With a view to studying short term climate variability in the eastern Mediterranean, we have carried out detailed investigations on the varved sediments comprising the Upper Member of Lisan Formation that was deposited between ~17.7-26.2 cal ka in Lake Lisan, the late glacial precurser of the Dead Sea. Our reconstruction indicates that not only Heinrich events, but also the smaller ice rafting events (a, b, c and d) in the N. Atlantic are correlatable with the eastern Mediterranean arid intervals. Study of seasonal sub-laminae yields evidence of several additional decadal to century scale arid events that are correlatable with cooler temperatures at higher latitudes. Analyses in the frequency domain indicate the presence of periodicities centred at 1500y, 500 y, 192y, 139y, 90y and 50-60y, suggesting a decadal to centennial scale solar forcing on the late glacial climate.

Backer: GIF, DFG

Partner: M. Stein, The Hebrew University, Israel, S. L. Goldstein, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, USA, H. Vos, ForschungsZentrum, Jülich, Germany