In the Qatar Trench, oriented perpendicular to the Arava Fault within the Yotvata Playa and just south of the Yotvata extensional step, Klinger et al. (2015) identify Event Esupp2 as occurring between Events E9 and E8. Evidence is restricted to the western fault zone of the trench and rests mainly on a tilted liquefaction conduit between MM5 and MM6, together with faint cracks at MM3 and between MM5 and MM6. Because the conduit is tilted in the same manner as unit H, it must predate E8, yet it rises higher than the two cracks assigned to E9, which indicates that it postdates E9. On this basis, Klinger et al. infer a possible additional rupture horizon between those two better defined events, but they stress that the evidence remains difficult to document. Esupp2 is interpreted as one of the fault ruptures that likely terminated at the Yotvata extensional step.

Chronologically, Esupp2 falls within the broad early prehistoric interval assigned to the lower part of the trench, sometime between E8 and E9, within the wider 2797-1245 BCE bracket for the E8-E9 sequence. This bracket was determined from a Bayesian model of radiocarbon dates derived from detrital charcoal.

Figure 5 - Trench log of the southern wall. The full resolution photomosaic of the wall is available in Fig. S1. The different stratigraphic units are indicated by letters A to H located in the synthetic stratigraphic section. Conservative position of event horizons are indicated with a dashed line, including for event Esuppl unambiguously visible in the eastern fault zone only. E8 is indicated for reference, although the dashed line corresponds to E7 event horizon (see discussion in text). Esupp2, between E8 and E9 is not indicated. Meter Marks (MM) are indicated above the trench. Dated ¹⁴C samples are indicated by star. To the west, a few samples have been collected up to 2 m outside the gridded wall, where the layers could be traced horizontally. Samples are indicated at the corresponding depth and stratigraphic position. - Click on Image to open in a new tab - Klinger et al (2015)