RAPID: Analyzing dDwax in the Dead Sea DSDDP Core as an Indicator of Aridity and a Stratigraphic Aid

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Technical DescriptionThis grant will support the use of the δDwax proxy as a stratigraphic guide and as an indicator of past changes in aridity for sediments from the recently-drilled Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project (DSDDP). The results will be used to refine the core stratigraphy, which must be achieved before further analyses are conducted. The project will produce a preliminary 200ka δDwax record from the Dead Sea DSDDP core that will provide critical stratigraphic control on the DSDDP core, aiding the interpretation of major climatic events such as the desiccation of the Dead Sea during the last interglacial period, and insights into changes in past aridity in the Levant region, including the state of hydroclimate during glacial periods, around which there is much debate. The stratigraphic utility of δDwax derives from its clear ability to track Marine Isotope Stages, enabling relative comparisons between δDwax and other proxies in the core that can be interpreted in the context of global marine isotope stratigraphy. The development of these δDwax data will play a critical role in the international progress of the DSDDP project as the dating results will allow other proxies and core description work to be put into temporal context.Non-Technical DescriptionThis research will investigate the apparent discordance between results from local cave stalagmites, which indicate long droughts during the last glacial cycle (approx. 100,000 years) and the apparent intermittent high levels of the Dead Sea during this time (known to scientists as the much larger Lake Lisan, which was ~250m deeper, and extended all the way North to the Sea of Galilee/Lake Tiberias, and South to 150km beyond the current shoreline).The research will support an early career researcher, a technician, and an undergraduate intern recruited through the Northeastern University cooperative education program. The PI will also facilitate local outreach efforts by hosting motivated high school students in her lab through the Falmouth Academy Internship program, an ongoing collaboration between Falmouth Academy and WHOI. These students will participate in aspects of the Dead Sea project and learn about the effects of climate change on the Levant region. International collaboration with colleagues from Germany, Israel and Japan will be facilitated.