Project Details
Projekt
Impact of global warming during the penultimate termination on regional hydroclimates in the Dead Sea and Lake Van
Subject Area
Palaeontology
Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
Term
since 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 517384910
The Mediterranean region is highly sensitive to the current global warming, which has a strong influence on the hydroclimate and the occurrence of extreme weather events. However, lake level reconstructions from the Dead Sea and Lake Van reveal contrasting rainfall variability due to past global climatic changes. Yet local responses during warming climates are still not understood. We aim here to provide a detailed and integrated comparison between these two locations during the transition from the penultimate glaciation to the last interglacial, which was the warmest interglacial of the last 800 kyr. The laminated lacustrine sediments of the long Dead Sea ICDP drilling Site 5017-1 and Lake Van drilling Site 5034-1 (Ahlat Ridge) provide unique archives to study the impact of global warming on the hydroclimates. These sediments are strongly linked to regional hydroclimatic conditions and will be used for reconstructing changes at an interannual time scale. We will complement these reconstructions with analyses of leaf wax hydrogen isotopes (δD) to trace variations in atmospheric circulation, water vapor transport, and seasonal rainfall patterns. Regionally coherent signatures of glacial-interglacial cycles have been obtained from the Dead Sea sediment record using D reconstructions. The proposed decadal to centennial reconstruction proposed here will provide key insights into precipitation regimes during warming of the penultimate glaciation to the last interglacial. In addition, detailed chronostratigraphic correlation of these record will be performed using the latest varve age-depth modelling and (crypto)tephrochronology to minimize the age uncertainties. These detailed synoptic reconstructions will contribute to a comprehensive picture of past climatic dynamics and global linkages over the eastern Mediterranean during one of the strongest warming intervals of the Late Quaternary.
DFG Programme
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