PALEX - Paleoclimate Research in the Middle East: GFZ

PALEX – Paleoclimate Research in the Middle East

(Logo: DFG)

Investigation of a Plume in the Dead Sea by a Research Vessel *(Photo: Liran Ben-Moshe.)*

Localities used in the PALEX project: 1 Wadi Ghar/Arugot upstream, 2 Ghar/Arugot downstream, 3 Plume monitoring/sampling, 4 Paleoarchive core DSEn, 5 Sediment archive DSDDP deep core 5017-1 (background satellite image by google maps) *(Graphic: GFZ)*

Extreme hydro-meteorological events like flash floods occur regularly during the wet season in the Dead Sea basin (southern Levante) and adjacent mountain ranges. When entering the Dead Sea, the lake sediments transported by those flash floods spread forming a sediment plume.

Extreme hydrometeorological events and especially floods are a major threat for humans. Therefore, it is an emerging challenge for science to investigate origin and mechanisms of floods in order to better anticipate their frequency and amplitudes as well as their impacts on regional environments. A very sensitive region in terms of both environmental conditions and the political situation is the Dead Sea area in the Near East. Ongoing global change is expected to even increase the environmental pressure and in particular hydrological processes in this part of the world. Therefore, this is an ideal and highly interesting region for Earth and environmental research. The PALEX project addresses all aspects of extreme hydro-meteorological events in this region through a joint effort of scientist from Israel, Palestine and Germany within the trilateral program of the German Science Foundation DFG.

We apply a novel approach of combining the observation of recent flash floods using cutting-edge technologies with advanced reconstructions of long flood time-series over several thousand years from the Dead Sea sediment record at high temporal resolution. In this respect, the long sediment cores obtained by the ICDP (International Continental Scientific Drilling Program) drilling from the deep basin of the Dead Sea provide a unique archive to reconstruct the natural hydro-climatic variability for the last 200 kyrs. In addition, the comprehensive process understanding of the meteorological origin of floods and their effects on erosion, sediment transport and deposition revealed by our combined meteorological and sedimentological monitoring allows an improved interpretation of this exceptional sediment record to utilize event-triggered sediments as proxies for past flooding. With this approach we aim at investigating the relation of changes in the occurrence and dynamics of floods to changing climatic boundary conditions and test the predicted increase of extreme floods in a warming climate.

Particularly we aim in work packages:

To establish a high-resolution time series of hydro-meteorological events in the Dead Sea watershed applying microfacies analyses and µXRF scanning, (GFZ/HUJI/AQU)
To reveal sources of sediments and modes of transport processes by installing flash flood monitoring stations in a representative wadi, (AQU/HUJI)
To trace sources of inflowing waters by analyzing the chemical and isotopic composition of primary aragonite, (AQU/HUJI)
To link sediment proxies to meteorological conditions and flash flood regimes by applying hydro-meteorological models simulating flash floods and sediment flow. (GFZ/AQU/HUJI)

Beyond the scientific goals, PALEX undertakes major efforts in capacity building and international networking in the Middle East to foster peaceful collaboration for solving common problems and development of human and technical resources. A crucial part of the project concept, therefore, is joint training of early stage researchers from Palestine, Israel and Germany. The PALEX personal mentoring concept will give young scientists the opportunity to work closely with senior scientists from all participating institutions and develop their research skills.

Participants of the PALEX summer school 2016 at the GFZ in Potsdam *(Photo: E.Gantz)*

Wadi Zeelim with Dead Sea, view to the east in direction mountains of the Jordanian Plateau *(Photo: M. Schwab)*

Lithology and general stratigraphy of Dead Sea ICDP core 5017-1. Zoom out of the younger lake level history of the Dead Sea (modified after Torfstein et al. (2013) and Neugebauer et al. (2014). Study intervals of the PALEX project for micro facies analyses marked by rectangles. *(Graphic: GFZ)*

b) Collection of ICDP cores from the IODP Core Repository at the MARUM in Bremen. c) Sampling for thin-sections in the laboratory of the GFZ by a HUJI PALEX PhD student *(Photos: M. Ahlborn)*

PALEX field school at a Wadi Ghar/Arugot monitoring site *(Photo: M. Schwab.)*

PALEX Early Stage Researcher during the PALEX summer school 2016. *(Photo: GFZ)*

Installation of PALEX monitoring/sampling equipment in Wadi Ghar/Arugot *(Photo: GFZ)*

Event related deposits of the Lisan Formation in the ICDP Dead Sea core their interpretation, b) core photo with slump and associated graded layer; thin section scans (under polarizing foil) from three studied time intervals c) the Middle Lisan Formation (105.51 m sediment depth); d) the Upper Lisan Formation (89.48 m sediment depth); and e) the Lower Ze’elim Formation (67.34m sediment depth). *(Photo: GFZ)*

Partners

Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Institute of Earth Sciences, Israel
Al Quds University of Jerusalem (AQU), Faculty of Science and Technology
Geological Survey of Israel (GSI), Israel
International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP)
DFG Infrastrukturschwerpunktprogramms ‘SPP 1006 - ICDP Deutschland´

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - SPP 1006: Bereich Infrastruktur
Internationales Kontinentales Bohrprogramm (ICDP) / BR2208/13-1; BR2208/13-2

References

Within the PALEX project, which was originally applied for as a DFG trilateral project by GFZ, Hebrew University and AlQuds University, 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts were published throughout the funding period under the priority programme SPP1006 ICDP and thereafter.

2023
Guillerm, E., Gardien, V., Waldmann, N. D., Brall, N. S., Ariztegui, D., Schwab, M. J., Neugebauer, I., Lach, A., Caupin, F. (2023): Reconstruction of Dead Sea lake level and mass balance back to 237 ka BP using halite fluid inclusions. - Quaternary Science Reviews, 303, 107964, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.107964

2022
Armon, M.; Marra, F.; Enzel, Y.; Rostkier‐Edelstein, D.; Garfinkel, C. I.; Adam, O.; Dayan, U.; Morin, E. (2022): Reduced rainfall in future heavy precipitation events related to contracted rain area despite increased rain rate. Earth's Future, 10(1), p.e2021EF002397, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002397

Müller, D., Neugebauer, I., Ben Dor, Y., Enzel, Y., Schwab, M. J., Tjallingii, R., Brauer, A. (2022): Phases of stability during major hydroclimate change ending the Last Glacial in the Levant. - Scientific Reports, 12, 6052, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10217-9

2021
Ben Dor, Y., Marra, F., Armon, M., Enzel, Y., Brauer, A., Schwab, M. J., Morin, E. (2021): Hydroclimatic variability of opposing Late Pleistocene climates in the Levant revealed by deep Dead Sea sediments. - Climate of the Past, 17, 6, 2653-2677, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2653-2021

Ben Dor, Y., Flax, T., Levitan, I., Enzel, Y., Brauer, A., & Erel, Y. (2021). The paleohydrological implications of aragonite precipitation under contrasting climates in the endorheic Dead Sea and its precursors revealed by experimental investigations. Chemical Geology, 576: 120261, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120261

Neugebauer, I., Müller, D., Schwab, M. J., Blockley, S., Lane, C. S., Wulf, S., Appelt, O., Brauer, A. (2021): Cryptotephras in the Lateglacial ICDP Dead Sea sediment record and their implications for chronology. - Boreas, 50, 3, 844-861, https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12516

Rinat Y., Marra F., Armon M., Metzger A., Levi Y., Khain P., Vadislavsky E., Rosensaft M. and Morin E. (2021) Hydrometeorological analysis and forecasting of a 3 d flash-flood-triggering desert rainstorm. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 21(3), pp.917-939, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-917-2021

Weber, N., Lazar, B., Gavrieli, I., Yechieli, Y., Stein, M. (2021): Gypsum Deltas at the Holocene Dead Sea Linked to Grand Solar Minima. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 e2020GL091034, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091034

Weber, N., Antler, G., Lazar, B., Stein, M., Yechieli, Y., Gavrieli, I. (2021) Hydrological and thermodynamic controls on late Holocene gypsum formation by mixing saline groundwater and Dead Sea brine. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 316, 363-383, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.10.002

2020
Armon, M., Marra F., Enzel Y., Rostkier-Edelstein D., Morin E. (2020): Radar-based characterisation of heavy precipitation in the eastern Mediterranean and its representation in a convection-permitting model, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1227–1249, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1227-2020

Ben Dor, Y., Neugebauer, I., Enzel, Y., Schwab, M. J., Tjallingii, R., Erel, Y., Brauer, A. (2020): Reply to comment on Ben Dor Y. et al. “Varves of the Dead Sea sedimentary record.” Quaternary Science Reviews 215 (2019): 173–184. - Quaternary Science Reviews, 231, 106063, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106063

Metzger A., Marra F., Smith J. A. and Morin E. (2020) Flood frequency estimation and uncertainty in arid/semi-arid regions. J. Hydrol., 590, 125254, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125254

Shmilovitz Y., Morin E., Rinat Y., Haviv I., Carmi G., Mushkin A. and Enzel, Y. (2020): Linking frequency of rainstorms, runoff generation and sediment transport across hyperarid talus‐pediment slopes. Earth Surf. Process. Landf., 45, 1644–1659, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4836

Weber, N., Lazar, B., Stern, O., Burr, G., Gavrieli, I., Roberts, M., Kurz, M.D., Yechieli, Y., Stein, M. (2020): Radiocarbon reservoir ages in the Holocene Dead Sea. Radiocarbon, 1-21, https://doi:10.1017/RDC.2020.28

Zoccatelli D., Marra F., Smith J., Goodrich D., Unkrich C., Rosensaft M. and Morin E. (2020): Hydrological modelling in desert areas of the eastern Mediterranean. J. Hydrol., 587, 124879, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.124879

2019
Ben Dor, Y., Neugebauer, I., Enzel, Y., Schwab, M. J., Tjallingii, R., Erel, Y., Brauer, A. (2019): Varves of the Dead Sea sedimentary record. - Quaternary Science Reviews, 215, pp. 173-184, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.04.011

Marra F., Zoccatelli D., Armon M., and Morin E. (2019) A simplified MEV formulation to model extremes ‎emerging from multiple nonstationary underlying processes. Adv. Water Resour, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.04.002

2018
Ahlborn, M., Armon, M., Ben Dor, Y., Neugebauer, I., Schwab, M. J., Tjallingii, R., Shoqeir, J. H., Morin, E., Enzel, Y., Brauer, A. (2018): Increased frequency of torrential rainstorms during a regional late Holocene eastern Mediterranean drought. - Quaternary Research, 89, 2, 425-431, https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.9

Armon, M., Dente, E., Smith, J., Enzel, Y., Morin, E. (2018): Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 19, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-18-0013.1

Ben Dor, Y., Armon, M., Ahlborn, M., Morin, E., Erel, Y., Brauer, A., Schwab, M. J., Tjallingii, R., Enzel, Y. (2018): Changing flood frequencies under opposing late Pleistocene eastern Mediterranean climates. - Scientific Reports, 8(1), 8445, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25969-6

Hamdani, I., Assouline, S., Tanny, J., Lensky, I., Gertman, I., Mor, Z., Lensky, N. (2018): Seasonal and diurnal evaporation from a deep hypersaline lake: The Dead Sea as a case study. Journal of Hydrology. 562, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.04.057

Lensky, N. G., Lensky, I. M., Peretz, A., Gertman, I., Tanny, J., & Assouline, S. (2018): Diurnal Course of evaporation from the dead sea in summer: A distinct double peak induced by solar radiation and night sea breeze. Water Resources Research: 54, 150–160, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR021536 The paper was featured in Eos "Research Spotlights" (AGU), Witman, S. (2018): Dead Sea provides unique insights on water evaporation, Eos, 99, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO094039. Published on 09 March 2018

Marra, F. and Morin, E. (2018): Autocorrelation structure of convective rainfall in semiarid-arid climate derived from high-resolution X-Band radar estimates. Atmos. Res., 200, 126-138, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2017.09.020

Morin, E.; Ryb, T.; Gavrieli, I., Enzel, Y. (2018): Mean, variance, and trends of Levant precipitation over the past 4500 years from reconstructed Dead Sea levels and stochastic modeling. Quaternary Research, 91, 2, 751-767, https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.98

Sirota, I., Enzel, Y., and Lensky, N. (2018): Halite focusing and amplification of salt thickness: From the Dead Sea to deep hypersaline basins: Geology, 46 (10), 851–854, https://doi.org/10.1130/G45339.1

Weber, N., Yechieli, Y., Stein, M., Yokochi, R., Gavrieli, I., Zappala, J., Mueller, P., Lazar, B. (2018): The circulation of the Dead Sea brine in the regional aquifer. Earth and Planetary Science Letters: 493, pp. 242-261, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.04.027

2017
Marra, F., Morin, E., Peleg, N., Mei, Y., and Anagnostou, E. N. (2017): Intensity–duration–frequency curves from remote sensing rainfall estimates: comparing satellite and weather radar over the eastern Mediterranean, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 2389-2404, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-2389-2017

Neugebauer, I., Wulf, S., Schwab, M. J., Serb, J., Plessen, B., Appelt, O., Brauer, A. (2017): Implications of S1 tephra findings in Dead Sea and Tayma palaeolake sediments for marine reservoir age estimation and palaeoclimate synchronisation. - Quaternary Science Reviews, 170, p. 269-275, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.06.020

Palchan, D., Neugebauer, I., Amitai, Y., Waldmann, N. D., Schwab, M. J., Dulski, P., Brauer, A., Stein, M., Erel, Y., Enzel, Y. (2017): North Atlantic controlled depositional cycles in MIS 5e layered sediments from the deep Dead Sea basin. - Quaternary Research, 87, 1, pp. 168-179, http://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2016.10

Sirota, I., Enzel, Y., Lensky, N.G. (2017): Temperature seasonality control on modern halite layers in the Dead Sea: In situ observations. GSA Bulletin: 129, 9-10, pp. 1181-1194, https://doi.org/10.1130/B31661.1