Tsunami event identified in a sedimentary record of the Gaza Strip, Palestine

The outcrop of the tsunami deposits, about 6 m thick, is located in the archaeological site Tel Askan in the Al Zhraa locality, southwest of the Gaza City. These deposits are unconformably underlain by sand dunes and sharply overlain by a palaeosol. They are pale gray sands mixed with volcanic ash and fine-grained deposits, and are intercalated with peat, few centimetres thick. The sand-sized grains are well rounded and well sorted, and consist mainly of quartz and subordinate of feldspar. Both macro- and microfossils were observed from tsunami deposits. Additionally, rip-up clasts and pottery shards were observed, indicating higher-flow regime. The potteries in tsunami deposits provide evidence for tsunami inundation at distance of about 1 km from the present shoreline.