tivity on the carmel faul

4. Results
A total of 68 speleothem samples was taken and inspected from Denya Cave, 37 of
which were identified as seismites (Appendix I). 32 seismites were processed for dating
(Table 5). Some show evidence of more than one seismic event or have indications of
both pre- and post-seismic events. Ten seismites are severed stalagmites broken along sub
horizontal plains, as are some described by Forti and Postpitchl (1980). These ten
stalagmites vary in sizes and shapes and are not all broken at their bases, as Lacave et al.
(2000) and Gilli et al. (1999) assumed they would be due to the heterogeneity of their
structures. This could indicate a great complexity in the earthquake induced break
mechanisms which occur in cave environments. Nine seismites of the 32 are severed
stalactites in different shapes and sizes. Such seismites have been recorded in many caves
after recent earthquakes (e.g. Gilli et al., 1999; Aydan, 2008). The remainders of the
seismites are flowstone samples in which breaks and depositional unconformities were
found; some revealed embedded soda straw speleothems.
4.1 Single sample age analysis
Each seismite sample was drawn and classified according to its structure and type of
break (Table 5 and photographic view in Appendix I-II).
All samples of what appeared to be pre- and post-seismic events were dated with the
U-Th method, using equation [1] according to Broeker and Kaufman (1965) (Table 6). As
aforementioned, the samples were taken from laminae closest to the seismic contact (see
ch. 3.2- Speleothem sampling), allowing for the closest age constraint to a seismic event.
Each pre-seismite single sample age (marked in red- Table 6) potentially indicates the
time at which the speleothem broke or in some cases (e.g. DN-48, Appendix I-II) abruptly
changed its growth pattern due to a seismic event. Each post-seismite single sample age
(marked in black- Table 6) potentially indicates the time of a speleothem re-growth, either
right after a seismic event, which broke a speleothem, or due to a seismic event, which
created a change in the hydrological setting in the cave. When pre and post dated samples
of the same seismite in a speleothem have very close ages, and are not reversed in order
(stratigraphically plausible), they could very well indicate the precise time of a seismic
event. Other potential pairs have a long hiatus of deposition between them and can only
indicate a one sided constraint on the age of a seismic event along with un-paired
samples. Figure 17 illustrates the ages of each dated sample within the speleothem
47