The modern and Last Glacial Maximum hydrological cycles of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant from a water isotope perspective

Goldsmith, Yonaton; Polissar, P. J.; Ayalon, Avner; Bar‐Matthews, M.; deMenocal, Peter B; Broecker, W. S.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2016.10.017

Cited by 46 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…We used the weighted average isotopic composition of rainfall from Goldsmith et al (; see paragraph 3.3) and added an additional site (Har Canaan) from the WISER database (http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/ih/IHS_resources_isohis.html, accessed September 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eastern Mediterranean and study sites (bottom right). Correlation between annual rainfall and the δD r , black line and r 2 are only Mediterranean sites (from Goldsmith et al, ), and gray dashed line and r 2 are all sites (top right).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biogeosciencesconverts the values to VSMOW or VPDB scales, and calculates the total uncertainty of the measurements including both analytical uncertainty and the uncertainty associated with realizing the VSMOW and VPDB scales. We used the weighted average isotopic composition of rainfall fromGoldsmith et al (2017; see paragraph 3.3) and added an additional site (Har Canaan) from the WISER database (http://www-naweb.iaea.org/ napc/ih/IHS_resources_isohis.html, accessed September 2015). Average annual rainfall data (1981-2010) were acquired from the Israel Meteorological Service (http://www.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Leaf Wax δD and δ¹³C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel

et al. 2019

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The hydrogen (δDwax) and carbon (δ13Cwax) isotope compositions of long‐chain alkanes derived from plant waxes record hydrological and environmental conditions. However, the integration of plant n‐alkanes into the sedimentary cycle, the variability of δDwax and δ13Cwax in soils, and the paleoclimate applicability in paleosols and archaeological sediments are poorly constrained. We sampled plants and soils across a steep climate transect in Israel to understand how plant type and environmental parameters shape δ13Cwax and δDwax. This transect has three advantages: existence of long‐term precipitation isotopic composition (δDr) records, a single wet season potentially reduces variability due to seasonality, and abandoned Byzantine period (~300–600 AD) agricultural terraces that reduce modern and ancient soil mixing and provide age constraints. We find that soil δ13Cwax is constant (0.4‰, 1σ) across a 500‐ to 1,300‐mm/year rainfall gradient and appears insensitive to rainfall amount, unlike bulk plant δ13C. The absence of a rainfall effect suggests that δ13Cwax may be better suited to reconstructing C3/C4 plant ratios than bulk δ13C. Homologue average soil δDwax significantly correlate with δDr, and the offset between δDr and soil δDwax (εapp) correlates with growing season relative humidity. The seasonality of leaf production accounted for at most ~10% of total plant δDwax variability. Lastly, soil δDwax and δ13Cwax variability is reduced by ~80% relative to plant δDwax and δ13Cwax variability. Our results show that soil δDwax and δ13Cwax faithfully record δDr and landscape C3‐C4 plant contributions and thus support the utility of these proxy data in paleosols and archaeological sites.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Leaf Wax δD and δ¹³C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel

et al. 2019

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“…Marine-based evidence offers a coherent model in which changes in the spatial distribution of insolation alter atmospheric circulation on orbital timescales (10 4 to 10 5 years) and force major reorganisations of rainfall in semiarid regions such as the Sahel and southern Saharan regions Goldsmith et al, 2017). This result is at least partially confirmed in climate modelling experiments (Tuenter et al, 2003;Bosmans et al, 2015) and provides a conceptual framework in which fragmentary evidence of hydrological change on the adjacent continent can be understood (Rowan et al, 2000).…”

Section: Past Changes In North African Hydroclimatementioning

confidence: 76%

“…North Africa is a region that fully exhibits these limitations, and large areas present either no pre-Holocene record or else they present highly discontinuous deposits indicating major reorganisation of the hydroclimate, which are challenging to date (Armitage et al, 2007). North Africa also fully exhibits the progress palaeoclimatologists have made in understanding continental hydrological change from its impact on the marine system; our understanding of past North African hydroclimate is disproportionately drawn from records from the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern central Atlantic (deMenocal et al, 2000;Adkins et al, 2006;Goldsmith et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response to Reviewer 1

Rogerson¹

2019

Preprint

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We report a new fluid inclusion dataset from northeastern Libyan speleothem SC-06-01, which is the largest speleothem fluid inclusion dataset for North Africa to date. The stalagmite was sampled in Susah Cave, a lowaltitude coastal site, in Cyrenaica, on the northern slope of the Jebel Al-Akhdar. Speleothem fluid inclusions from the latest Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 and throughout MIS 3 ( ∼ 67 to ∼ 30 kyr BP) confirm the hypothesis that past humid periods in this region reflect westerly rainfall advected through the Atlantic storm track. However, most of this moisture was sourced from the western Mediterranean, with little direct admixture of water evaporated from the Atlantic. Moreover, we identify a second moisture source likely associated with enhanced convective rainfall within the eastern Mediterranean. The relative importance of the western and eastern moisture sources seems to differ between the humid phases recorded in SC-06-01. During humid phases forced by precession, fluid inclusions record compositions consistent with both sources, but the 52.5-50.5 kyr interval forced by obliquity reveals only a western source. This is a key result, showing that although the amount of atmospheric moisture advections changes, the structure of the atmospheric circulation over the Mediterranean does not fundamentally change during orbital cycles. Consequently, an arid belt must have been retained between the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the midlatitude winter storm corridor during MIS 3 pluvials.Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.

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The Quaternary Climate of Israel

Torfstein

2024

World Geomorphological Landscapes

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The modern and Last Glacial Maximum hydrological cycles of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant from a water isotope perspective

Cited by 46 publications

References 34 publications

Leaf Wax δD and δ¹³C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel

Leaf Wax δD and δ¹³C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel

Response to Reviewer 1

The Quaternary Climate of Israel

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The modern and Last Glacial Maximum hydrological cycles of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant from a water isotope perspective

Cited by 46 publications

References 34 publications

Leaf Wax δD and δ13C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel

Leaf Wax δD and δ13C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel

Response to Reviewer 1

The Quaternary Climate of Israel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Leaf Wax δD and δ¹³C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel

Leaf Wax δD and δ¹³C in Soils Record Hydrological and Environmental Information Across a Climatic Gradient in Israel