Deformation Layer 5 at Nahal Darga occurs in stratigraphic unit 6 and is dated by Enzel et al. (2000) to ca. 6050 BCE (ca. 8000 yr B.P.). The deformed bed is ~40-50 cm thick and consists of very fine to medium sand along with coarse silt deposited in a near-shore fan-delta environment. The principal deformation features are flame structures and "clouds" in an intensely deformed bed. The features were interpreted as due to earthquake-induced liquefaction rather than loading or depositional processes. Tectonically, Deformation Layer 5 completes the cluster of closely spaced deformed beds (Layers 3–5) within the Nahal Darga sequence. The tight spacing between these layers, sometimes separated by only a few centimeters of undeformed sediment, suggests that multiple earthquakes occurred within a relatively short time interval. Dating is based on radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic correlation within the fan-delta sequence; Bayesian modeling was not used in the age determinations.

Left - Fig. 5C - Deformations 4 (lower) and 5 (upper, with the scale) (Table 2) are separated by a thin undeformed bed. The stratigraphy at left of the photograph indicates that deposition prior to the second deformation was thicker than this thin undeformed bed. - The comparison between 5C and 5D indicates that the gravel in D was deposited much later than the deformation. Right - Fig. 5D - Deformation 5 (Table 2) at approximately 10 m to the west is changing its characteristics. The deformations in this bed have a large variety of forms. - The comparison between 5C and 5D indicates that the gravel in D was deposited much later than the deformation. - click on image to open in a new tab - Enzel et al (2000)