Abstract The late Pleistocene in the Dead Sea Basin is one of the most studied and well-dated under-filled lacustrine deposits in the world and therefore provides a unique opportunity for analyzing individual controlling factors by applying field data into a forward model. The analysis of the depositional history of basins commonly shows a nonunique solution caused by the interdependence of the depositional controlling factors. This can be demonstrated by modeling stratigraphic successions that were constructed using different sedimentary and tectonic values but visually look the same. Here, we used the computer forward simulation SEDPAK to reconstruct the stratigraphic sequences observed in the field using multiple data sets that were established for these deposits. By applying a high-resolution lake level curve, subsidence history, and depositional rates in the offshore sections, we reduced the uncertainties of the model that match outcrop observations. We were then able to test the sensitivity of the simulated cross section to changes in individual parameters and evaluate the contribution of each of them to the result. This allows checking for errors and locations where more data are needed. It also provides insights into the distribution and character of potential hydrocarbon reservoir facies.

Recent studies on the evolution of the Dead Sea basin have shed light on the intricate tectonic regime of the area. Combined with newly available data from Jordan, a new picture of a symmetrical deep basin is emerging. Salt is prevalent over the entire width of the basin in the south. The original thickness of this layer was calculated to be ∼2 km, but at present it does not exceed 900 m. Crustal studies indicate a difference between the southern and northern basins, which are separated by a large, normal fault. Depth to the basement in the northern basin is estimated to be 6–8 km, while that of the southern basin is 12 km. Relocation of deep earthquakes revealed that the majority of well-constrained micro-earthquakes (M L ≤ 3.2) occurred at depths much deeper than previously expected (20–32 km). Seismicity and the low value of regional heat flow suggest that the lower crust might be cool and brittle. A lithospheric strength profile was calculated, indicating a narrow brittle-to-ductile transition at a depth of 31 km. Uplift measurements, submersible studies, and combined geological-geophysical mapping are some of the new techniques applied to the area to solve the complex neotectonic structure. Results indicate that the southern and northern basins are both currently active. In addition to tectonics, activity is also inferred by the presence of salt diapirs, whose uplift or subsidence may be related to current motion along active faults. Discrepancies in earthquake-reoccurrence times may indicate that the main fault in the northern Dead Sea basin, the Jericho fault (also known as the Jordan fault), is segmented, or that earthquakes occur in clusters. One such segment is responsible for the formation of a small subbasin on the northwestern shore of the lake, the Qumran basin, whose complex neotectonic regime includes strike-slip, reverse and normal faulting, folding, right bending splays, and a migrating depocenter. Recent global positioning system measurements provide slip-rates of 2.6–3.8 mm/yr for the current plate motion in this area. An open crack between the seafloor and a sharp bathymetric cliff in the lake provides visual evidence for this motion, while data from shallow seismic surveys present paleoseismic information on this activity.

Mount Sedom is the surface expression of a salt diapir that has emerged since the Pleistocene in the southwestern part of the Dead Sea basin. Milestones in the uplift history of the Sedom salt diapir since its inception were deduced from angular and erosional unconformities, thickness variations, caprock formation, chemistry and isotope composition of lacustrine aragonite, cave morphology, precise leveling, and satellite geodesy. Thickness variations of the overburden observed in transverse seismic lines suggest that significant growth of the Sedom diapir may have initiated only after this thickness exceeded ∼2400 m in the Late Pliocene. The formation of the caprock signifies the arrival of the Sedom diapir from depth to the dissolution level between 300,000–100,000 yr B.P. During this period and later, angular and erosional unconformities in the upper part of the overburden near Mount Sedom are attributed to the piercing diapir. Rapid solution of rock salt from parts of Mount Sedom inundated by Lake Lisan after ca. 40,000 yr B.P. is inferred from Na/Ca ratios in aragonite and their relation to δ 13 C. On the mountain itself, the older parts (70,000–43,000 yr B.P.) of the lacustrine Lisan Formation are missing. The top of the preserved sediments is covered by alluvial sediments that must have been deposited when the elevation of Mount Sedom was not higher than 265 m below sea level (mbsl) at ca. 14,000 yr B.P. The present elevation of these sediments at 190 mbsl indicates an average uplift rate of ∼5 mm/yr over the past 14,000 yr. Similar uplift rates of 6–9 mm/yr are inferred for the Holocene from displacement of the “salt mirror” and hanging passages of caves. The present uplift rate, calculated from precise leveling and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), is similar to the average Holocene rate. Based on the gathered data, we reconstruct the topographic rise of Sedom diapir and its relation to lake level variations during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.

Precise and high-resolution chronologies of continental sedimentary records (e.g., lacustrine and cave deposits) are instrumental for establishing Quaternary climatic pattern on the continents and for comparison to marine and ice core records of climate change. Radiocarbon is the major dating method for establishing Holocene and late-glacial chronologies, yet its use often requires determination of the reservoir age, and beyond ca. 24 ka cal. B.P., the calibration curve to calendar years is not well established. Thus, beyond the youngest portion of the last Glacial period, U-Th dating of carbonates becomes the major means in obtaining high-resolution chronologies. However, these age determinations are hampered by contamination of the samples with detrital U and Th and by the presence of aqueous Th. Here we summarize the approaches used to address the problems in U-Th and radiocarbon dating of the late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary records of the Dead Sea basin. This mainly includes solutions for the problem of detrital U and Th and aqueous (initial) Th in the Lisan carbonates and the evaluation of “reservoir ages” in the determination of carbonate radiocarbon ages. The calendar U-Th and calibrated radiocarbon ages are used for establishing the environmental (climate and seismological) chronology of the region (e.g., reconstruction of a high-resolution lake level curve and correlation with global climatic records), for paleomagnetic reconstruction (e.g., the documentation of secular variations and geomagnetic excursions such as the Laschamp Event ca. 40 ka cal B.P.), and extending the calibration of the radiocarbon time scale.

We dedicate this manuscript to Dr. Cipora Klein, who studied the historic levels of the Dead Sea . This paper reviews the research and lake level reconstruction of the late Pleistocene and Holocene lakes in the Dead Sea basin. Lake Lisan and the Dead Sea occupied the Dead Sea basin during the past 70 k.y., and responded to and amplified regional climatological variations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Overall, the lake level history is correlative with global climate patterns. The Lake Lisan high levels correspond to the last Glacial period (marine isotope stages 2–4); its dramatic level drop to the transition to the Holocene, and the Dead Sea low stands to the current interglacial period. The Lisan level record also appears to show relationships to millennial events in Greenland ice and deep-sea cores. The paper describes the methodologies applied to identify indicators of lake level elevations and the determination of their ages. It is divided to (1) the early research history (mainly commencing at the nineteenth century) in the Dead Sea basin; (2) the early efforts of lake level curve reconstructions; and (3) the most recent studies that yield well-dated, high resolution lake level chronologies.

This paper summarizes the research efforts devoted over the years to the understanding of the origin and evolution of brines in the Dead Sea basin. These brines are characterized by a unique Ca-Chloride composition, which evolved from interaction of evaporated seawater filling the late Neogene Sedom lagoon with the Cretaceous carbonate rocks exposed at the basin-bounding escarpments. Following the disconnection of the lagoon from the open sea and the development of inland lakes, the composition of the ancient Sedom brine changed due to precipitation of evaporites and addition of salts from incoming fresh water. Relative to highly evaporated seawater, these processes led to enrichment of the brines in Cl, Br, Mg, Ca, and K and depletion in Na and SO 4 . The modern Dead Sea, representing a recent product of these evolutionary processes, derived its ingredients from residual brines that remained after the desiccation of the late Pleistocene Lake Lisan, from incoming fresh water, and from saline springs that emerge along the western shores of the Dead Sea. Similar sources probably dictated the composition of the Pleistocene lakes (Amora, Lisan), though their relative contribution changed through time, reflecting the control of climate on the hydrological system (e.g., the activity of saline springs).