Location of the River Euphrates in the Late Miocene; dating of terrace gravel at Shireen, Syria

• DOI: 10.5194/ee-2-27-2007
• Publication Date: 2010-04-29T14:56:47Z
• Authors: T. Demir; M. Pringle; S. Yurtmen; R. Westaway; D. Bridgland; A. Beck; K. Challis; G. Rowbotham
• Keywords: Terrace (agriculture); River terraces

We report gravel of the River Euphrates, capped by basalt that is Ar-Ar dated to ~9 Ma, at Shireen in northern Syria. This gravel, preserved erosion-resistant basalt, allows us for first time reconstruct history this major river during Late Miocene. In response progressive regional surface uplift, Euphrates extended SE ~800 km between early Middle Miocene, when coast was near Kahramanmara? southern Turkey, and Pliocene, it lay western Iraq, east Arabian Platform uplands.