Permanent Quaternary hyperaridity in the Negev, Israel, resulting from regional tectonics blocking Mediterranean frontal systems

Research Article| June 01, 2006 Permanent Quaternary hyperaridity in the Negev, Israel, resulting from regional tectonics blocking Mediterranean frontal systems Rivka Amit; Rivka Amit 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Yehouda Enzel; Yehouda Enzel 2 Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David Sharon David Sharon 2 Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Rivka Amit 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Yehouda Enzel 2 Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel David Sharon 2 Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 24 Oct 2005 Revision Received: 01 Feb 2006 Accepted: 03 Feb 2006 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 The Geological Society of America, Inc. Geology (2006) 34 (6): 509–512. https://doi.org/10.1130/G22354.1 Article history Received: 24 Oct 2005 Revision Received: 01 Feb 2006 Accepted: 03 Feb 2006 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Rivka Amit, Yehouda Enzel, David Sharon; Permanent Quaternary hyperaridity in the Negev, Israel, resulting from regional tectonics blocking Mediterranean frontal systems. Geology 2006;; 34 (6): 509–512. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G22354.1 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 Although various episodes of wet Quaternary climates have been suggested in studies of the Negev Desert, here we demonstrate that Reg soils, developed on flat alluvial surfaces and sensitive to minor changes in precipitation, indicate that the southern Negev has been permanently hyperarid at least since the middle Pleistocene. The wetter episodes were restricted to the northern Negev, currently mildly arid. Gypsic-saline Reg soils that developed on stable surfaces during >200 k.y. in the southern Negev are cumulative and polygenetic, but none exhibits even the weakest development of calcic horizons. Under current climate conditions in the Negev, calcic soils are widespread in areas with rainfall >80 mm yr−1. The fact that the hyperarid (<50 mm yr−1) southern Negev lacks any calcic horizons indicates that it never experienced an average rainfall of ≥80 mm yr−1 during the middle-late Pleistocene, whereas the northern Negev was wetter. This Negev dichotomy is explained by the main physical features controlling rainfall over the Negev, i.e, the southward-decreasing depth of the atmospheric boundary layer with distance from the Mediterranean, and the altitude of the central Negev Highland (1000 m). The interaction between these two features often prevents the passage of rain clouds into the southern Negev. The Holocene and Pleistocene gypsic-salic soil distribution across the Negev closely matches the current circumstances. We suggest that hyperaridity has prevailed over the southern Negev since the last stages of the uplift of the central Negev Highland in the late Pliocene–early Pleistocene. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.