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19 - Late Quaternary Palaeoenvironments in Northern Levant (Lebanon and Syria)

from Part II: - Palaeoclimates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2017

By
F. Gasse ,
E. Van Campo ,
L. Benedetti ,
F. Demory ,
A.L. Develle ,
D. Kaniewski ,
K. Tachikawa ,
N. Thouveny  and
L. Vidal
Edited by
Yehouda Enzel  and
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
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Summary

The northern Levant (Lebanon and Syria) is transitional between the Mediterranean and subtropical deserts and underwent large past climatic shifts with impacts on water resources, vegetation and human populations. This chapter reviews terrestrial sedimentary, geochemical and palaeobotanical evidence of palaeoenvironmental changes in the area over the last four glacial-interglacial cycles, emphasizing the last glacial, the deglacial transition and the early Holocene. The lake Yammoûneh hydroclimatic record reveals interglacials high water availability and generally drier Glacials, in agreement with southeastern Europe. The northern and southern Levant climates evolved in opposite directions at the Glacial-Interglacial time-scale, suggesting heterogeneity of eastern Mediterranean responses to global climates. Harsh Last Glacial Maximum conditions at Yammoûneh may reflect water storage in Mt. Lebanon glaciers. Late Glacial and early Holocene records from the Yammoûneh basin, the Bekaa valley and the Jeita Cave in Lebanon, and from the Ghab in Syria reveal post-glacial warming associated with a rapid re-establishment of humid conditions, and early Holocene moist conditions.
Type
Chapter
Information
Quaternary of the Levant
Environments, Climate Change, and Humans
 , pp. 173 - 178
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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