The area in the north which came under Israeli control as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War and is popularly referred to as the "Golan Heights," is actually composed of two geologically distinct areas (divided by Nahal Sa'ar): the Golan Heights proper (approx. 1.070 sq. km.) and the slopes of the Mt. Hermon range (approx. 100 sq. km.).
A rewiew of the geology of Golan Heights (Geologie Golanských výšin)
GEOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY
While the Mt. Hermon range is mostly limestone, the Golan Heights proper is mostly basalt and other types of volcanic rock, forming a plateau that drops off to the west, to the Jordan River and Lake Kinneret (in the Syrian-African Rift Valley), and to the south, to the Yarmouk River. The plateau is crossed by a number of seasonal streams which run through valleys, sometimes very deep, and flow west into the Jordan or the Lake. The Golan proper may be divided into three regions: northern (between Nahals Sa'ar and Gilabon), central (between Nahals Gilabon and Dilayot), and southern (between Nahal Dilayot and the Yarmouk Valley).
The northern Golan has double the average rainfall of the southern Golan, and often receives snow in the winter, as does the Mt. Hermon area. Hydrologically, nearly the entire Golan lies within the Lake Kinneret catchment basin, which supplies 30% of Israel's water requirements. Two of the Jordan River's main sources, the Dan and the Banias Rivers, rise on the slopes of Mt. Hermon -- in addition to many seasonal streams that rise on the Heights and flow into the Lake, either directly or via the Jordan.In ancient and classical times, the Golan was heavily forested (see Ezekiel 27:5-6). Today, small remnants of these forests survive near Odem and Mt. Avital in the north, and near Yehudiya in the central Golan. Many mammal´s and reptile species, and all of its amphibians, can be found on the Heights
ZDROJ: IGS, www3.wooster.edu, upraveno |