Comprehensive coverage

The Dead Sea records global climate changes in the last 200 thousand years 

As one of the saltiest lakes on Earth in a desert environment and the lowest place in the world, the Dead Sea records the climate changes in the region throughout geological periods with level rises in wet periods and level drops in dry periods. Despite this, to date, there has been no direct evidence of a link between the composition of the lake in the geological past and the climatic regime in the region. A study conducted at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in collaboration with the Geological Institute and the Hebrew University found for the first time direct proof of hydrological and chemical changes in the Dead Sea over a period of 220 years, a time spanning two glacial periods and three interglacial periods on Earth.

The drilling rig from which the core was mined. Source: Prof. Motti Stein - The Hebrew University.
The drilling rig from which the core was mined. Source: Prof. Motti Stein - The Hebrew University.

The research focuses on the reconstruction of past climate conditions in the region using the water of the cavities trapped in the bottom of the Dead Sea, and is the result of the work of doctoral student Ilan Levy from the group of Prof. Orit Sion from the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Ben-Gurion University. In deep drilling from the center of the lake under the auspices of the ICDP (International Continental Drilling Project) and the cooperation of universities and research institutes in Israel and abroad, in 2011 a drill core with a length of about 450 meters was sampled. In the hard work of the research group, the water in the cavities trapped in this core was exhausted and geochemical and isotopic parameters were measured that show climate changes over a period of 220 thousand years.

The results in the study show that the chemical composition of the deep water in the lake follows global climate change. During glacial periods, when there is a drop in global temperature, accumulation of ice around the poles, and a drop in ocean levels and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, there is a management of the deep water in the lake accompanied by the melting of the halite salt. During the warmer interglacial periods, when there is a rise in ocean levels and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, the deep waters become saltier and halite salt sinks into them.

The great similarity between the global records and the records from the cavity water in the drilling points to the close relationship between the amount of rainfall and humidity in the region and global climate changes, significant findings for understanding and predicting climate changes in Israel. The results support modern observations that show that there is a connection between the amount of rainfall in the region and the surface water temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean - when there are periods of relatively cold surface water in the North Ocean, there is an increase in the amount of rainfall in our regions, while there is a decrease in rainfall during periods when the surface water is relatively warm.

For the full article in the journal GEOLOGY

6 תגובות

  1. Lavi: All climate scientists draw conclusions from the results of the ice cores and it is no coincidence that they star in Al Gore's movie. There is also widespread agreement that the previous interglacial period was somewhat warmer than recent years. And without the lobbyists of the oil and coal companies, the situation might have been clearer to you as it is to the scientists dealing with the issue. There is abnormal global warming due to human emissions. And if the subject of ice shells interests you, look for a book called The 2 Mile Time Machine
    Richard B. Alley
    The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future
    I promise you that after reading a book by a man whose entire career has been dealing with polar ice caps you will be more concerned about climate change

  2. It is not possible to understand within the article whether there is indeed also a forecast for the future, and especially for the near future from the results.
    The research itself is very interesting

  3. It is appropriate that the editor find a way to "censor" the nonsense of the "universal" commenter / my father
    Appears in almost every list and every publication
    And so will free the readers from the collection of nonsense in dirty language
    Shalez publishes...

  4. What is interesting is to compare periods of global warming with the current warming and see what the differences are.
    If there are such differences.
    The problem is of course the resolution, because when it comes to data that spans millions of years, the last fifty or hundred years of which the current global warming is attributed is too short a time.
    In similar drillings done at the poles, carbon dioxide concentrations were measured in air trapped in the ice, and there the accuracy and resolution are much better.
    The problem is that the results found in the drillings done at the poles show that in the past before there was man there were also global warmings like Friday now, so it is not so compatible with the consensus that says that global warming is because of man, and because they contradict or may contradict the theory that says that the current global warming is because of man, no They are highlighted, and therefore those who use and draw conclusions from these results are only the other side of the global warming deniers, and because this has become a political war, and a war of ego, it is no longer possible to know what is propaganda and what is science, what is hidden and what is revealed, and we will not know the truth until the war is over This and the politicians will get off this topic and leave the issue to pure science.

Leave a Reply

Email will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismat to prevent spam messages. Click here to learn how your response data is processed.