Data

The paleoclimate of the southern Levant, especially during the last interglacial (LIG), is still under debate. Reliable paleovegetation information for this period, as independent evidence to the paleoenvironment, was still missing. In this study, we present a high-resolution pollen record encompassing 147-89 ka from the Dead Sea deep drilling core 5017-1A. The sediment profile is marked by alternations of laminated marl deposits and thick massive halite, indicating lake-level fluctuations. The pollen...

Lake Kinneret, also known as the Sea of Galilee and Lake Tiberias, is located in the northeast of Israel. At a lake level of 211 m b.s.l. (below mean sea level), the central basin is 43 m deep. The maximum length of the lake is 21 km (N–S) and its maximum width is 12 km (W–E). Lake Kinneret’s surface area is 166 km². A new 17.8 m long sedimentary core was drilled in 2010. Here, we present the entire palynological record from it, which covers the last ~ 9,000 years. Special emphasis is given to the natural...

For an understanding of the climate system’s variability, knowledge of the past climate is essential. Continuous observations are not available for longer than the last 100 years, a period that is insufficient to understand the variability and sensitivity of the climate system. Since information of both is necessary to build good climate models, the reconstruction of the past climate is fundamental. With palaeoclimate reconstructions it is possible to get information about the past climate and the climate...

Recent investigations of the Semlac loess section in the south-eastern Carpathian Basin, which is situated at an undercut slope position on the right bank of the Mureş River in its lower reaches (Banat region, western Romanian), are presented and discussed. Dating back to marine isotope stage (MIS) 10, the more than 10 m thick loess sequence includes four fossil soil-complexes developed in homogenous and relatively fine silty loess. Because of the good preservation of the sediment, Semlac is regarded as a...

Despite ongoing discussions on hydroclimatic conditions in the southern Levant during the Last Glacial, detailed knowledge about the Levantine paleovegetation, which is an important indicator for the paleoclimate, is limited. To investigate the paleovegetation in northern Israel, we analyzed the pollen assemblage of a sediment core that was drilled at the Ohalo II archaeological site on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret). We refined the lithology and the age-depth model with the...

The Marmara region in northwestern Turkey provides a unique opportunity for studying the vegetation history in response to climate changes and anthropogenic impacts because of its location between different climate and vegetation zones and its long settlement history. Geochemical and mineralogical investigations of the largest lake in the region, Lake Iznik, already registered climate-related changes of the lake level and the lake mixing. However, a palynological investigation encompassing the Late...

Previous investigations showed that the Orlovat loess–paleosol section, northern Serbia, is characterized by irregularities in sedimentological properties, magnetic susceptibility and color of the sediment. Here, we applied granulometric analysis and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses to study how the sedimentation at the Orlovat site was conditioned by specific geomorphological or climatic conditions. Grain-size analysis is an established method and one of the most frequently used paleoenvironmental proxies...

Lake Prespa, in the Balkans, contains an important palaeo-archive in a key location for understanding Quaternary climate variability in the transition between Mediterranean and central European climate zones. Previous palaeoenvironmental research on sediment cores indicates that the lake is highly sensitive to climate change and that diatoms are likely to be strong palaeohydrological proxies. Here, we present new results from diatom analysis of a ca. 91 ka sequence, core Co1215, which spans the time from...

Lake Iznik, situated in the Marmara region (NW Turkey), is an alkaline lake with about 300 km2 surface area, inserted in an area of typical Mediterranean climate. During the dry summer season, carbonates are precipitating from the water column. The endogen carbonate accumulation, e.g. aragonite, is expected to hold past climate information. A detailed understanding of the limnological system is required to differentiate site specific signals and responses to climatic forcing. Geochemical and mineralogical...

The Carpathian Basin contains some of the best preserved loess deposits in Europe, including some of the continent's longest and best resolved climate records. Large areas of the basin have been intensively investigated in recent years, although deposits in the east remain largely unstudied, despite considerable regional variation in climate records. Here we discuss the sedimentary record exposed in the Orlovat brickyard using detailed litho- and pedo-stratigraphic, enviromagnetic parameters and...

Stratified Upper Pleistocene sediment sequences have been geochemically investigated in the arid environment of the Wadi Sabra (Southern Jordan). The wadi fills are associated to archaeological finds of Upper Palaeolithic to Epipalaeolithic age and intended for a reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental conditions during and after the time of the initial human occupation. As the mineralogical and sedimentological composition of the sediments is highly influenced by the nature of the local source rock, the...

In the arid regions of the Levant, ancient wadi fills act as a terrestrial sedimentary archive with a high potential for preserving archaeological findings. This current study combines remote sensing with laboratory VIS-spectroscopy to investigate the spatial distribution of alluvial wadi fills in a small catchment in Southern Jordan. Due to its homogeneous sandstone geology, the composition of the alluvial sediments is highly influenced by the local bedrock whilst fluvial relocation and surface weathering...