Fluctuations of Lake Lisan (the Dead Sea) during the last glacial: Implications for paleoclimatic changes of the Levant.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahrazad Abu Ghazleh ◽  
Stephan Kempe
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Lake Water ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Xrd Analysis ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Fresh Water Input ◽  
The Dead

<p> </p><p>Calcareous stromatolite crusts overgrowing beach gravels and stabilising piles of rocks were observed on shoreline terraces of Lake Lisan along the eastern coast of the Dead Sea. The stromatolite crusts are thick, massive and hard, with a dark-grey or white-grey finely-laminated structure, indicating that they are mostly calcareous organic build-up of cyanobacterial origin. Samples from these stromatolites have been analyzed using Stable Isotopes (δ13C & δ18O), AAS and XRD analysis. The samples range in altitude between -350 m and -19 m, representing the time interval of Lake Lisan (~ 80-19 ka BP) according to our U/Th dating. Since stromatolites grow in shallow water, they are very sensitive to minor shifts in rainfall and evaporation and therefore an excellent tool to track small changes in hydrology, in climate and in paleoenvironmental conditions of the lake basin.</p><p> </p><p>Oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of these stromatolites show a linear covariant trend with a strong positive correlation (r = 0.8) and large ranges of 7.85 and 6.78‰, respectively. This trend is most typical of primary carbonates formed in closed lakes. Isotopes analyses show low negative values of stromatolites from the lake highest stands at -76 m to -19 m, reflecting fresh water conditions of the lake basin at the last interglacial-glacial boundary (80-76 ka BP). The lowest values were derived from stromatolites at -103 to -119 m associated with the transgression of the lake to these high stands between 55 and 33 ka BP. The heaviest values were derived from stromatolites at -137 to -160 m indicating a change to dry climatic conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean that caused a subsequent drop of the lake level during MIS 2 (31-19 ka BP).</p><p> </p><p>The Mg/Ca ratio and the XRD analysis of the stromatolites correlate also with transgression-regression phases of the lake. Dominance of calcite in stromatolites at -76 to 0 m and inferred low Mg/Ca ratios of the lake water (i.e. ~2) imply a high fresh water input of the lake during the   highest stands period. A high Mg/Ca ratio of the lake water of >7 inferred from low-level stromatolite at -350 m and the existence of aragonite as the sole mineral reflect low fresh water input and high evaporation rates that caused a lake level regression during H6, ~ 60 ka BP.</p><p> </p><p>Inferred low Mg/Ca ratios of stromatolites at -247 to -101 m and the existence of calcite as a main mineral phase indicate wet climatic conditions of the eastern Mediterranean and lake level transgression to higher than -137 during MIS 3. The appearance of more aragonite in stromatolites at -137 to -154 m and the inferred high Mg/Ca ratio of the lake water points to a return to dry climatic conditions that caused a regression of Lake Lisan between 32 to 22 ka BP (MIS 2). However, the change in the mineral composition to pure calcite at -160 m in addition to the inferred low Mg/Ca ratio correlates well with the transgression of the lake to this level by the end of the LGM.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

Changes in hydroclimate during last deglaciation lake-level fall in the Dead Sea sediment record

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus J. Schwab ◽  
Daniela Müller ◽  
Ina Neugebauer ◽  
Rik Tjallingii ◽  
Yoav Ben Dor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Sediments ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Laminated Sediments ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Sediment Record ◽  
Deep Lake ◽  
The Dead

<p>The drainage basin of the Dead Sea is the largest hydrological system in the Levant and spans across the boundary between the sub-humid to semi-arid Mediterranean and the arid to hyper-arid Saharo-Arabian climate zones. As a terminal lake, precipitation changes due to climatic variations result in extensive fluctuations of lake level and sediment deposition.</p><p>A unique sediment record from the deepest part of the Dead Sea Basin was obtained as part of the ICDP Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project. Here we analyze the partially annually laminated sediments of Core 5017-1-A between 88.5-99.2 m core depth, which comprise the period between ~16.5 and ~11 ka and document a lake level drop of ca 160 m. In the sediments of Core 5017-1-A, this marks the transition from MIS2 aad (alternating aragonite and detritus) sediments to MIS1 halite deposits and ld (laminated detrital marl) sediments, coinciding with increased drying in the Dead Sea watershed.</p><p>Microfacies analyses show the occurrence of several lithological facies that accumulated during MIS2: aad, gd (massive gypsum deposit within marl), native sulfur concretions (associated with greenish colored aad), mtd (mass-transport deposits, typically graded) and homogenites consisting of clay and silt. Further, flood layers have been identified, potentially indicating rainstorms associated with specific eastern Mediterranean synoptic systems. To complement the microfacies analyses, XRF scanning provides continuous Ti/Ca and S/Ca records to reconstruct relative detrital input and gypsum occurrence, respectively. Additionally, to study potential early signs of hydroclimatic change, the deep lake sediments are correlated to the Lisan Formation of the marginal Masada outcrop using distinct gypsum marker layers, indicative of pronounced lake level drops. However, due to a significant lake level decline, the Masada outcrop sediments terminate at around 14.5 ka and the subsequent lake level lowering is solely recorded in the deep lake sediments.</p><p>This study was funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG Grant BR 2208/13-1/-2). Further, it is a contribution to the Helmholtz Association (HFG) climate initiative REKLIM Topic 8 “Abrupt climate change derived from proxy data”.</p>

scholarly journals Relationships between lake-level changes and water and salt budgets in the Dead Sea during extreme aridities in the Eastern Mediterranean

2017 ◽  
Vol 464 ◽  
pp. 211-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Kiro ◽  
Steven L. Goldstein ◽  
Javier Garcia-Veigas ◽  
Elan Levy ◽  
Yochanan Kushnir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Lake Level Changes ◽  
The Dead

Lake Levels and Sequence Stratigraphy of Lake Lisan, the Late Pleistocene Precursor of the Dead Sea

2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuval Bartov ◽  
Mordechai Stein ◽  
Yehouda Enzel ◽  
Amotz Agnon ◽  
Ze'ev Reches
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Sequence Stratigraphy ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
The Dead

AbstractLake Lisan, the late Pleistocene precursor of the Dead Sea, existed from ∼70,000 to 15,000 yr B.P. It evolved through frequent water-level fluctuations, which reflected the regional hydrological and climatic conditions. We determined the water level of the lake for the time interval ∼55,000–15,000 cal yr B.P. by mapping offshore, nearshore, and fan-delta sediments; by application of sequence stratigraphy methods; and by dating with radiocarbon and U-series methods. During the studied time interval the lake-level fluctuated between ∼340 and 160 m below mean sea level (msl). Between 55,000 and 30,000 cal yr B.P. the lake evolved through short-term fluctuations around 280–290 m below msl, punctuated (at 48,000–43,000 cal yr B.P.) by a drop event to at least 340 m below msl. At ∼27,000 cal yr B.P. the lake began to rise sharply, reaching its maximum elevation of about 164 m below msl between 26,000 and 23,000 cal yr B.P., then it began dropping and reached 300 m below msl at ∼15,000 cal yr B.P. During the Holocene the lake, corresponding to the present Dead Sea, stabilized at ca. 400 m below msl with minor fluctuations. The hypsometric curve of the basin indicates that large changes in lake area are expected at above 403 and 385 m below msl. At these elevations the lake level is buffered. Lake Lisan was always higher than 380 m below msl, indicating a significantly large water contribution to the basin. The long and repetitious periods of stabilization at 280–290 m below msl during Lake Lisan time indicate hydrological control combined with the existence of a physical sill at this elevation. Crossing this sill could not have been achieved without a dramatic increase in the total water input to the lake, as occurred during the fast and intense lake rise from ∼280 to 160 m below msl at ∼27,000 cal yr B.P.

Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modern regional winter rainfall

2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yehouda Enzel ◽  
Revital Bookman (Ken Tor) ◽  
David Sharon ◽  
Haim Gvirtzman ◽  
Uri Dayan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Wet Spells

AbstractThe Dead Sea is a terminal lake of one of the largest hydrological systems in the Levant and may thus be viewed as a large rain gauge for the region. Variations of its level are indicative of the climate variations in the region. Here, we present the decadal- to centennial-resolution Holocene lake-level curve of the Dead Sea. Then we determine the regional hydroclimatology that affected level variations. To achieve this goal we compare modern natural lake-level variations and instrumental rainfall records and quantify the hydrology relative to lake-level rise, fall, or stability. To quantify that relationship under natural conditions, rainfall data pre-dating the artificial Dead Sea level drop since the 1960s are used. In this respect, Jerusalem station offers the longest uninterrupted pre-1960s rainfall record and Jerusalem rains serve as an adequate proxy for the Dead Sea headwaters rainfall. Principal component analysis indicates that temporal variations of annual precipitation in all stations in Israel north of the current 200 mm yr−1 average isohyet during 1940–1990 are largely synchronous and in phase (∼70% of the total variance explained by PC1). This station also represents well northern Jordan and the area all the way to Beirut, Lebanon, especially during extreme drought and wet spells. We (a) determine the modern, and propose the past regional hydrology and Eastern Mediterranean (EM) climatology that affected the severity and length of droughts/wet spells associated with multiyear episodes of Dead Sea level falls/rises and (b) determine that EM cyclone tracks were different in average number and latitude in wet and dry years in Jerusalem. The mean composite sea level pressure and 500-mb height anomalies indicate that the potential causes for wet and dry episodes span the entire EM and are rooted in the larger-scale northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation. We also identified remarkably close association (within radiocarbon resolution) between climatic changes in the Levant, reflected by level changes, and culture shifts in this region.

scholarly journals Intermediate Bronze Age in Southern Levant (4200–4000 BP) – Why Did Four Cities in Transjordan Survive Urban Collapse?

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Michał E. Bieniada
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Dew Point ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
The Dead

Abstract The first urban culture of southern Levant collapsed and the first period of urbanisation of Canaan (Early Bronze Age I-III) terminated at around 4200 yrs BP. The Canaanites abandoned their walled cities, dispersed and underwent pastoralisation. However, the urban centres of southern Canaan were not destroyed. This fact may point to responsibility of the environmental factor and makes influence influence of anthropogenic factors uncertain, along with the most popular Amorite invasion/destruction hypothesis. A tremendous climatic change occurred at that time in many regions, affecting cultures and civilisations of the Ancient Near East and resulting in abandonment of cities, migrations and great civilizational changes. In southern Levant, virtually all cities were left in ruins with a mysterious exception in Transjordan where four cities: Aroer, Ader, Khirbet Iskander and Iktanu survived and existed throughout the period. Most probably when climatic conditions in Cisjordan excluded possibility of urban life, the ones in Transjordan conditions remained unchanged or altered in a very limited scale. It is now clear that after a period with quite humid and warm climate, the precipitation greatly diminished after 4200 yrs BP in a littoral zone of eastern Mediterranean. A part of Transjordan, probably due to presence of the Dead Sea that somehow created conditions that influenced precipitation, remained a climatic niche with decent rainfall that enabled concentration of population in and around big urban centres and continuation of urban civilisation. Warming in a littoral zone changed dew point temperature preventing formations of clouds above western slopes of Judean and Samarian Hills. Moist air, prevented from condensation was transported eastwards where it could reach ascending currents appearing over the Dead Sea. Masses of air with water vapour moving upwards could form rainy clouds in Transjordan.

Holocene Climate Variability and Cultural Evolution in the Near East from the Dead Sea Sedimentary Record

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Migowski ◽  
Mordechai Stein ◽  
Sushma Prasad ◽  
Jörg F.W. Negendank ◽  
Amotz Agnon
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Near East ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Lake Level Changes ◽  
The Dead

AbstractA comprehensive record of lake level changes in the Dead Sea has been reconstructed using multiple, well dated sediment cores recovered from the Dead Sea shore. Interpreting the lake level changes as monitors of precipitation in the Dead Sea drainage area and the regional eastern Mediterranean palaeoclimate, we document the presence of two major wet phases (∼ 10–8.6 and ∼ 5.6–3.5 cal kyr BP) and multiple abrupt arid events during the Holocene. The arid events in the Holocene Dead Sea appear to coincide with major breaks in the Near East cultural evolution (at ∼ 8.6, 8.2, 4.2, 3.5 cal kyr BP). Wetter periods are marked by the enlargement of smaller settlements and growth of farming communities in desert regions, suggesting a parallelism between climate and Near East cultural development.

The diatom flora of Lake Lisan (Israel): a preliminary investigation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Hartung ◽  
Jane M. Reed ◽  
Thomas Litt
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Diatom Flora ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Last Glacial

<p>The Eastern Mediterranean, and the southern Levant in particular, is a key region for palaeoclimatological and palaeoenvironmental research due to its highly complex topography and climatic variability. Our understanding of environmental variability and its possible drivers, and the interaction with migration processes of modern <em>Homo sapiens</em> from a source area in Africa to Europe, is still limited. This is partly because continuous sediment records of sufficient age are rare across the Mediterranean Basin. The deposits of the Dead Sea represent an ideal archive to investigate palaeoenvironmental conditions during human migration phases in the Last Glacial period (MIS 4-2). </p><p>Diatoms (single-celled siliceous algae, Bacillariophyceae) have well-recognised potential to generate high-quality palaeolimnological data, especially in closed-basin saline lakes, but they remain one of the least-exploited proxies in Eastern Mediterranean palaeoclimate research. Here, we present preliminary results of a low-resolution diatom study derived from analysis of sediment deposits of Lake Lisan, the last glacial precursor of the Dead Sea. Sediment cores were recovered during an ICDP campaign in 2010/2011 from the centre of the modern Dead Sea. 18 sediment samples were analysed to investigate (a) the preservation of diatom valves in various evaporitic deposits (b) possible shifts in diatom species composition of Lake Lisan during the Last Glacial period, and (c) if diatoms can be used as proxy indicator for lake-level and, thus, palaeoclimate reconstruction. We focus on a prominent lake-level high stand of Lake Lisan at around 28-22 ka BP, which resulted in the merging Lake Lisan and freshwater Lake Kinneret.</p><p>First results show that the diatom preservation is exceptionally good in evaporitic deposits of the sediment cores from Lake Lisan, which is contradictory to the available literature. In contrast to Holocene deposits from the Dead Sea, diatoms are abundant in all analysed samples from laminated deposits from Lake Lisan: the diatom flora is dominated by halophilous benthic diatoms, such as <em>Amphora</em> spp., <em>Halamphora</em> spp. and <em>Nitzschia</em> spp. In phases of lake-level high stands of Lake Lisan, the diatom flora shifts towards a more plankton-dominated freshwater flora containing <em>Aulacoseira</em> spp. and taxa from the <em>Cyclotella-ocellata-</em>species complex.</p>

scholarly journals Near East Desertification: impact of Dead Sea drying on convective rainfall

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samiro Khodayar ◽  
Johannes Hoerner
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Decadal Scale ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Dead Sea desertification-threatened region is affected by continual lake level decline and occasional, but life-endangering flash-floods. Climate change has aggravated such issues in the past decades. In this study, the impact of the Dead Sea drying on the severe convection generating heavy precipitation in the region is investigated. Perturbation simulations with the high-resolution convection-permitting regional climate model COSMO-CLM and several numerical weather prediction (NWP) runs on an event time scale are performed over the Dead Sea area. A reference simulation covering the 2003 to 2013 period and a twin sensitivity experiment, in which the Dead Sea is dried out and set to bare soil, are compared. NWP simulations focus on heavy precipitation events exhibiting relevant differences between the reference and the sensitivity decadal realization to assess the impact on the underlying convection-related processes. On a decadal scale, the difference between the simulations points out that in future regional climate, under ongoing lake level decline, a decrease in evaporation, higher air temperatures and less precipitation is to expect. Particularly, an increase in the number of dry days and in the intensity of heavy precipitation is foreseen. The drying of the Dead Sea is seen to affect the atmospheric conditions leading to convection in two ways: (a) the local decrease in evaporation reduces moisture availability in the lower boundary layer locally and in the neighbouring, directly affecting atmospheric stability. Weaker updrafts characterize the drier and more stable atmosphere of the simulations where the Dead Sea has been dried out. (b) Thermally driven wind system circulations and resulting divergence/convergence fields are altered preventing in many occasions convection initiation because of the omission of convergence lines.

New insights on sediment provenance in the Dead Sea since the last glacial maximum using grain-size distribution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecile Blanchet ◽  
Hana Jurikova ◽  
Julia Fusco ◽  
Rik Tjallingii ◽  
Markus Schwab ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Size Distribution ◽  
Grain Size Distribution ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Sediment Provenance ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Sedimentary Dynamics ◽  
The Dead

<p>Sedimentary records from the Dead Sea constitute unique paleoclimatic archives that enable investigating the response of environments to climatic changes. Large lake-level fluctuations (>100 m) occurred during the past glacial-interglacial cycles due to reorganizations of the hydroclimatic regime and drastically modified the morphology of the drainage area. We aim here to reconstruct past sedimentary dynamics at times of varying lake level to gain insights into paleoclimate and landscape evolution.</p><p>For this study, we have compared present-day surface sediments (fluvial and soil sediments) retrieved on both the eastern Jordanian and western shores of the present Dead Sea with downcore sediment archives including the ICDP Dead Sea Deep Drilling Program Site 5017-1. Streams originating from various parts of the watershed can be distinguished by their grain-size distribution, with northern and south-western streams having generally finer grain-size modes when compared with streams from the eastern side. We find that all modes identified in the fluvial sediments were present in the ICDP downcore samples from the last deglaciation, when lake levels were up to 250m higher than today. This suggests that the whole watershed contributed to the sediment input at that time. In contrast, Holocene sediments from the deep core and shore deposits are enriched in fluvial particles showing similar grain-size modes as the northern and south-western streams. This suggests that these regions were prime sediment sources during lower lake-level stands. An additional mode, tentatively related to aeolian particles, was also identified in the Holocene samples, pointing to the remobilization of deposited dust in the watershed or to a more arid regional climate.</p><p>Our results provide a first synoptic view on sedimentary dynamics in the Dead Sea watershed and help to relate sediment provenance to the drainage morphology and paleo-hydrological regimes. They constitute a solid basis for further assessment of sedimentary provenance using geochemical indicators.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document