Kurkar is the regional name for an aeolian quartz sandstone with carbonate cement,
Syria,
Lebanon,
Israel, the
Gaza Strip The kurkar ridges are prevalent on Israel's coast from the area of Tel Aviv northwards. Kurkar is the product of windblown quartzitic sands which created
dunes during the
Pleistocene, which were cemented by carbonates transforming them to sandstone (lithification process), forming successive ridges along the shore. Kurkar occurs on the shore as well as under the current sea level, on the continental shelf. There are three underwater sandstone ridges off the coast of Israel and two on land. The younger kurkar formations also build small islands or islets along the coast of Israel, Lebanon (at
Sidon and near
Tripoli), and Syria (
Arwad). Israel's coastal sand dunes, the habitat of many rare species of plants and animals, are made of kurkar interspersed with hamra, red sandy loam. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Palestine (then under the Ottoman Empire) had 285 square kilometers of kurkar and hamra formations. Due to construction, farming and the use of off-road vehicles, this has diminished to 109 square kilometers. == Biology ==