Ventispheres: granule-pebble spheres of eolian origin in lower cretaceous and recent rocks of Israel
Abstract Spherical sandstone fragments which are neither concretions nor water-worn pebbles were found in the sandstone beds near the base of the Hathira Formation in the lower Cretaceous section of the Maktesh Gadol outcrops, in Southern Israel. Similar sandstone spheres which were found in the area were in the process of being formed by wind action in a serir environment. Both the ancient and the Recent spheres are referred to as “Ventispheres”. Their presence in the lower Cretaceous rocks shows that the non-marine interval between the first and the second marine transgressions recorded in this area included eolian events, at least in a local serir environment.