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These datasets provide sedimentological data partly at annual resolution and an age model for the lateglacial part of (1) the ICDP sediment core 5017-1-A retrieved from the deep northern Dead Sea basin in 2010/11, and (2) for the Masada outcrop located at the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea sampled in 2018. The here investigated two sediment sections cover the last glacial-interglacial transition (ca. 17-11.5 ka BP) in the hydroclimatically sensitive Levant, when the water level of Lake Lisan – the precursor of the Dead Sea – dropped dramatically from its glacial high-stand to the Holocene low levels. Here, we analyze the interval between the last two gypsum units – the Upper Gypsum Unit (UGU) and the Additional Gypsum Unit (AGU) – which were also used to correlate the two sites. In the ICDP core this section is located between ~101 and 88.5 m sediment depth below lake floor and at Masada it encompasses the uppermost ~3.8 m sediments of the Lisan Formation, which form the terminal deposit at this site. Due to the lake level decline, the complete transition into the Holocene is only recorded in the ICDP core, while sedimentation at Masada terminates earlier. The microfacies was investigated by continuous thin section microscopy, while additional macroscopic information is provided from over- and underlying sediment sections. A revised chronology using age modelling in OxCal (Ramsey 2008; Ramsey 2009; Ramsey and Lee 2013) was developed for the ICDP core and a floating varve chronology was constructed at Masada. Using these new microfacies data from marginal (Masada) and deep-water (ICDP core) sediments, the hydroclimatic variability during the final stage of Lake Lisan can be reconstructed, which could provide important insights into the development of human sedentism in the region at this time.

This dataset provides lithological data from ICDP core 5017-1-A, retrieved from the deep northern Dead Sea basin in 2010/11, for the last glacial-interglacial transition (ca. 17-11.5 ka BP). The microfacies of the Lisan Formation was investigated between ~101 and 88.5 m sediment depth below lake floor by continuous thin section microscopy, while additional macroscopic information is provided from core catchers, as well as from over- and underlying sediment sections. Thin sections were prepared following the standard procedure by Brauer and Casanova (2001) that was adjusted for salty sediments. Thin section analyses were performed on overlapping large-scale thin sections using a Zeiss Axiolab pol microscope at magnifications of 50-400x.

This dataset provides annually resolved microfacies data from ICDP core 5017-1-A, retrieved from the deep northern Dead Sea basin in 2010/11, for the last glacial-interglacial transition (ca. 17-11.5 ka BP). Sediments of the Lisan Formation were investigated between ~101 and 88.5 m sediment depth below lake floor by continuous thin section microscopy, while additional macroscopic information is provided from core catchers, as well as from over- and underlying sediment sections. Thin sections were prepared following the standard procedure by Brauer and Casanova (2001) that was adjusted for salty sediments. Thin section analyses were performed on overlapping large-scale thin sections using a Zeiss Axiolab pol microscope at magnifications of 50-400x. Microfacies analyses included varve counting and measurements of varve and sublayer thickness.

This dataset provides the results from Bayesian age depth modelling in OxCal for ICDP core 5017-1-A, retrieved from the deep northern Dead Sea basin in 2010/11, for the last glacial-interglacial transition between ~101 and 88.5 m sediment depth below lake floor (ca. 17-11.5 ka BP). The model was performed in OxCal v.4.4 using a P_Sequence (1,1,C(-2,2)) (Ramsey 2008; Ramsey 2009; Ramsey and Lee 2013) and includes three tephrochronological ages from Neugebauer et al. (2021) and three radiocarbon ages from Kitagawa et al. (2017).

This dataset provides microfacies data from the sediment profile at Masada (MAS), located at the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea for the last glacial-interglacial transition (ca. 17-11.5 ka BP). The uppermost ~3.8 m sediments of the Lisan Formation were analyzed, which form the terminal deposit at this site. About 1.37 m from the uppermost UGU to the lowermost AGU were sampled continuously for thin section analyses, while macroscopic information is provided for most of the gypsum units. Sampling was performed in 2018 and followed the subsequent procedure: after smoothing the outcrop surface with a sharp knife, stainless steel boxes (~34 cm x 5 cm) with removable side walls were pressed into the sediment along a vertical profile. The boxes were overlapping by several centimeters and a battery-operated dovetail saw was used to cut the hard gypsum sections. At the GFZ in Potsdam, the sediments were carefully transferred into aluminum boxes and impregnated with epoxy resin. Thin sections (10x2 cm) with 2 cm overlap were prepared subsequently. Thin section analyses were performed using a Zeiss Axiolab pol microscope at magnifications of 50-400x. A floating varve chronology was established between the UGU and AGU and anchored at the bottom of the AGU using the transferred age from the new OxCal age model from the ICDP core. Uncertainties are derived from the age model and varve counting. Microfacies analyses included varve counting and measurements of varve and sublayer thickness.

This dataset provides annually resolved microfacies data from ICDP core 5017-1-A, retrieved from the deep northern Dead Sea basin in 2010/11, for the last glacial-interglacial transition (ca. 14-13 ka BP). Sediments of the Lisan Formation were investigated between ~94.7 and 91.8 m sediment depth below lake floor (lithozone C2) by continuous thin section microscopy. Thin sections were prepared following the standard procedure by Brauer and Casanova (2001) that was adjusted for salty sediments. Thin section analyses were performed on overlapping large-scale thin sections using a Zeiss Axiolab pol microscope at magnifications of 50-400x. Microfacies analyses included varve counting and measurements of varve and sublayer thickness. The amount of varves in erosional gaps was interpolated and the position of mass flow deposits (MFD) is marked.

The new sediment record from the deep Dead Sea basin (ICDP core 5017-1) provides a unique archive for hydroclimatic variability in the Levant. Here, we present high-resolution sediment facies analysis and elemental composition by micro-X-ray fluorescence (mu XRF) scanning of core 5017-1 to trace lake levels and responses of the regional hydroclimatology during the time interval from ca. 117 to 75 ka, i. e. the transition between the last interglacial and the onset of the last glaciation. We distinguished six major micro-facies types and interpreted these and their alterations in the core in terms of relative lake level changes. The two end-member facies for highest and lowest lake levels are (a) up to several metres thick, greenish sediments of alternating aragonite and detrital marl laminae (aad) and (b) thick halite facies, respectively. Intermediate lake levels are characterised by detrital marls with varying amounts of aragonite, gypsum or halite, reflecting lower-amplitude, shorter-term variability. Two intervals of pronounced lake level drops occurred at similar to 110-108 +/- 5 and similar to 93-87 +/- 7 ka. They likely coincide with stadial conditions in the central Mediterranean (Melisey I and II pollen zones in Monticchio) and low global sea levels during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5d and 5b. However, our data do not support the current hypothesis of an almost complete desiccation of the Dead Sea during the earlier of these lake level low stands based on a recovered gravel layer. Based on new petrographic analyses, we propose that, although it was a low stand, this well-sorted gravel layer may be a vestige of a thick turbidite that has been washed out during drilling rather than an in situ beach deposit. Two intervals of higher lake stands at similar to 108-93 +/- 6 and similar to 87-75 +/- 7 ka correspond to interstadial conditions in the central Mediterranean, i. e. pollen zones St. Germain I and II in Monticchio, and Greenland interstadials (GI) 24+23 and 21 in Greenland, as well as to sapropels S4 and S3 in the Mediterranean Sea. These apparent correlations suggest a close link of the climate in the Levant to North Atlantic and Mediterranean climates during the time of the build-up of Northern Hemisphere ice shields in the early last glacial period., Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, 549

Sediment cores recovered by the Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project (DSDDP) from the deepest basin of the hypersaline terminal Dead Sea (lake floor at ~725 m below mean sea level) reveal the detailed climate history of the lake’s watershed during the last interglacial period (Marine Isotope Stage 5; MIS5). The results document both a more intense aridity during MIS5 than during the Holocene and the moderating impacts derived from the intense MIS5e African Monsoon. Early MIS5e (~133–128 ka) was dominated by hyperarid conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean–Levant indicated by thick halite deposition triggered by a lake level drop. Halite deposition was interrupted however during the MIS5e peak (~128–122 ka) by sequences of flood deposits which are coeval with the timing of the intense precession forced African monsoon that generated Mediterranean sapropel S5. A subsequent weakening of this humidity source triggered extreme aridity in the Dead Sea watershed and resulting in the biggest known lake level drawdown in its history reflected by the deposition of thick salt layers and a capping pebble layer corresponding to a hiatus at ~116–110 ka. The DSDDP core provides the first evidence for a direct association of the African monsoon with mid subtropical latitude climate systems effecting the Dead Sea watershed. Combined with coeval deposition of Arabia and southern Negev speleothems Arava travertines and calcification of Red Sea corals the evidence points to a climatically wet corridor that could have facilitated homo sapiens migration “out of Africa” during the MIS5e peak. The hyperaridity documented during MIS5e may provide an important analogue for future warming of arid regions of the Eastern Mediterranean–Levant.

The sedimentary sections that were deposited from the Holocene Dead Sea and its Pleistocene precursors are excellent archives of the climatic, environmental and seismic history of the Levant region. Yet, most of the previous work has been carried out on sequences of lacustrine sediments exposed at the margins of the present-day Dead Sea, which were deposited only when the lake surface level rose above these terraces (e.g. during the Last Glacial period) and typically are discontinuous due to major lake level variations in the past. Continuous sedimentation can only be expected in the deepest part of the basin and, therefore, a deep drilling has been accomplished in the northern basin of the Dead Sea during winter of 2010–2011 within the Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project (DSDDP) in the framework of the ICDP program. Approximately 720 m of sediment cores have been retrieved from two deep and several short boreholes. The longest profile (5017-1), revealed at a water depth of ∼300 m, reaches 455 m below the lake floor (blf, i.e. to ∼1175 m below global mean sea level) and comprises approximately the last 220–240 ka. The record covers the upper part of the Amora (penultimate glacial), the Last Interglacial Samra, the Last Glacial Lisan and the Holocene Ze'elim Formations and, therewith, two entire glacial–interglacial cycles. Thereby, for the first time, consecutive sediments deposited during the MIS 6/5, 5/4 and 2/1 transitions were recovered from the Dead Sea basin, which are not represented in sediments outcropping on the present-day lake shores. In this paper, we present essential lithological data including continuous magnetic susceptibility and geochemical scanning data and the basic stratigraphy including first chronological data of the long profile (5017-1) from the deep basin. The results presented here (a) focus on the correlation of the deep basin deposits with main on-shore stratigraphic units, thus providing a unique comprehensive stratigraphic framework for regional paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and (b) highlight the outstanding potential of the Dead Sea deep sedimentary archive to record hydrological changes during interglacial, glacial and transitional intervals.

The paper presents the main scientific results and policy implications of the European Commission funded project SPHERE : "use of Systematic, Paleoflood and Historical data for the Improvement of Flood Risk Estimation"., L'article présente une conclusion sur les résultats scientifiques obtenus dans le cadre du projet européen SPHERE sur « l'utilisation des données jaugées, historiques ou géologiques pour une meilleure estimation du risque d`inondation ». Il donne les principales retombées opérationnelles possibles de ces recherches.