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18 - Speleothems from Lebanon

from Part II: - Palaeoclimates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2017

Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
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Summary

The Jeita and Kanaan caves are situated on the western flank of Mount Lebanon at ~100 meters above sea level. A 1.2 meters stalagmite from the Jeita cave is ~12 to ~1 ka. The stalagmite retrieved from Kanaan cave is ~ 130-85 ka with regular laminations and a ~45° tilt at ~105 ka. d18O and d13C compositions of these stalagmites show wet early Holocene and dryer interval at ~6 ka and suggests a similar but less severe change at ~126 ka. The latter seems to have less impact on the vegetation than the change at ~6 ka. The d18O changes in the stalagmites seem to reflect a source effect of the δ18O Mediterranean Sea surface water composition. Both speleothems demonstrate wet conditions during the last glacial-Interglacial transitions in this part of the Levant, in contrast with a more arid Dead Sea basin. Different behaviour of the carbon isotopic composition in Lebanese and the Soreq and Peqiin Caves remains puzzling and raises questions about the climate pattern resulting from the confluence of different systems in the East Mediterranean area.
Type
Chapter
Information
Quaternary of the Levant
Environments, Climate Change, and Humans
, pp. 165 - 172
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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