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Late Quaternary Limnological History

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Lake Kinneret

Part of the book series: Aquatic Ecology Series ((AQEC,volume 6))

Abstract

Lake Kinneret, occupying the tectonic depression of the Kinnarot basin, has channeled freshwater throughout the late Quaternary times to the terminal lakes in the Dead Sea basin. The history of the water-bodies in the Dead Sea basin commenced with the late Neogene transgression of the Sedom lagoon and was followed by the formation of several saline- to hypersaline lakes. The lakes comprise Ca-chloride brine that was initially formed by the Sedom lagoon. The brines migrated all over the Jordan Rift Valley and are expressed in the compositions of saline springs that are currently discharged into Lake Kinneret. The chapter presents a summary of the limnological history of the lake during the past 40 ka, as reflected in the sedimentary sequences that are exposed around the lake (e.g., Tel Bet ­Yerach, Tel Qazir) and recovered from trenches and drilled cores (e.g., the Ohalo-II archaeological site). The lake reached its highest stand of ~ 160 m below mean sea level during the last glacial maximum (~ 27–24 ka BP) and merged with Lake Lisan. At 24–23 ka BP, it declined below the modern level during the Heinrich (H2) event. Sr/Ca concentration and 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios in modern lake waters and saline springs and in fossil Melanopsis shells and ostracods provide constraints on contributions of the fresh and saline waters to the lake during these high- and low-stand periods.

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Acknowledgments

This chapter is based on many studies of colleagues and students who have participated in the exploration of the environmental history of Neogene–Quaternary water-bodies that filled the tectonic depressions along the Dead Sea transform. In particular, I wish mentioning here some of Lake Kinneret researchers who guided me in the field, participated in joint projects and the drilling operations, and composed together scientific papers: David (Bibi) Neev, Jorg Negendank, Amotz Agnon, Nissim Hazan, Shmulik Marco, Thomas Litt, Marcus Schwab, Ahuva Almogi-Labin, Lilach Lev, Emi Ito, Stephen Mischke, Dani Nadel, Ami Nishri, Moshe Hartal, and Yithaki Gal. The chapter benefited from the meticulous review and illuminating conversations with Prof. Amitai Katz. Amitai devoted many years of profound study to the exploration of the geochemistry and limnology of Lake Kinneret, educated and directed students and researchers, where and what to do. The study was supported by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement 229418 and by the US–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF grant 2010347).

I dedicate this chapter to the memory of the late Prof. Hagai Ron, an outstanding scientist and a dear friend, with whom I made my first steps at the Ohalo-II shore and had wonderful years of cooperation on the history of the Dead Sea rift lacustrine formations.

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  1. Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., 95501, Jerusalem, Israel

    Mordechai Stein

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  1. Mordechai Stein
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Correspondence to Mordechai Stein .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Department, Kinneret Limnological laboratory, Migdal, Israel

    Tamar Zohary

  2. Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Department, Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, Migdal, Israel

    Assaf Sukenik

  3. Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Department, Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, Migdal, Israel

    Tom Berman

  4. Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Department, Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, Migdal, Israel

    Ami Nishri

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Stein, M. (2014). Late Quaternary Limnological History. In: Zohary, T., Sukenik, A., Berman, T., Nishri, A. (eds) Lake Kinneret. Aquatic Ecology Series, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8944-8_3

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