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The late Quaternary limnological history of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Israel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

N. Hazan ,
M. Stein ,
A. Agnon ,
S. Marco ,
D. Nadel ,
J.F.W. Negendank ,
M.J. Schwab  and
D. Neev
N. Hazan
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
M. Stein*
Affiliation:
The Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem 95501, Israel
A. Agnon
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
S. Marco
Affiliation:
Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
D. Nadel
Affiliation:
The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel 31905, Israel
J.F.W. Negendank
Affiliation:
GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, D-14473, Potsdam, Germany
M.J. Schwab
Affiliation:
GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, D-14473, Potsdam, Germany
D. Neev
Affiliation:
The Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem 95501, Israel
*
*Corresponding author. The Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Yisrael Street, 95501, Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail address:motis@vms.huji.ac.il (M. Stein).
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Abstract

The freshwater Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and the hypersaline Dead Sea are remnant lakes, evolved from ancient water bodies that filled the tectonic depressions along the Dead Sea Transform (DST) during the Neogene–Quartenary periods. We reconstructed the limnological history (level and composition) of Lake Kinneret during the past ∼40,000 years and compared it with the history of the contemporaneous Lake Lisan from the aspect of the regional and global climate history. The lake level reconstruction was achieved through a chronological and sedimentological investigation of exposed sedimentary sections in the Kinnarot basin trenches and cores drilled at the Ohalo II archeological site. Shoreline chronology was established by radiocarbon dating of organic remains and of Melanopsis shells.

The major changes in Lake Kinneret level were synchronous with those of the southern Lake Lisan. Both lakes dropped significantly ∼42,000, ∼30,000, 23,800, and 13,000 yr ago and rose ∼39,000, 26,000, 5000, and 1600 yr ago. Between 26,000 and 24,000 yr ago, the lakes merged into a unified water body and lake level achieved its maximum stand of ∼170 m below mean sea level (m bsl). Nevertheless, the fresh and saline water properties of Lake Kinneret and Lake Lisan, respectively, have been preserved throughout the 40,000 years studied. Calcium carbonate was always deposited as calcite in Lake Kinneret and as aragonite in Lake Lisan–Dead Sea, indicating that the Dead Sea brine (which supports aragonite production) never reached or affected Lake Kinneret, even during the period of lake high stand and convergence. The synchronous level fluctuation of lakes Kinneret, Lisan, and the Holocene Dead Sea is consistent with the dominance of the Atlantic–Mediterranean rain system on the catchment of the basin and the regional hydrology. The major drops in Lake Kinneret–Lisan levels coincide with the timing of cold spells in the North Atlantic that caused a shut down of rains in the East Mediterranean and the lakes drainage area.

Keywords

Lake KinneretLake LisanDead SeaQuaternaryGeo-archeology
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , January 2005 , pp. 60 - 77
Copyright
University of Washington

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