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...

This study examines the forcing mechanisms driving long-term carbonate accumulation and preservation in lacustrine sediments in Lake Iznik (north-western Turkey) since the last glacial. Currently, carbonates precipitate during summer from the alkaline water column, and the sediments preserve aragonite and calcite. Based on X-ray diffraction data, carbonate accumulation has changed significantly and striking reversals in the abundance of the two carbonate polymorphs have occurred on a decadal time scale,...

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...

This study describes the luminescence characteristics of quartz of Upper Pleistocene loess of the Middle Rhine area. The loess/palaeosol sequence of the Schwalbenberg near Remagen comprises a multitude of interstadial soils and soil sediments that have been dedicated to the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3). These weak calcaric cambisols and their derivates are underlain by loess and soil sediments of MIS 4 to MIS 5 and covered by loess sediments and intercalated gelic gleysols of MIS 2. We applied...

The coastal site of Ifri Oudadane is one of the most important sites in the Mediterranean Maghreb. Recent excavations have provided a stratigraphy featuring the transition from Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic food producers. This transitional process could be defined by various features. The sedimentological field description revealed a change from homogenous sediment to more structured deposits, and similar to the so-called “fumiers” that are characteristic of animal husbandry in caves and...

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...

Paleo-vegetation of northern Israel is reconstructed from palynological data over the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, and related to climate variation in the Levant, as well as anthropogenic impact on vegetation. Being located in the arid-to-semi-arid climatic transitional zone, the modern and past vegetation in northern Israel comprises both, Mediterranean macchia, and Irano-Turanian steppe assemblages, and thus is highly sensitive to climate change. Palynological analyses were carried out on two...

The littoral site of Ifri Oudadane is one of the most important recently excavated sites in the Mediterranean Maghreb. The shelter presents Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic layers and therefore offers the possibility to investigate the Neolithic transition in the region. Besides introducing the archaeological context, this paper focuses on palaeobotanical data in order to reconstruct Holocene environmental change and human use of plant resources for the period c. 11 to 5.7 ka cal. BP. Results show intense...

A Late Glacial to Holocene sediment sequence (Co1260, 717 cm) from Lake Dojran, located at the boarder of the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Greece, has been investigated to provide information on climate variability in the Balkan region. A robust age-model was established from 13 radiocarbon ages, and indicates that the base of the sequence was deposited at ca. 12 500 cal yr BP, when the lake-level was low. Variations in sedimentological (TOC, CaCO3, TC, N, S, grain-size, XRF, δ18Ocarb, δ13Ccarb, δ13Corg) data...

Magnetic susceptibility, geochemistry, mineralogy and palynology of sediments from Lake Iznik in Northwestern Anatolia, Turkey, provide a 4700 year record of climatic trends and events. The measured proxies allow a reconstruction of variations in humid/dry periods and lake level changes. The Lake Iznik sedimentary sequence points to an oscillating trend of humid periods interrupted by rapid climate change (RCC) to arid periods. Especially abrupt lithologic and geochemical changes at 4.2 and 3.3 ka calBP may...