My current research on temporal patterns has led to trying to find seasonal patterns inside laminated sediments. The focus for now is on pollen. The amount of pollen and type of pollen deposited in the sediments varies throughout the year with the greatest amount and variation ocurring during the spring.
In 2016, some colleagues working with palynologist Dr. Suzanne Leroy published an article where they were able to distinguish fall from spring deposition in Dead Sea sediments based on the pollen they found in the sediments (see the image below). This was proof of the concept that we could determine the time of year this earthquake occurred by examining the thin layer of sediment atop the Jerusalem Quake seismite (and right after the Jerusalem Quake)..
I am currently working on an article woith Suzanne to determine seasonality of the Jerusalem Quake.
Varved layers of Dead Sea sediment are divided up into whether they were deposited in the Spring (Green) or Autumn (Red) – from Lopez-Merino et. al. 2016
Next –> 08 Darkness
References
available at Science Hub and Research Gate.
I strongly beleive you will find it was spring.The time of passover.
Excellent blog, thanks Mr. Williams. Who would have thought Geological studies of seismic layers could be so interesting…bravo!
You may want to darken the lettering below some of the photos, as in ‘grey’ they are hard to make out. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing such impressive studies. This has increased my interest in learning more about material related to the Shroud of Turin. Regards,
Dear Prof. Williams,
I just found your site (oct.2014) and was disappointed to not see any updates to your 2012 findings, esp. parts 7-8 which mentioned research still in process.
Very curious about whether there was geological evidence for the “3 hours of darkness” (especially after being tantalized by that scary Australian dust-storm video).
Please update!
Hannah, you have incredible timing. Sorry no updates for now but there is hope on the horizon.
In 2012, the Discovery “News” channel wrote a sensationalistic article about my 2102 article that went viral on the internet. The Discovery article title was “Geologists determine exact date of crucifixion” or something similar. This viral sensationalism scared off the University of Ulthrecht where I was pursuing further research. This may have been a blessing in disguise as I spent the next 6 months improving my Dead Sea sediment stabilization techniques which bore fruit. I am now getting stabilized samples that will allow me to examine microstratigraphy where our primary depth unit is microns. Armed with this, I renewed contact with Dr. Colin Humphrey; a colleague from Cambridge University of Humphrey and Waddington (1983) fame. Colin allowed me to start using his electron microscope facilities and eventually we recruited a top notch dream team of scientists and wrote a grant that includes a search for sizeable dust storm deposits between 26 and 36 AD in the Dead Sea. We find out if we get funded in about one week.
If we do get funded, I will spend the next 3 1/2 years on this research with access to state of the art facilities and a team of the best people around in their specialties.
Wish me luck or pray for this; however you see fit.
If we get funded, I think we’ll get some answers.
and like you, I am very curious for an answer.