Description: The rain regime of the Levant during the late Quaternary was controlled primarily by Mediterranean cyclonic systems associated with North Atlantic climate shifts. Lake levels in the Dead Sea basin have been robust recorders of the regional hydrology and generally indicate highstand (wet) conditions throughout glacial intervals and lowstands (dry) during interglacials. However, sporadic deposition of travertines and speleothems occurred in the Negev Desert and Arava Valley during past interglacials, suggesting intrusions of humidity from southern sources probably in association with enhanced activity of mid-latitude Red Sea synoptic troughs and/or low-latitude tropical plumes. The southerly incursions of wetness were superimposed on the long-term interglacial Levantine arid conditions, as reflected by the current prevailing hyperaridity, and could have had an important impact on human migra- tion through the Red Sea-Dead Sea corridor.

Description: Recent advances in the chronology and the palaeoclimatic understanding of Antarctic ice core records point towards a larger heterogeneity of latitudinal climate fluctuations than previously thought. Thus, realistic palaeoclimate reconstructions rely in the development of a tight array of well-constrained records with a dense latitudinal coverage. Climatic records from southernmost South America are critical cornerstones to link these Antarctic palaeoclimatic archives with their South American counterparts. At 54° S on the Island of Tierra del Fuego, Lago Fagnano is located in one of the most substantially and extensively glaciated regions of southernmost South America during the Late Pleistocene. This elongated lake is the largest (~110km long) and non-ice covered lake at high southern latitudes. A multi-proxy study of selected cores allows the characterisation of a Holocene sedimentary record. Detailed petrophysical, sedimentological and geochemical studies of a complete lacustrine laminated sequence reveal variations in major and trace elements, as well as organic content, suggesting high variability in environmental conditions. Comparison of these results with other regional records allows the identification of major known late Holocene climatic intervals and the proposal for a time for the onset of the Southern Westerlies in Tierra del Fuego. These results improve our understanding of the forcing mechanisms behind climate change in southernmost Patagonia.

Description: Laminated lake sediments from the Dead Sea basin provide high-resolution records of climatic variability in the eastern Mediterranean region, which is especially sensitive to changing climatic conditions. In this study, we aim on detailed reconstruction of climatic fluctuations and related changes in the frequency of flood and dust deposition events at ca. 3300 and especially at 2800 cal. yr BP from high-resolution sediment records of the Dead Sea basin. A ca. 4-m-thick, mostly varved sediment section from the western margin of the Dead Sea (DSEn - Ein Gedi profile) was analysed and correlated to the new International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project core 5017-1 from the deep basin. To detect even single event layers, we applied a multi-proxy approach of high-resolution microscopic thin section analyses, micro-X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) element scanning and magnetic susceptibility measurements, supported by grain size data and palynological analyses. Based on radiocarbon and varve dating, two pronounced dry periods were detected at ~3500-3300 and ~3000-2400 cal. yr BP which are differently expressed in the sediment records. In the shallow-water core (DSEn), the older dry period is characterised by a thick sand deposit, whereas the sedimentological change at 2800 cal. yr BP is less pronounced and characterised mainly by an enhanced frequency of coarse detrital layers interpreted as erosion events. In the 5017-1 deep-basin core, both dry periods are depicted by halite deposits. The onset of the younger dry period coincides with the Homeric Grand Solar Minimum at ca. 2800 cal. yr BP. Our results suggest that during this period, the Dead Sea region experienced an overall dry climate, superimposed by an increased occurrence of flash floods caused by a change in synoptic weather patterns.

Description: During 2010-2011, the ICDP recovered a 457 m long Core 5017-1 from ~300 m of water depth in the center of the Dead Sea. The cored sequence is characterized by alternating laminae of white aragonite and dark detritus (aad), gypsum, and halite. U-Th and 14C dating constrain the age of the core to 220-0 ka. The surface of the archived half of the core was scanned with the ITRAX core scanner at a resolution of 1 mm, an exposure time of 1 s, and a Chromium tube at 30 kV voltage and 30 mA current at the GFZ. Here we use the XRF data (Ca and Ti) characterizing the features of seismites and non-seismic induced deposits (gypsum, halite, mud, and aragonite-detritus laminae) from the Dead Sea center. This high-resolution dataset allows us to get a better understanding of seismogenic sedimentary processes in the Quaternary Dead Sea.

Description: The 457 m-long core was drilled from the Dead Sea depocenter during 2010-2011. It covers the past 220 kyr and its age model is built on a combination of 14C and U-Th dating, and δ18O stratigraphy correlation. The recovered sequence comprises seven basic facies which can be classified into four groups, (I) evaporites and related facies: halite, gypsum, and aragonite-detritus laminae (including in situ deformed ones), (II) slump facies, (III) debrite facies and graded turbidite facies, and (IV) homogeneous mud. The different deposits are identified through their grain size, magnetic susceptibility, and chemical features. The units of homogeneous mud are composed of clay-fine silts without graded bedding. They are showing only relatively small variations in grain size, magnetic susceptibility, Ti and Ca. In contrast, the lower parts of graded turbidites are made up of coarse silts-fine sands and exhibit upward-decreasing particle size, increasing magnetic susceptibility and Ti, and large variations in Ca from bottom to top. Low content of Ti and Ca, and small values in magnetic susceptibility characterize debrites that are composed of coarse sands and are predominantly ungraded. Homogeneous muds are frequent and thick during interglacials, and less frequent and thinner during glacials. Graded turbidites are frequent but thin during interglacials, and less frequent but thicker during glacials. The fraction of homogeneous mud during interglacials is much higher than during glacials. In addition, the fraction of turbidites and debrites during glacials is much higher than during interglacials. Furthermore, during individual interglacials, the thickness fraction of homogeneous mud is one to ten times higher than turbidites and debrites. In contrast, during individual glacials, the fraction of turbidites and debrites is one to two times as much as homogeneous mud. The dataset reveals (1) overflows are more prominent during interglacials, while underflows are more prominent during glacials; (2) orbital-scale climate changes affected the intensity-frequency of the flows via changing salinity and density of lake brine, lake-level, and source materials.