The paleoecologic and paleogeographic significance of Upper Maastrichtian and Lower Eocene rocks recently discovered in Jerusalem, Israel

Upper Maastrichtian Ghareb Fm. phosphatic chalk and Lower Eocene Adulam Fm. chalk were recently discovered in Jerusalem. The proximity of these pelagic sediments to the present-day anticlinal axis has implications for the structural development of central Israel during the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary, Syrian Arc folding episode. Apart from age-indicative planktic foraminifera, the Ghareb Fm. chalk is dominated by endobenthic buliminids (foraminifera), phosphate ovulites, and bone fragments. This phosphatic Ghareb Fm. chalk occurs on the eastern flank of the Judean Anticline in a position structurally higher than the Maastrichtian-Paleocene, organic-rich chalk in the synclinal basin of the Judean Desert. The relationship between these two adjacent, coeval lithofacies represents lateral facies changes across a sedimentary basin, under high-productivity conditions. The paleobathymetry of the Tethys Sea in the Judean Anticline region is discussed in light of the recently-discovered Lower Eocene Adulam Fm. outcrop at Jerusalem. -from Authors