Possible northward drainage of the Pliocene Hula Valley

Lithologic analyses and palynostratigraphic dating of subsurface sections along a south-north transect from Korazim to the Lebanese border indicate a systematic northward thickening of the Pliocene clastic sequences, some of which were previously indirectly also dated by radiometric methods. These observations, together with some reassessment of the Lebanese Zahlé Beds, lead to the conclusion that the Pliocene drainage crossing the present day Hula region flowed northward, connecting to the Mediterranean through the Beqa'a Valley and Tripoli graben, much in the same way as the Dead Sea area was drained through the Yizre'el Valley at that time. Wide, shallow channels of the Pliocene drainage system indicate a rather flat topography during that time, allowing some of the rivers to flow over what presently is a high terrain, leaving behind some spectacular wind gaps.