Peak oil in the light of oil formation theories

The peak oil debate is underpinned by a biological paradigm of oil formation that generates a notion of fixed oil and gas reserves in the Earth's crust. However, the potential of the abiogenic theory of oil formation is underestimated. We will demonstrate the value of modern petroleum science based on a thermodynamic understanding of hydrocarbon formation, and both experimental and observational data, which can introduce a change into the debate. Now emotionally charged and contentious, the debate will supposedly develop a balanced and realistic scenario on gradual oil transition and a secure global energy supply.

The Jamal cave is not empty : recent discoveries in the Mount Carmel caves, Israel

Jamal Cave. Mount Carmel. contains scarce Lower and Middle Palaeolithic lithics. The geological evidence and the microfabric analyses suggest a complex mode of deposition together with long and intense post-depositional processes, mainly erosion and karstic collapse. Ground water fluctuations seem to have played a major role in the geological history of the cave. Any discussion of the function of the site and its palaeoenvironmental background should take into account the proximity to Tabun Cave. The two sites were probably parts of the same cultural complex which existed within a single hydrogeological system. Key-words : Mount Carmel, Jamal Cave. Lower and Middle Palaeolithic.La grotte de Jamal, dans le Mont Carmel, comprend peu de matériel lithique du Paléolithique ancien et moyen. L'élude géologique et les analyses micromorphologiques indiquent un mode de déposition complexe, ainsi que des processus post-dépositionnels intenses et de longue durée, essentiellement érosion et effondrement karstique. Les fluctuations du niveau édaphique semblent avoir joué un rôle majeur dans l'histoire géologique de la grotte. Toute discussion de la fonction du site et de son paléoenvironnement doit prendre en compte la proximité de la grotte de Tahoun. En effet, les deux sites faisaient probablement partie du même complexe culturel et dépendaient du même système hydrologique. Mots clés : Mont Carmel, Grotte Jamal, Paléolithique ancien et moven.Weinstein-Evron Mina, Tsatskin Alexander. The Jamal cave is not empty : recent discoveries in the Mount Carmel caves, Israel. In: Paléorient, 1994, vol. 20, n°2. pp. 119-128

The paradox of oil reserve forecasts: The political implications of predicting oil reserves and oil consumption

In the light of the outstanding importance of hydrocarbons for global energy, the controversy over peak oil has become both pressing and emotionally charged. Two conflicting parties - alarmists and optimists - hold irreconcilable positions. The shaping of the future energy policy is presently based on modeling results and geological considerations only. We show that the existing predictions of the energy crisis are increasingly mixed-up with value-judgments. The value analysis of those forecasts allows us to suggest that at least part of the estimations are implicit reflections of predictors' ends and values, and do not demonstrate a real ability to anticipate future conditions. Paradoxically, the question of oil reserves depletion is better understood when predictions are viewed as an instrument to impose the predictors' values and intervene in the currently bustling oil market. The intervention in the oil prices may occur in either direction becoming a tool to justify values rather than an instrument for the acquisition of knowledge.Energy crisis Values Political implications

Charred wood remains in the natufian sequence of el-Wad terrace (Israel): New insights into the climatic, environmental and cultural changes at the end of the Pleistocene

transition to food production in the southern Levant are often considered to have been triggered by climate changes at the end of the Pleistocene (~20,000e11,000 years BP). This explanation, however, is biased by the scarcity of high-resolution climate records directly associated with human activity and the lack of refined palaeoecological studies from multi-stratified sites in the area. Here, we present the results of an anthracological analysis, carried out on charcoals collected along a continuous column of archaeological sediments in the Natufian site of el-Wad Terrace (Mount Carmel, Israel).We also present the carbon isotopes analysis of 14C-dated archaeological remains of Amygdalus sp. The analyses of charcoal shows the predominance of an oak forest including Quercus calliprinos and ithaburensis around the site during the Early Natufian building phase (~14,600e13,700 cal BP), and the values of D13C point to a high rainfall rate. This period is followed by a marked decrease in the local rainfall between ~13,700 and 12,000 cal BP). The reduction, culturally associated with the latest Early Natufian and the Late Natufian, is independently recorded by the speleothems of the region: Soreq Cave and Jerusalem Cave. This period incorporates an increase in drought tolerant species such as Amygdalus sp. Thermo-Mediterranean species, such as Olea europaea and Ceratonia siliqua, as well as Pistacia palaestina, which dominate the modern landscape, become established in the Holocene. We conclude that the Natufian settlement at el-Wad Terrace flourished in the context of oak forests, and subsequently occupation intensity decreased in concurrence to the drying trend. This shift does not correspond to the cultural typology (i.e. Early Natufian vs. Late Natufian). Human response to climate change at the terminal Pleistocene Levant was multifaceted and localized. Its understanding requires the analysis of records that are well-tied to human ecology and behavior

New data on the Geology and Geochronology of the Lower Palaeolithic Site Bizat Ruhama in the Southern Levant

The Bizat Ruhama site in the Northern Negev, Israel, has been first excavated in 1996. But geological observation of this site section began in 1995. The results obtained by geological and geophysical methods are discussed in this paper. New paleoma- gnetic data permit to date the cultural layer at Bizat Ruhama at the Matuyama epoch (0,85-0,99 My). Artifacts that belong to the Matuyama epoch differ from the others by their small sizes.Le site de Bizat Ruhama au Nord du Negev, Israel, a été fouillé pour la première fois en 1996, des observations géologiques ayant commencé en 1995. Les résultats obtenus par ces observations et par des méthodes géophysiques sont discutés ici. De nouvelles données paléomagnétiques permettent de dater la couche anthropique mise au jour à Bizat Ruhama de la période Matuyama (0,85-0,99 millions d'années). Les pièces archéologiques trouvées dans les couches répondant à la période Matuyama diffèrent par leurs très petites dimensions des artefacts trouvés dans les autres couches.Laukhin Stanislav A., Ronen A., Pospelova Genrietta Antoninovna, Sharonova Zinaida V., Ranov Vadim Aleksandrovich, Burdukiewicz Jan Michal, Volgina Valerya A., Tsatskin Alexander. New data on the Geology and Geochronology of the Lower Palaeolithic Site Bizat Ruhama in the Southern Levant. In: Paléorient, 2001, vol. 27, n°1. pp. 69-80

Dating the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: A view from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel

International audienc

The Raqefet Cave 2008 Excavation Season

International audienceThe third season of the renewed project at Raqefet cave took place in the summer of 2008. In the first chamber additional Natufian human burials were exposed near the north wall of the cave. In the narrow crevice of Locus 1 and nearby, a total of 11 burials were so far excavated. This is indeed a very dense Natufian burial area. Furthermore, the Natufian layer to the east of Locus 1 is also rich with burials. Here (Locus 3) three burials have already been excavated, but at least four additional graves are known and will be excavated in the future. In Locus 5, a narrow elevated area in the southern part of chamber 1, the tufa covering the cave floor yielded a rich and well-preserved concentration of finds. The flint assemblage appears to be Kebaran, while the faunal remains from there also differ from the Natufian faunal remains at the site. This indicates that the cementation of sediments in the cave occurred during both the Early Epipalaeolithic (Kebaran) and Late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian).Additional bedrock features (including mortars, cupmarks and tiny depressions) were found during this season, bringing the total number in the first chamber and terrace to over 90. The variety of types and dimensions indicate that they were used in various ways, most likely in more than just the processing of foods or minerals. The 3D documentation of these features (by photogrammetry) already enables new directions of analyses of these somewhat enigmatic features