earth science

Kurkar

Kurkar is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kurkar rather than just read about it. In short: Kurkar (Arabic: كركار /Hebrew: כורכר) is the term used in Arabic and modern Hebrew for the rock type of which lithified sea sand dunes consist. The equivalent term used in Lebanon is ramleh.

Key takeaways

Kurkar belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kurkar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kurkar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kurkar (Arabic: كركار /Hebrew: כורכר) is the term used in Arabic and modern Hebrew for the rock type of which lithified sea sand dunes consist. The equivalent term used in Lebanon is ramleh.

History Kurkar is the regional name for an aeolian quartz sandstone with carbonate cement, in other words an eolianite or a calcarenite (calcareous sandstone or grainstone), found on the Levantine coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Gaza Strip and northern Sinai Peninsula. The kurkar ridges are prevalent on Israel's coast from the area of Tel Aviv northwards. South of Mount Carmel they form parallel alignments, the result of transgressive coastlines. Kurkar is the product of windblown quartzitic sands which created dunes during the Pleistocene, which were cemented by carbonates transforming them to sandstone (lithification process), forming successive ridges along the shore. Kurkar occurs on the shore as well as under the current sea level, on the continental shelf. There are three underwater sandstone ridges off the coast of Israel and two on land. The younger kurkar formations also build small islands or islets along the coast of Israel, Lebanon (at Sidon and near Tripoli), and Syria (Arwad). In the Gaza Strip, coastal plain kurkar deposits of medium to coarse-grained calcareous sandstone are characterized by crossbedding. Israel's coastal sand dunes, the habitat of many rare species of plants and animals, are made of kurkar interspersed with hamra, red sandy loam. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Palestine (then under the Ottoman Empire) had 285 square kilometers of kurkar and hamra formations. Due to construction, farming and the use of off-road vehicles, this has diminished to 109 square kilometers.

Biology Kurkar ridges in Israel provide nesting sites for an endangered species of bird, the European bee-eater; and nine species of wild plants native only to Israel, such as the coastal iris. Among the dominant plants on the kurkar ridge are lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus) and headed thyme (Coridothymus capitatus). The rare plants include French lavender (Lavandula stoechas) with its purple blooms, Paronychia palaestina and Galilee sea-lavender (Limonium galilaeum). In May 2009, an offshore pilot study was conducted in the northern Galilee by a team of scientists collecting geological, geophysical, geochemical and biological data in the vicinity of the Bustan Hagalil kurkar ridge. The ridge was mapped during the National Bathymetric Survey of Israel by multibeam sonar.

See also Wildlife in Israel Geography of Israel Jerusalem stone Eolianite

References

External links Frechen, Manfred; Neber, Alexander; Tsatskin, Alexander; Boenigk, Wolfgang; Ronen, Avraham (January 2004). "Chronology of Pleistocene sedimentary cycles in the Carmel Coastal Plain of Israel". Quaternary International. 121 (1): 41–52. Bibcode:2004QuInt.121...41F. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2004.01.022.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kurkar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kurkar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kurkar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kurkar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kurkar

In research: Kurkar appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kurkar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kurkar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geology of Israel, Geology of Lebanon, Geology of Palestine, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kurkar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kurkar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kurkar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kurkar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kurkar in simple terms?

Why does Kurkar matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kurkar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kurkar.