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9 - Palaeoenvironmental and limnological reconstruction of Lake Lisan and the Dead Sea

from Part II - The palaeoenvironmental record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2011

By
Stuart Black ,
Stuart Robinson ,
Richard Fitton ,
Rachel Goodship ,
Claire Rambeau  and
Bruce Sellwood
Edited by
Steven Mithen  and
Emily Black
Stuart Black
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Stuart Robinson
Affiliation:
University College London
Richard Fitton
Affiliation:
Talisman Energy Inc.
Rachel Goodship
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Claire Rambeau
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Bruce Sellwood
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Steven Mithen
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Emily Black
Affiliation:
University of Reading
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Summary

ABSTRACT

Lake Lisan existed between 75 and 14 ka BP and provides a unique opportunity for investigating climate change for the southern Levant region. The exposures of Lake Lisan deposits on the eastern shores of the current Dead Sea have received limited study in comparison to the western shores. Here we present new U-series and elevation data for a sequence of Lisan deposits ranging between 25 and 8 ka BP. The data show an elevation–age record consistent with previously published data while providing new information about the extent of decrease in lake levels in the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene. All dates cited in this chapter are calibrated; those that were uncalibrated in their original publications were calibrated using the online OxCAL program.

INTRODUCTION

Lake Lisan existed from approximately 70 to 15 cal ka BP (see Kaufman, 1971, Kaufman et al., 1992, Schramm et al., 2000; Hasse-Schramm et al., 2004 and references therein) and extended up to 200 km along the Dead Sea Transform at its highest levels (Hazan et al., 2005; Chapter 6, this volume; Figures 9.1, 9.2). During its history, the lake fluctuated between highstands of 165–180 mbsl (metres below sea level) and lowstands of perhaps as much as 700 mbsl (Chapter 6, this volume; Begin et al., 1985, Bartov et al., 2002).

Type
Chapter
Information
Water, Life and Civilisation
Climate, Environment and Society in the Jordan Valley
 , pp. 113 - 128
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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