Fig. 1: Paths of the ancestral and modern Euphrates River in Western Asia.
From: Late Miocene Euphrates River drained into a partially desiccated eastern Mediterranean
a, The Late Miocene Euphrates River consisted of two fluvial systems—the Palaeo-Karasu and Palaeo-Murat rivers (dashed blue lines—proposed pathways)—which flowed into the eastern Mediterranean and deposited the Handere6 and Nahr Menashe7. Mixed-lithologic accumulations in present-day positions: surface (Late Miocene–Early Pliocene, solid green polygons)13; subsurface (Late Miocene, hatched green polygons)7,12. Coal mines are marked by hammer and pick symbols. The proposed avulsion order is from older (I) to younger (IV). Surface faults14 are noted. Blue dotted lines delineate the zone of lateral uncertainty for reconstructed pathways. b, The Early Pliocene Palaeo-Murat River avulsed eastward, being joined by the Palaeo-Karasu River in the Late Pliocene. The system avulsed again in the Pleistocene, forming the modern Euphrates River. Modern fluvial systems reoccupy ancestral pathways. Siliciclastic deposits are shown at the surface (undifferentiated Pliocene, yellow polygons)60. Triple junctions are indicated by stars. c–e, Avulsion nodes in the Early Pliocene (c), Late Pliocene (d) and Pleistocene (e). f–j, Long-term slip rates (LSRs)18,20,22,23,24,25,26 and offset lengths (OLs) of strike–slip faults were used to calculate segment ages, which are shown reconstructed at their means: Palaeo-Karasu River at 8.6 Ma (f) and 2.8 Ma (g); Palaeo-Murat River at 4.3 Ma (h); and Euphrates River at 3.6 Ma (i) and 1.6 Ma (j). Basemaps created in ArcGIS Pro 3.0.2 with data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) EarthExplorer (https://www.usgs.gov/tools/earthexplorer).
