In the Iron Age: The clay is consolidated carbonatic with iron ooids, yellowish to tan in PPL. The matrix is very rich in microfossils, including planktonic foraminifera such as globigerina. In some cases the foraminifera are filled or surrounded with iron-rich minerals. The petro-fabric also includes benthonic foraminifera such as brizalina, and coralline algae such as amphiroa and bryozoan (Nolet & Corliss, 1990; Clark & Boudagher-Fadel, 2001). The inclusions consist of sub-angular to angular coastal quartz (5–15% 50–150µm), limestone (~5%, up to 200µm) and chert in different levels of erosion. The smooth nature and light-yellow color of this clay enabled the production of light, fine-looking vessels that are exceptional among Iron Age ceramics in the Levant.

Size of the inclusions and relative amounts differ in different periods.

The marls are yellowish in color and rich in microfossils and chert fragments that were deposited in marine environments. In Lebanon, a number of successions that are characterized by accumulated marine deposits have been subjected to some microfacies investigations (Basson & Edgell, 1971; Griffiths & Ownby, 2013; Nader, Abdel-Rahman, & Haidar, 2006; Walley, 1998) <ahref="file: e:\users\pwaiman_2\downloads\in%20search%20of%20phoenicians-%20paula%20petrography-16.12.2015%20cleaned.docx#_msocom_1"="">[O1]. </ahref="file:>This particular marl is commonly identified as originating on the southern Lebanese coast (Aznar, 2005; Gilboa & Goren, 2015; Griffiths, 2003; Griffiths, 2004; Miguel Gascón & Buxeda i Garrigós, 2013; Ownby, 2010).