Abstract
Abstract. The new sediment record from the deep Dead Sea basin (ICDP core 5017-1) provides a unique archive for hydroclimatic variability in the Levant. Here, we present high-resolution sediment facies analysis and elemental composition by micro-X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) scanning of core 5017-1 to trace lake levels and responses of the regional hydroclimatology during the time interval from ca. 117 to 75 ka, i.e. the transition between the last interglacial and the onset of the last glaciation. We distinguished six major micro-facies types and interpreted these and their alterations in the core in terms of relative lake level changes. The two end-member facies for highest and lowest lake levels are (a) up to several metres thick, greenish sediments of alternating aragonite and detrital marl laminae (aad) and (b) thick halite facies, respectively. Intermediate lake levels are characterised by detrital marls with varying amounts of aragonite, gypsum or halite, reflecting lower-amplitude, shorter-term variability. Two intervals of pronounced lake level drops occurred at ∼ 110–108 ± 5 and ∼ 93–87 ± 7 ka. They likely coincide with stadial conditions in the central Mediterranean (Melisey I and II pollen zones in Monticchio) and low global sea levels during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5d and 5b. However, our data do not support the current hypothesis of an almost complete desiccation of the Dead Sea during the earlier of these lake level low stands based on a recovered gravel layer. Based on new petrographic analyses, we propose that, although it was a low stand, this well-sorted gravel layer may be a vestige of a thick turbidite that has been washed out during drilling rather than an in situ beach deposit. Two intervals of higher lake stands at ∼ 108–93 ± 6 and ∼ 87–75 ± 7 ka correspond to interstadial conditions in the central Mediterranean, i.e. pollen zones St. Germain I and II in Monticchio, and Greenland interstadials (GI) 24+23 and 21 in Greenland, as well as to sapropels S4 and S3 in the Mediterranean Sea. These apparent correlations suggest a close link of the climate in the Levant to North Atlantic and Mediterranean climates during the time of the build-up of Northern Hemisphere ice shields in the early last glacial period.
Highlights
The Dead Sea and its Pleistocene precursor lakes Amora, Samra and Lisan (e.g. Bartov et al, 2003; Torfstein et al, 2009; Waldmann et al, 2009) experienced major lake level fluctuations in the past as a sensitive response to changing hydroclimatic conditions in the lake’s watershed (e.g. Enzel et al, 2008)
The last glacial Lake Lisan, which occupied the Dead Sea basin between ∼ 70 and 14 ka, reached up to ∼ 270 m higher lake stands than the Holocene Dead Sea and the last interglacial Lake Samra (e.g. Bartov et al, 2002, 2007; Waldmann et al, 2007; Torfstein et al, 2013)
Cubic halite crystals ranging in length from ∼ 1 mm to several centimetres are either embedded in predominantly detrital marl or build thick deposits
Summary
The Dead Sea and its Pleistocene precursor lakes Amora, Samra and Lisan (e.g. Bartov et al, 2003; Torfstein et al, 2009; Waldmann et al, 2009) experienced major lake level fluctuations in the past as a sensitive response to changing hydroclimatic conditions in the lake’s watershed (e.g. Enzel et al, 2008). Bartov et al, 2003; Torfstein et al, 2009; Waldmann et al, 2009) experienced major lake level fluctuations in the past as a sensitive response to changing hydroclimatic conditions in the lake’s watershed (e.g. Enzel et al, 2008). The main lake level rise at the transition from Lake Samra to Lake Lisan was assumed from a sedimentological change from sand deposits to sediments of alternating fine laminae of aragonite and detritus at a major unconformity ∼ 75–70 ka (e.g. Waldmann et al, 2009; Torfstein et al, 2013). The early glacial time interval between the last interglacial low stand (Lake Samra) and the full glacial high stand (Lake Lisan), i.e. coinciding with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5d to 5a, is not well represented in the exposed sediments (Waldmann et al, 2009)
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