Late Pleistocene invasion of Palaeo-Dead Sea into the lower Zin Valley, the Negev Highlands, Israel

Abstract

Evidence of invasion of Lake Lisan, the Late Pleistocene precursor of the Dead Sea, is revealed within the valley of lower Nahal Zin that runs down to the Dead Sea from the Negev Highlands. The main proof of the invasion is presence of lacustrine sediments that are followed contin- uously along the Lower Zin valley for a distance of 25 km from the coast of the Dead Sea. Extending deep into the interior of the Nahal Zin valley, the lacustrine sediments are included in the terraces at relative heights of 16 and 28-32 m. They overlay alluvial bases of the terraces or interbed in al- luvial deposits. TL dating has demonstrated that age of the lacustrine sediments is of about 30 Ka. TL ages of the de- posits forming the alluvial bases of the terraces, which are covered by the lacustrine sediments, are of 40 to 60 Ka. Oth- erwise Pleistocene lacustrine sediments both in younger and older age are absent in the terrace sections of the Zin valley. The revealed lacustrine sediments are uppermost, known of this kind. They are tapered out at 130 m altitude, and de- posed during the highest stand of Lake Lisan, which is cor- related with the marine isotope stage 2. Other fluctuations in the level of the Dead Sea and its Pleistocene precursors also exerted an influence on the development of the Zin valley. However their evidence occurs only in the Dead Sea tectonic basin except of the deep interior of the valley.