Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-wlg5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T03:03:39.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rainfall in the Negev Desert during the Middle Holocene, Based on 13C of Organic Matter in Land Snail Shells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Glenn A. Goodfriend
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Analysis of stable carbon isotope ratios (13C/12C) of organic matter in land snail shells is used to infer middle Holocene rainfall amounts in the Negev Desert by reconstructing the distribution of C4 plants in the family Chenopodiaceae. The organics are derived from the diet of the snails, which consists of plant material, and are enriched in 13C where C4 plants are present. A survey of modern plant communities indicates that in areas receiving ≥300 mm mean annual rainfall, nearly all plant communities consist of C3 species only (no C4 chenopodes), whereas in areas under ≤230 mm rainfall, most plant communities contain one or more C4 chenopode species. In between is a transition zone consisting of a mosaic of both pure C3 and mixed C3 + C4 plant communities. Isotopic results for fossil land snails indicate a consistent geographic pattern throughout the middle Holocene, from ca. 6500 to 3000 yr B.P., with the transition zone located ca. 20 km south of its present position. This implies a near doubling of rainfall within this region as compared to present.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , September 1990 , pp. 186 - 197
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Baruch, U., (1986). The late Holocene vegetational history of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Israel Paléorient 12 37–48 Google Scholar
Begin, Z.B. Broecker, W. Buchbinder, B. Druckman, Y. Kaufman, A. Magaritz, M. Neev, D., (1985). Dead Sea and Lake Lisan levels in the last 30,000 years: A preliminary report Reports of the Geological Survey of Israel 29/85 1–18 Google Scholar
Bruins, H.J. Yaalon, D.H., (1979). Stratigraphy of the Netivot section in the desert loess of the Negev (Israel) Acta Geologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 22 161–169 Google Scholar
Carmi, I. Gat, J.R. Stiller, M., (1984). Tritium in the Dead Sea Earth and Planetary Science Letters 71 377–389 Google Scholar
Cohen, R., (1985). Archeological Survey of Israel. Map of Sede-Boqer—West (167) 12-03 Department of Antiquities and Museums Jerusalem Google Scholar
Danin, A., (1983). Desert Vegetation of Israel and Sinai Cana, Jerusalem Google Scholar
Danin, A., (1986). Patterns of biogenic weathering as indicators of paleoclimates in Israel Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 89B 243–253 Google Scholar
Dorn, R.I. DeNiro, M.J., (1985). Stable carbon isotope ratios of rock varnish organic matter: A new paleoenvironmental indicator Science 227 1472–1474 Google Scholar
Goldberg, P. Bar-Yosef, O., (1982). Environmental and archeological evidence for climatic change in the Southern Levant Bintliff, J.L. van Zeist, W. Palaeoclimates, Palaeoenvironments and Human Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in Later Prehistory British Archaeological Reports International Series 399–414 (no. 133), Oxford Google Scholar
Goodfriend, G.A., (1987). Chronostratigraphic studies of sediments in the Negev Desert, using amino acid epimerization analysis of land snail shells Quaternary Research 28 374–392 Google Scholar
Goodfriend, G.A., (1987). Evaluation of amino-acid racemization/epimerization dating using radiocarbon-dated fossil land snails Geology 15 698–700 Google Scholar
Goodfriend, G.A., (1987). Radiocarbon age anomalies in shell carbonate of land snails from semi-arid areas Radiocarbon 29 159–167 Google Scholar
Goodfriend, G.A., (1988). Mid-Holocene rainfall in the Negev Desert from 13C of land snail shell organic matter Nature (London) 333 757–760 Google Scholar
Goodfriend, G.A. Magaritz, M. Carmi, I., (1986). A high stand of the Dead Sea at the end of the Neolithic period: Paleoclimatic and archeological implications Climatic Change 9 349–356 Google Scholar
Goodfriend, G.A. Stipp, J.J., (1983). Limestone and the problem of radiocarbon dating of land-snail shell carbonate Geology 11 575–577 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hare, P.E. Abelson, P.H., (1965). Amino acid composition of some calcified proteins Yearbook of the Carnegie Institution of Washington 64 223–232 Google Scholar
Horowitz, A., (1979). The Quaternary of Israel Academic Press New York Google Scholar
Israel Meteorological Service 2nd ed. Map of Average Annual Rainfall (1977). Israel Meteorological Service Bet Dagan Google Scholar
Krishnamurthy, R.V. DeNiro, M.J. Pant, R.K., (1982). Isotopic evidence for Pleistocene climatic changes in Kashmir, India Nature (London) 298 640–641 Google Scholar
Lowenstam, H.A. Weiner, S., (1989). On Biomineralization Oxford Univ. Press Oxford Google Scholar
Magaritz, M. Goodfriend, G.A., (1987). Movement of the desert boundary in the Levant from latest Pleistocene to early Holocene Berger, W.H. Labeyrie, L.D. Abrupt Climatic Change: Evidence and Implications Reidel Dordrecht 173–183 Google Scholar
Poulicek, M., (1982). Coquilles et Autres Structures Squelettiques des Mollusques: Composition Chimique, Biomasse et Biodégredation en Milieu Marin Thesis Université de Liège Google Scholar
Shomer-Ilan, A. Nissenbaum, A. Waisel, Y., (1981). Photosynthetic pathways and the ecological distribution of the Chenopodiaceae in Israel Oecologia 48 244–248 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. Burk, R.L. Quay, P.D., (1984). 13C/12C ratios in tree rings and the transfer of biospheric carbon to the atmosphere Journal of Geophysical Research 89 11,731–11,748 Google Scholar
Teeri, J.A., (1979). The climatology of the C4 photosynthetic pathway Solbrig, O.T. et al. Topics in Plant Population Biology Columbia Univ. Press New York 356–374 Google Scholar
Teeri, J.A. Stowe, L.G., (1976). Climatic patterns and the distribution of C4 grasses in North America Oecologia 23 1–12 Google Scholar
Thompson, R. Turner, G.M. Stiller, M. Kaufman, A., (1985). Near East paleomagnetic secular variation recorded in sediments from the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) Quaternary Research 23 175–188 Google Scholar
van Zeist, W. Bottema, S., (1982). Vegetational history of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East during the last 20,000 years Bintliff, J.L. van Zeist, W. Palaeoclimates, Palaeoenvironments and Human Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in Later Prehistory British Archaeological Reports International Series 277–303 (no. 133), Oxford Google Scholar
Vogel, J.C., (1983). Isotopic evidence for the past climates and vegetation of southern Africa Bothalia 14 391–394 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogel, J.C. Fuls, A. Danin, A., (1986). Geographical and environmental distribution of C3 and C4 grasses in the Sinai, Negev, and Judean Deserts Oecologia 70 258–265 Google Scholar
Weinstein, J.M., (1984). Radiocarbon dating in the southern Levant Radiocarbon 26 297–366 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, K., (1981). C4 plants of high biomass in arid regions of Asia—Occurrence of C4 photosynthesis in Chenopodiaceae and Polygonaceae from the Middle East and USSR Oecologia 48 100–106 Google Scholar
Ziegler, H. Batanouny, K.H. Sankhla, N. Vyas, O.P. Stichler, W., (1981). The photosynthetic pathway types of some desert plants from India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iraq Oecologia 48 93–99 Google Scholar