Controls on aggradation and incision in the NE Negev, Israel, since the middle Pleistocene

Matmon, Ari; Elfassi, S.; Hidy, Alan J.; Geller, Yona; Porat, Naomi

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.02.020

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…at the center of the region, and from past fluvial changes in the region's numerous streams (e.g., Matmon et al 2016;Davis et al 2009). In this regard, we are searching for the synoptic-scale patterns that can contribute to these floods or scenarios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates

Armon

Dente

Smith

et al. 2018

Journal of Hydrometeorology

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Rainfall in the Levant drylands is scarce but can potentially generate high-magnitude flash floods. Rainstorms are caused by distinct synoptic-scale circulation patterns: Mediterranean cyclone (MC), active Red Sea trough (ARST), and subtropical jet stream (STJ) disturbances, also termed tropical plumes (TPs). The unique spatiotemporal characteristics of rainstorms and floods for each circulation pattern were identified. Meteorological reanalyses, quantitative precipitation estimates from weather radars, hydrological data, and indicators of geomorphic changes from remote sensing imagery were used to characterize the chain of hydrometeorological processes leading to distinct flood patterns in the region. Significant differences in the hydrometeorology of these three flood-producing synoptic systems were identified: MC storms draw moisture from the Mediterranean and generate moderate rainfall in the northern part of the region. ARST and TP storms transfer large amounts of moisture from the south, which is converted to rainfall in the hyperarid southernmost parts of the Levant. ARST rainfall is local and intense, whereas TP rainfall is widespread and prolonged due to high precipitation efficiency and large-scale forcing. Thus, TP rainfall generates high-magnitude floods in the largest catchments; integration of numerous basins leads to sediment feeding from the south into the Dead Sea, exhibited in large sediment plumes. Anecdotal observations of the channel with the largest catchment in the region (Nahal HaArava) indicate that TP floods account for noticeable geomorphic changes in the channel. It provides insights into past intervals of increased flash flood frequency characterized by episodes of marked hydrogeomorphic work; such an increase is especially expected during intervals of southerly situated and southwesterly oriented STJs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates

Armon

Dente

Smith

et al. 2018

Journal of Hydrometeorology

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“…we can only use the few samples collected there previously. However, we will now include in the manuscript data from several previous studies of modern erosion rates from locations across the Negev Desert, demonstrating the reported erosion rates are representative of this region (e.g., Boroda et al, 2014;Fruchter et al, 2011;Matmon et al, 2009;Matmon and Zilberman, 2016;Matmon et al, 2016).…”

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confidence: 80%

Response to Anonymous Referee #2

Ben-Israel¹

2019

Preprint

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We thank reviewer #2 for her/his time and for the constructive and helpful comments. We will incorporate many of the suggested changes and modify the manuscript to address the concerns raised. Generally, there were three major comments made, some of which were similarly made by the first reviewer (Taylor Schildgen) and we include our responses to these concerns below. The first comment is regarding the small number of modern samples analyzed. As the first reviewer made a similar point, I include here the answer given there. Unfortunately, the source area for chert nodules is very difficult to currently access and therefore C1 ESurfD Interactive comment

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“…Previous studies discussed the ability of climate change to alter sediment supply (e.g., Coulthard, Kirkby, & Macklin, 2000; Molnar, 2001; Molnar et al , 2006; Pelletier, 2014), channel geometry (e.g., Buffington, 2012; Wobus, Tucker, & Anderson, 2010), and alternate between incision and aggradation phases (e.g., Matmon et al , 2016; Slater & Singer, 2013). There were proposals that millennial‐scale episodes of alluvial fan formation in arid regions are driven by changes from relatively wetter to drier climates (e.g., Bull, 1991; Bull & Schick, 1979; Harvey & Wells, 2003; Harvey, Wigand, & Wells, 1999; Miller et al, 2010; Wells, McFadden, & Dohrenwend, 1987).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flood‐duration‐integrated stream power and frequency magnitude of >50‐year‐long sediment discharge out of a hyperarid watershed

Lekach

Enzel

2021

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Determining sediment discharge out of watersheds is a global, long‐term challenge. In the vast, usually data‐poor, hyperarid regions of the world, this is a greater challenge. Here, we present a unique, decades‐long dataset of individual floods and their respective sediment discharge out of Nahal Yael, an experimental, well‐instrumented, hyperarid (~25–30 mm year−1) watershed in southern Israel. The high correlation between directly measured sediment yield by discrete individual floods and their respective total energy, represented by flood‐integrated stream power (FISP), serves here as a rating curve. Using this rating curve, the 51‐year‐long series of FISP in Nahal Yael, calculated from the detailed individual flood hydrographs, was converted into a series of sediment yield by these floods. This, in turn, allows determining the long‐term frequency‐magnitude of sediment exported out of this hyperarid basin. This can assist in landscape evolution modeling, in testing impacts of flood frequency changes enforced by altered regional climatology, and hint at changes needed in forming the observed alluvial fans. We conclude that, at the decadal scale, moderate floods are the most effective in terms of total sediment transport. However, the recurrence intervals of these moderate hyperarid floods are longer than in temperate regions and reach 5–10 years.

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Controls on aggradation and incision in the NE Negev, Israel, since the middle Pleistocene

Abstract: cited By 0International audienceno abstrac

Cited by 12 publications

References 39 publications

Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates

Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates

Response to Anonymous Referee #2

Flood‐duration‐integrated stream power and frequency magnitude of >50‐year‐long sediment discharge out of a hyperarid watershed

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