Increased disintegration of subsoil layer of Eocene chalk near Beer-Sheva

A previously undescribed horizontal/sub-horizontal group of fractures in the Eocene chalk of the Israel northern Negev was investigated. This group of fractures lies almost exclusively in the subsoil (transitional) layer. Unlike other fractures which were produced by intense geological forces in the distance past, we postulate these fractures to be much younger and originated by a combination of loss of overburden and reduction in tensile strength due to rainwater wetting.