Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T09:08:00.815Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Increased frequency of torrential rainstorms during a regional late Holocene eastern Mediterranean drought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2018

Marieke Ahlborn ,
Moshe Armon ,
Yoav Ben Dor ,
Ina Neugebauer ,
Markus J. Schwab ,
Rik Tjallingii ,
Jawad Hasan Shoqeir ,
Efrat Morin ,
Yehouda Enzel  and
Achim Brauer
Marieke Ahlborn*
Affiliation:
Section 5.2: Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
Moshe Armon
Affiliation:
The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Edmond J. Safra Campus – Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
Yoav Ben Dor
Affiliation:
The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Edmond J. Safra Campus – Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
Ina Neugebauer
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Rue des Maraîchers 13, CH-1205 Genève, Switzerland
Markus J. Schwab
Affiliation:
Section 5.2: Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
Rik Tjallingii
Affiliation:
Section 5.2: Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
Jawad Hasan Shoqeir
Affiliation:
Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, Al-Quds University, Abu-Dis, P.O. Box: 89, Jerusalem, Palestine
Efrat Morin
Affiliation:
The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Edmond J. Safra Campus – Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Edmond J. Safra Campus – Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
Achim Brauer
Affiliation:
Section 5.2: Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
*
* Corresponding author at: Section 5.2: Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany. E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Ahlborn).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Identifying climates favoring extreme weather phenomena is a primary aim of paleoclimate and paleohydrological research. Here, we present a well-dated, late Holocene Dead Sea sediment record of debris flows covering 3.3 to 1.9 cal ka BP. Twenty-three graded layers deposited in shallow waters near the western Dead Sea shore were identified by microfacies analysis. These layers represent distal subaquatic deposits of debris flows triggered by torrential rainstorms over the adjacent western Dead Sea escarpment. Modern debris flows on this escarpment are induced by rare rainstorms with intensities exceeding >30 mm h−1 for at least one hour and originate primarily from the Active Red Sea Trough synoptic pattern. The observed late Holocene clustering of such debris flows during a regional drought indicates an increased influence of Active Red Sea Troughs resulting from a shift in synoptic atmospheric circulation patterns. This shift likely decreased the passages of eastern Mediterranean cyclones, leading to drier conditions, but favored rainstorms triggered by the Active Red Sea Trough. This is in accord with present-day meteorological data showing an increased frequency of torrential rainstorms in regions of drier climate. Hence, this study provides conclusive evidence for a shift in synoptic atmospheric circulation patterns during a late Holocene drought.

Keywords

Dead SeaHoloceneLake sedimentsDroughtDebris flowsFloodsActive Red Sea TroughMediterranean cyclonesLevantPaleoclimate
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 89 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 425 - 431
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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.)

References

REFERENCES

Alpert, P., Ben-Gai, T., Baharad, A., et al., 2002. The paradoxical increase of Mediterranean extreme daily rainfall in spite of decrease in total values. Geophysical Research Letters 29, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alpert, P., Krichak, S.O., Shafir, H., Haim, D., Osetinsky, I., 2008. Climatic trends to extremes employing regional modeling and statistical interpretation over the E. Mediterranean. Global and Planetary Change 63, 163–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amit, R., Enzel, Y., Grodek, T., Crouvi, O., Porat, N., Ayalon, A., 2010. The role of rare rainstorms in the formation of calcic soil horizons on alluvial surfaces in extreme deserts. Quaternary Research 74, 177–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amit, R., Enzel, Y., Sharon, D., 2006. Permanent Quaternary hyperaridity in the Negev, Israel, resulting from regional tectonics blocking Mediterranean frontal systems. Geology 34, 509–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashbel, D., 1938. Great floods in Sinai Peninsula, Palestine, Syria and the Syrian desert, and the influence of the Red Sea on their formation. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 64, 635–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartov, Y., Bookman, R., Enzel, Y., 2006. Current depositional environments at the Dead Sea margins as indicators of past lake levels. In: Enzel, Y., Agnon, A., Stein, M. (Eds.), New Frontiers in Dead Sea Paleoenvironmental Research. Geological Society of America Special Papers 401, Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 127–140.Google Scholar
Ben David-Novak, H., Morin, E., Enzel, Y., 2004. Modern extreme storms and the rainfall thresholds for initiating debris flows on the hyperarid western escarpment of the Dead Sea, Israel. Geological Society of America Bulletin 116, 718–728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, E., 2009. The impact of climate change on daily precipitation statistics in Jordan and Israel. Atmospheric Science Letters 10, 192–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bookman, R., Enzel, Y., Agnon, A., Stein, M., 2004. Late Holocene lake levels of the Dead Sea. Geological Society of America Bulletin 116, 555–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brauer, A., Casanova, J., 2001. Chronology and depositional processes of the laminated sediment record from Lac d’Annecy, French Alps. Journal of Paleolimnology 25, 163–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C., 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51, 337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dayan, U., Morin, E., 2006. Flash flood-producing rainstorms over the Dead Sea: a review. In: Enzel, Y., Agnon, A., Stein, M. (Eds.), New Frontiers in Dead Sea Paleoenvironmental Research. Geological Society of America Special Papers 401, Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 53–62.Google Scholar
De Vries, A.J., Tyrlis, E., Edry, D., Krichak, S.O., Steil, B., Lelieveld, J., 2013. Extreme precipitation events in the Middle East: dynamics of the Active Red Sea Trough. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 118, 7087–7108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dee, D.P., Uppala, S.M., Simmons, A.J., Berrisford, P., Poli, P., Kobayashi, S., Andrae, U., et al., 2011. The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 137, 553–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enzel, Y., Bookman, R., Sharon, D., Gvirtzman, H., Dayan, U., Ziv, B., Stein, M., 2003. Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modern regional winter rainfall. Quaternary Research 60, 263–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenbaum, N., Ben-Zvi, A., Haviv, I., Enzel, Y., 2006. The hydrology and paleohydrology of the Dead Sea tributaries. In: Enzel, Y., Agnon, A., Stein, M. (Eds.), New Frontiers in Dead Sea Paleoenvironmental Research. Geological Society of America Special Papers 401. Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 63–93.Google Scholar
Hall, J.K., 2008. The 25-m DTM (Digital Terrain Model) of Israel. Israel Journal of Earth Sciences 57, 145–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahana, R., Ziv, B., Enzel, Y., Dayan, U., 2002. Synoptic climatology of major floods in the Negev Desert, Israel. International Journal of Climatology 22, 867–882.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kushnir, Y., Dayan, U., Ziv, B., Morin, E., Enzel, Y., 2017. Climate of the Levant: Phenomena and Mechanisms. In: Enzel, Y., Bar-Yosef, O. (Eds.), Quaternary of the Levant: Environments, Climate Change, and Humans. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 672.Google Scholar
Lensky, N., Dente, E., 2015. The causes for the accelerated dead sea level decline in the last decades. Report GSI/16/2015. Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem. p. 25.Google Scholar
Litt, T., Ohlwein, C., Neumann, F.H., Hense, A., Stein, M., 2012. Holocene climate variability in the Levant from the Dead Sea pollen record. Quaternary Science Reviews 49, 95–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
López-Merino, L., Leroy, S.A.G., Eshel, A., Epshtein, V., Belmaker, R., Bookman, R., 2016. Using palynology to re-assess the Dead Sea laminated sediments – indeed varves? Quaternary Science Reviews 140, 49–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Migowski, C., 2001. Untersuchungen laminierter Sedimente holozäner Sedimente aus dem Toten Meer. Scientific technical report STR02/06. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam. p. 99.Google Scholar
Migowski, C., Agnon, A., Bookman, R., Negendank, J.F.W., Stein, M., 2004. Recurrence pattern of Holocene earthquakes along the Dead Sea transform revealed by varve-counting and radiocarbon dating of lacustrine sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 222, 301–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Migowski, C., Stein, M., Prasad, S., Negendank, J.F.W., Agnon, A., 2006. Holocene climate variability and cultural evolution in the Near East from the Dead Sea sedimentary record. Quaternary Research 66, 421–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulder, T., Alexander, J., 2001. The physical character of subaqueous sedimentary density flows and their deposits. Sedimentology 48, 269–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nehorai, R., Lensky, I.M., Hochman, L., Gertman, I., Brenner, S., Muskin, A., Lensky, N.G., 2013. Satellite observations of turbidity in the Dead Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 118, 3146–3160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neugebauer, I., Brauer, A., Schwab, M.J., et al., 2015. Evidences for centennial dry periods at ~3300 and ~2800 cal. yr BP from micro-facies analyses of the Dead Sea sediments. The Holocene 25, 1358–1371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neumann, F.H., Kagan, E.J., Schwab, M.J., Stein, M., 2007. Palynology, sedimentology and palaeoecology of the late Holocene Dead Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews 26, 1476–1498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orlowsky, B., Seneviratne, S.I., 2012. Global changes in extreme events: regional and seasonal dimension. Climatic Change 110, 669–696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peleg, N., Bartov, M., Morin, E., 2015. CMIP5‐predicted climate shifts over the East Mediterranean: implications for the transition region between Mediterranean and semi‐arid climates. International Journal of Climatology 35, 2144–2153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polade, S.D., Pierce, D.W., Cayan, D.R., Gershunov, A., Dettinger, M.D., 2014. The key role of dry days in changing regional climate and precipitation regimes. Scientific Reports 4, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Ramsey, C.B., Buck, C.E., et al., 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55, 1869–1887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubin, S., Ziv, B., Paldor, N., 2007. Tropical Plumes over Eastern North Africa as a Source of Rain in the Middle East. Monthly Weather Review 135, 4135–4148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saaroni, H., Halfon, N., Ziv, B., Alpert, P., Kutiel, H., 2010. Links between the rainfall regime in Israel and location and intensity of Cyprus lows. International Journal of Climatology 30, 1014–1025.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharon, D., Kutiel, H., 1986. The distribution of rainfall intensity in Israel, its regional and seasonal variations and its climatological evaluation. Journal of Climatology 6, 277–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shohami, D., Dayan, U., Morin, E., 2011. Warming and drying of the eastern Mediterranean: Additional evidence from trend analysis. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 116, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, M., Starinsky, A., Katz, A., Goldstein, S.L., Machlus, M., Schramm, A., 1997. Strontium isotopic, chemical, and sedimentological evidence for the evolution of Lake Lisan and the Dead Sea. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 61, 3975–3992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strahler, A.N., 1957. Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 38, 913–920.Google Scholar
Sturm, M., Matter, A., 1978. Turbidites and Varves in Lake Brienz (Switzerland): Deposition of Clastic Detritus by Density Currents. In: Matter, A., Tucker, M.E. (Eds.), Modern and Ancient Lake Sediments. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp. 147–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, B., 2001. A subtropical rainstorm associated with a tropical plume over Africa and the Middle-East. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 69, 91–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, B., Dayan, U., Kushnir, Y., Roth, C., Enzel, Y., 2006. Regional and global atmospheric patterns governing rainfall in the southern Levant. International Journal of Climatology 26, 55–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar