Climatic conditions during marine oxygen isotope stage 6 in the eastern Mediterranean region from the isotopic composition of speleothems of Soreq Cave, Israel

Research Article| April 01, 2002 Climatic conditions during marine oxygen isotope stage 6 in the eastern Mediterranean region from the isotopic composition of speleothems of Soreq Cave, Israel Avner Ayalon; Avner Ayalon 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malchei Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Miryam Bar-Matthews; Miryam Bar-Matthews 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malchei Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Aaron Kaufman Aaron Kaufman 2Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Avner Ayalon 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malchei Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Miryam Bar-Matthews 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malchei Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Aaron Kaufman 2Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 16 Aug 2001 Revision Received: 03 Dec 2001 Accepted: 03 Dec 2001 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2002) 30 (4): 303–306. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0303:CCDMOI>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 16 Aug 2001 Revision Received: 03 Dec 2001 Accepted: 03 Dec 2001 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Avner Ayalon, Miryam Bar-Matthews, Aaron Kaufman; Climatic conditions during marine oxygen isotope stage 6 in the eastern Mediterranean region from the isotopic composition of speleothems of Soreq Cave, Israel. Geology 2002;; 30 (4): 303–306. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0303:CCDMOI>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract At several times during marine oxygen isotope stage 6, the eastern Mediterranean region was influenced by two extreme climatic systems: the large ice sheet over northern Europe and the wet tropics associated with African monsoons. During this interval, two major climatic events occurred in the region; the sapropel S6 layer formed ca. 176 ka in the eastern Mediterranean basin owing to the increase in the African monsoon, and another event, although not large enough to form sapropel, occurred ca. 151 ka. The isotopic composition of Soreq Cave speleothems seems to record these events as very low δ18O-δ13C values dated as ca. 178 and 152 ka. The very low δ18O-δ13C values of −6‰ and −11‰ to −12‰, respectively, are typical of interglacial intervals, but here they were recorded during a glacial interval. Such low peaks indicate that in this part of the eastern Mediterranean region, i.e., Israel, the rainfall amount increased dramatically. Moreover, the isotopic record of the speleothems also shows that during the entire stage 6, although the climate was as cold as much of the last glacial, the conditions were never as dry. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.