# Havara

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**Havara** is a type of [chalky](/source/Chalk), powdery mixture of silt and [limestone](/source/Limestone) that is predominantly [calcium carbonate](/source/Calcium_carbonate) in composition.[1] It tends to form a surface coating of "limestone-[marl](/source/Marl) areas".[1] It is common in [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus), where it is used as [gravel for roads](/source/Gravel_road).[1] Soft and easily carved, it is widely used in construction throughout the Middle East.[2] For example, it was used for the interior of the [Gaziantep railway station](/source/Gaziantep_railway_station).[2] Havara is vulnerable to [weathering](/source/Weathering).[3]

## Occurrence and formation

Havara typically appears as a soft, porous mantle of white to buff, [carbonate](/source/Carbonate)-rich [sediment](/source/Sediment) draped over chalky and [marly](/source/Marl) outcrops in Cyprus. Its fine-grained matrix ranges from [silt](/source/Silt) to [sand](/source/Sand), with locally abundant pebbles and occasional boulders derived from the underlying [limestone](/source/Limestone) and [ophiolite](/source/Ophiolite) blocks; analyses of geographically diverse samples report a [calcium carbonate](/source/Calcium_carbonate) content of 75–91 %.[1] In the field, it accumulates most conspicuously as [colluvial](/source/Colluvium) slope debris at the base of hillsides, as fan-shaped aprons ("debris cones") below small valleys, or as a thin veneer over gentler terrain. Its loose, powdery consistency makes it ideal both for mixing into roadstone and—as has been done traditionally throughout the [Levant](/source/Levant)—for carving into building blocks and decorative architectural elements.[1]

Geologically, havara is not an *in situ* [soil horizon](/source/Soil_horizon) but a mechanically transported deposit. Investigations at the Kalavasós–Märcou section reveal rhythmic alternations of [silt](/source/Silt)-rich talus (havara) and [humic](/source/Humic_substance), calcic [regosols](/source/Regosol), reflecting repeated phases of slope [erosion](/source/Erosion) under sparse vegetation interspersed with brief soil-forming intervals.[1] Charcoal fragments from two [intercalated](/source/Interbedding) soils yielded [radiocarbon](/source/Radiocarbon_dating) ages of 31,970 ± 910 BP and 27,440 ± 1 600 BP, placing most havara deposition in the colder, less vegetated stages of the last ([Würmian](/source/W%C3%BCrm_glaciation)) glacial cycle.[1] This contrasts with kafkalla ([caliche](/source/Caliche)), which forms by post-depositional carbonate [precipitation](/source/Precipitation) within the soil profile rather than by physical accumulation of [clastic](/source/Clastic_rock) debris.[1]

## References

1. Schirmer, Wolfgang (1998). ["Havara on Cyprus – a surficial calcareous deposit"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265664044). *E&G Quaternary Science Journal*. **48** (1): 110–117. [doi:10.3285/eg.48.1.11](https://doi.org/10.3285/eg.48.1.11). [hdl:11858/00-1735-0000-0001-BA92-3](https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-1735-0000-0001-BA92-3). Retrieved 19 February 2023.

1. Aycı, Hilal; Özer, Derya Güleç; Güleç, Abdulkadir (2020). ["A Spatial Analysis of Gaziantep Railway and Its Station Throughout History"](https://www.academia.edu/44032760). *Periodica Polytechnica Architecture*. **51** (2): 196–208 [205]. [doi:10.3311/PPar.15799](https://doi.org/10.3311/PPar.15799). Retrieved 19 February 2023.

1. Gürpinar, Okay; Yalçin, M. Namık; Gözübol, Ali Malik; Tuğrul, Atiye; Dalgiç, Süleyman; Kürkanç, Mustafa; Hoşgömerz, Hakan; Altinok, Yıldız; Özer, Naşide; Özler, Murat; Bulkan-Veşıladali, Özlem; Ündül, Ömer; Zarıf, İ. Halil; Şenyuva, Tahsin (2004). ["Birecik (Şanlıurfa) Yöresinin Temel Jeolojik Özellikleri ve Jeolojik Miras Envanteri"](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/tubaked/issue/57282/810186). *TUBA Kültür Envanteri Dergisi*. **2** (2): 157–168 [162]. [doi:10.22520/tubaked.2004-2.0007](https://doi.org/10.22520/tubaked.2004-2.0007)

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