The Aleppo plateau ( ar, هضبة حلب ) is a low, gently undulating

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

of northern Syria. It lies at the northern end of the junction between the

Arabian Plate The Arabian Plate is a minor tectonic plate in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres. It is one of the three continental plates (along with the African and the Indian Plates) that have been moving northward in geological history and colliding ...

and the

African Plate The African Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes much of the continent of Africa (except for its easternmost part) and the adjacent oceanic crust to the west and south. It is bounded by the North American Plate and South American Plate ...

at the Dead Sea Rift. The plateau lies mostly in the

Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( ar, محافظة حلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' / ) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of t ...

and Idlib Governorate. Aleppo is located in the north-center of the plateau.

Boundaries

The Aleppo plateau lies immediately north of the Palmyra mountain belt. To the east it is bounded by the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

river valley, which separates it from the Jazirah plateau. To the west it is bounded by the northern half of the Dead Sea Rift, namely the Orontes river valley. The Aintab plateau forms a northern continuation of the plateau that leads to the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...

Description

The average elevation of the plateau is 400 m. The surface gradually slopes down in north-south and west-east directions. The surface undulates gently with an amplitude of 10–30 m for each wave. The lowlands are covered with combined

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

and

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...

sediments that average 4–5 km in thickness over the whole surface. Starting from the valley of the Euphrates, the terrain rises forming the

Manbij plain Manbij plain ( ar, سهل منبج ) is a vast plain on the eastern Aleppo plateau in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey. The plain runs along the western bank of river Euphrates for approximately 140 km from Nizip to Maskanah, with an a ...

and then sinks again at the

Dhahab river Dhahab River or Dhahab Valley ( ar, نهر الذهب or وادي الذهب ''Gold River'' or ''Gold Valley''), also in medieval times known as Wadi Butnan ( ar, وادي بطنان, Wadī Buṭnān) or Butnan Habib, is an intermittent river and va ...

valley in the east of

. The Dhahab drains the highlands north of Bāb and runs in a north-south direction for about 50 km until it drains into Lake Jabboul. West of the Dhahab valley the terrain rises again forming Mount ʻAqīl (Mount Taymar) (534 m) west of Bāb and Mount Ḥaṣṣ (550 m) west of Lake Jabboul. The terrain sinks again forming the valley of River Quwēq. The endpoint of Quwēq, the Maṭkh swamp (249 m), is the lowest point in Aleppo Governorate. West of the Quwēq is

Mount Simeon Mount Simeon or Mount Simon ( ar, جبل سمعان Jabal Simʻān ), also called Mount Laylūn ( ar, جبل ليلون, is a highland region in Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The mountain is located in the Mount Simeon and Aʻzāz distr ...

. South of Mount Simeon are the plains of Idlib. River ʻIfrīn runs west of Mount Simeon. To the west of River ʻIfrīn the land rises again forming Mount Kurd. River ʻIfrīn runs from north to south between Mount Simeon and Mount Kurd and then turns west to the Orontes valley, thus separating Mount Kurd from Mount Ḥārim to the south. Mount Ḥārim is separated from Mount Zāwiya to the south by the Rouj plain, which leads to the

Ghab plain The Ghab Plain ( ar, سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, ...

in the Orontes valley. The highlands of the western Aleppo plateau are collectively known as the Limestone Massif. The southeastern portion of the plateau is an arid steppe that forms the northern tip of the Syrian Desert. The rest of the plateau is generally fertile, especially the northwest. The plateau is generally deforested except for a dispersed forest of about 50 km² on the eastern slope of Mount Kurd where it faces the plain of Aʻzāz. The main trees in the region are Aleppo Pine and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

Geology

The

isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numb ...

composition of the region indicate that they were similarities between the deeper

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', th ...

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteris ...

s in both the Aleppo plateau and the Palmyrean mountain zone, but differences with the shallow Paleogene aquifer. Early–Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

intraplate

basalts Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of ...

obtained from the Aleppo plateau contained low abundances of platinum-group elements compared to

alkali basalts Alkali basalt or alkali olivine basalt is a dark-colored, porphyritic volcanic rock usually found in oceanic and continental areas associated with volcanic activity, such as oceanic islands, continental rifts and volcanic fields. Alkali basalt ...

from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, and

mid-ocean ridge A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a diver ...

basalts. However, the Aleppo Plateau and vicinity had two discrete Miocene volcanic phases, ~ 19–18 Ma and ~ 13.5–12 Ma.

Boundaries

Description

Geology

References

Bibliography

See also