcanic events to regional strain release.
Lavas are dominantly alkaline basalts, basaltic andesites, and trachybasalts with variable phenocryst assemblages of olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase. Whole-rock geochemistry shows enrichment in incompatible elements and light rare earth elements, with trace-element signatures interpreted through models used at institutions like the Geological Survey of Canada and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Isotopic systems (Sr–Nd–Pb) studied in collaboration with the University of Oxford and ETH Zurich indicate contributions from enriched lithospheric mantle domains and ancient crustal lithologies sampled beneath the Levantine Basin.
The volcanic province lies at the intersection of the Dead Sea Transform fault system and broader plate interactions between the African Plate, the Arabian Plate, and the Anatolian Plate. Mantle upwelling, decompression melting, and metasomatized lithosphere beneath the region have been invoked in models by researchers from Caltech and Columbia University. Geophysical imaging using seismic tomography by teams from GFZ Potsdam and USGS reveals low-velocity anomalies beneath the Hauran and Golan volcanic centers consistent with partial melt or hydrated mantle. Strike-slip faulting, pull-apart basins such as the Dead Sea Basin, and transtensional regimes control magma ascent pathways and vent distribution.
Volcanic rocks from the field have been used as construction stone at archaeological sites including Megiddo, Acre, and Qiryat Shemona; pumice and scoria appear in mortars found at Byblos and Jerash. Ancient sources and later chroniclers from Herodotus to medieval Arab geographers mention lava fields near Golan and Hauran, and archaeological stratigraphy links tephra layers to cultural horizons in the Late Bronze Age and Roman periods. Volcanic landmarks have been incorporated into religious narratives associated with locations like Mount Hermon and Mount of Olives, and trade routes such as those connecting Damascus and Gaza were influenced by lava-field topography.
Basaltic substrates host distinctive soils and vegetation assemblages, with patches of steppe, Mediterranean maquis, and oak woodlands recorded by ecologists from Tel Aviv University and American University of Beirut. Lava field microhabitats provide refugia for endemic flora and fauna studied in surveys by Nature Conservation Authority (Israel) and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (Jordan). Albedo changes from extensive lava cover can influence local insolation and microclimates, while paleoclimatic reconstructions using speleothems from Jeita Grotto and lake records from Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) relate volcanic ash deposition to regional environmental shifts.
Hazard assessment integrates seismic networks maintained by the Israel Seismic Network, the Syrian National Seismological Observatory, and international collaborations such as the Global Seismographic Network. Potential hazards include lava flows, ground deformation, volcanic gas emissions, and induced seismicity affecting population centers like Beit She'an and Zarqa. Civil protection agencies including Civil Defense (Jordan) and municipal authorities in Damascus coordinate contingency planning informed by studies from UNESCO and the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior.
Category:Volcanic fields Category:Geology of the Middle East