ground motion modeling of the 1906 san francisco earthquake part ii ground motion estimates for the 1906 earthquake and scenario events abstract we estimate the ground motions produced by the 1906 san francisco earthquake making use of the recently developed song et al 2008 source model that combines the available geodetic and seismic observations and recently constructed 3d geologic and seismic velocity models our estimates of the ground motions for the 1906 earthquake are consistent across five ground motion modeling groups employing different wave propagation codes and simulation domains the simulations successfully reproduce the main features of the boatwright and bundock 2005 shakemap but tend to over predict the intensity of shaking by 0 1 0 5 modified mercalli intensity mmi units velocity waveforms at sites throughout the san francisco bay area exhibit characteristics consistent with rupture directivity local geologic conditions e g sedimentary basins and the large size of the event e g durations of strong shaking lasting tens of seconds we also compute ground motions for seven hypothetical scenarios rupturing the same extent of the northern san andreas fault considering three additional hypocenters and an additional random distribution of slip rupture directivity exerts the strongest influence on the variations in shaking although sedimentary basins do consistently contribute to the response in some locations such as santa rosa livermore and san jose these scenarios suggest that future large earthquakes on the northern san andreas fault may subject the current san francisco bay urban area to stronger shaking than a repeat of the 1906 earthquake ruptures propagating southward towards san francisco appear to expose more of the urban area to a given intensity level than do ruptures propagating northward

a new attenuation relation for strong ground motion in japan based on recorded data following the 1995 hyogo ken nanbu kobe earthquake the japanese government in an effort to prevent future earthquake disasters installed networks consisting of a large number of strong motion observation stations further national seismic hazard maps were made available to the public on an internet website in march 2005 by the headquarters for earthquake research promotion however these maps indicate only the local seismic intensity for japan as empirically con verted from predicted peak velocity in consolidated soils for various applications other strong motion indexes such as the response spectral acceleration are required in this study a database of whole japanese strong ground motion records between 1963 and 2003 is established in order to identify a new standard attenuation relation for japan for response acceleration as well as peak value it is usually very difficult to determine a suitable model form due to the large variability of strong motion data and correlation among the model variables because the strong coupling of variables in an attenuation model and the statistical power of the data is often not large enough to determine the necessity of these parameters therefore in this study our model has only three variables earthquake magnitude shortest distance to the seismic fault plane and focal depth to improve predictions given by the model site correction terms are adopted and additional terms for correcting regional anomalous seismic intensity with respect to the base model are determined the good fit between the model and observed strong motion records suggests that the new model is reasonably robust

long term talus flatirons formation in the hyperarid northeastern negev israel abstract colluvial sediments of talus relicts talus flatirons around mesas preserve a record that sheds light on slope forming processes at temporal scales 103 yr the sedimentology and soil stratigraphy of two groups of talus flatirons in the northeastern hyperarid negev desert reveal four deposition events in the younger talus and at least two in the older one numerical modeling of high resolution 10be depth profiles suggests that these taluses were deposited during the middle pleistocene the younger talus group first depositional event occurred at 551 142 80 ka and its abandonment occurred at 270 38 17 ka the abandonment of the older talus group and stabilization of its surface occurred at 497 114 176 ka these ages indicate that the development of the studied talus sequence is not specifically associated with pleistocene glacial interglacial cycles the 10be modeled concentrations indicate significant differences in the average inheritance of talus flatirons of different groups these differences can be attributed to variability in the transport distance and duration of gravel exposure during transport but could also reflect some temporal variability in cliff retreat our results also demonstrate that talus slopes in hyperarid areas despite their steepness can store sediment for long periods 500 ka and thus constitute a valuable archive

paleoseismic evidence for time dependency of seismic response on a fault system in the southern arava valley dead sea rift israel the elat fault system in the southern arava valley dead sea rift israel is a complex fault zone characterized by marginal normal faults and central sinistral strikeslip faults paleoseismic evidence shows that the elat fault system has generated at least 15 earthquakes of magnitudes m larger than 6 during the late pleistocene and the holocene at least two branches of the fault zone were tectonically active simultaneously indicating that the seismic response over a period of 80 k y was time and space dependent late pleistocene earthquakes displaced the surface by 1 1 5 m their magnitudes were between m 6 7 and m 7 and their average recurrence interval was 2 8 6 0 7 k y movements along the fault system in the holocene had a higher frequency and a recurrence interval of 1 2 6 0 3 k y but resulted in smaller displacement amounts 0 2 1 3 m and smaller earthquake magnitudes m 5 9 m 6 7 historical records document the last seismic event along the elat fault zone at 1000 yr ago the decrease in tectonic activity with time is inferred from the concentration of offset along the fault segments in the central part of the elat fault zone and the decreased seismicity in the eastern and western margins the magnitude range determined for the central zone m 6 1 m 6 7 was likely not high enough to activate the marginal faults the average slip rate on the normal faults is 0 2 mm yr however the slip rate has changed through time on different fault segments in the active wide shear zone and between clusters of events related to the same segment the event specific slip rates therefore have varied from 0 1 to 0 3 mm yr the decrease in earthquake magnitudes with time combined with the observations that the last large event occurred in a d 1068 and that no microseismicity has been detected during the past 15 yr might signal locking of the elat fault zone this effect if true may result from episodic global reorganization of the system s mode of strainenergy release reflected in the configurational entropy of stress states on the fault these results have significant implications for seismic hazard assessment in the southern arava valley southern israel and underscore the possibility that the elat fault may be a site of major earthquakes in the near future

nannoplankton successions in the northern red sea during the last glaciation 60 to 14 5 ka bp reactions to climate change abstract due to its restricted connection with the indian ocean the desert enclosed red sea is extremely sensitive to global sea level changes and thus ideally suited for paleoceanographic studies of what occurred during the last glaciation the understanding of its glacial history is however still limited a serious obstacle to obtain satisfactory paleoecological information has been the rarity of microfossil proxy species caused by high salinities here we present a continuous and well dated calcareous nannoplankton record from the northern red sea covering the interval from 60 14 5 ka bp our investigation shows that the composition of the calcareous nannoplankton community varied between 32 ka bp and 14 5 ka bp in response to rapid environmental changes which are closely correlated to climatic fluctuations described from the north atlantic region heinrich events h3 h2 and h1 are dominated by emiliania huxleyi gephyrocapsa oceanica and especially gephyrocapsa ericsonii are abundant between h3 h2 and h2 h1 a less pronounced response of the calcareous nannoplankton to the high latitudinal climatic oscillations is documented prior to 32 ka bp suggesting that a strong atmospheric coupling between the northern red sea and the north atlantic realm was established in the late marine isotope stage 3 in contrast to the previously held view of a sea level related salinity increase as the major cause for changes of the plankton communities within the glacial red sea we interpret the documented variations as being caused by local hydrographic changes under the atmospheric control from the extratropics temperature changes and especially variations of the water stratification appear to be critical selective factors for the calcareous nannoplankton composition

new isotopic evidence for the origin of groundwater from the nubian sandstone aquifer in the negev israel the geochemistry and isotopic composition h o s osulfate c sr of groundwater from the nubian sandstone kurnub group aquifer in the negev israel were investigated in an attempt to reconstruct the origin of the water and solutes evaluate modes of water rock interactions and determine mean residence times of the water the results indicate multiple recharge events into the nubian sandstone aquifer characterized by distinctive isotope signatures and deuterium excess values in the northeastern negev groundwater was identified with deuterium excess values of 16 which suggests local recharge via unconfined areas of the aquifer in the negev anticline systems the d 18 oh2o and d 2 h values 6 5 and 35 4 of this groundwater are higher than those of groundwater in the sinai peninsula and southern arava valley 7 5 and 48 3 that likewise have lower deuterium excess values of 10 based on the geochemical differences between groundwater in the unconfined and confined zones of the aquifer a conceptual geochemical model for the evolution of the groundwater in the nubian sandstone aquifer has been reconstructed the isotopic composition of shallow groundwater from the unconfined zone indicates that during recharge oxidation of pyrite to so4 d 34 sso4 13 d 18 oso4 7 7 and dissolution of caco3 87 sr 86 sr 0 70787 d 13 cdic 3 7 occur in the confined zone of the aquifer bacterial so4 reduction removes a significant part of dissolved so 2

the largest local tsunami in 20th century hawaii abstract the 1975 kalapana tsunami had waves that ran up to 14 6 m high it deposited a discontinuous basalt boulder and carbonate sand veneer on the halape apua point coast of the island of hawaii these deposits fine up to 320 m inland and 10 4 masl the deposit is an unusual sedimentary association in which sand sized material is a minor component both boulders and sand fine inland over the same distance not in a continuum and they terminate at approximately the same point boulders were transported and deposited by only one wave the second whereas the sand deposit was in part reworked by subsequent smaller waves boulder transport by one wave in association with a relative paucity of finer sediment reduced internal clast interference and helped to impart a marked fining inland sequence this fining inland sequence is at odds with work that proposes a chaotic or random nature of boulder emplacement by tsunamis where there is abundant sediment clast interference during entrainment will impede the fining inland of larger material in cases where it is difficult to determine the nature of inundation or the number of tsunamis a chaotic pattern may simply reflect deposition by storm tsunami or a combination of the two

desert pavement coated surfaces in extreme deserts present the longest lived landforms on earth all exposed rocks on earth s surface experience erosion the fastest rates are documented in rapidly uplifted monsoonal mountain ranges and the slowest occur in extreme cold or warm deserts millennial submeterscale erosion may be approached only in the latter the oldest previously reported exposure ages are from boulders and clasts of resistant lithologies lying at the surface and the slowest reported erosion rates are derived from bedrock outcrops or boulders that erode more slowly than their surroundings thus these oldest reported ages and slowest erosion rates relate to outstanding features in the landscape while the surrounding landscape may erode faster and be younger we present erosion rate and exposure age data from the paran plains a typical environment in the near east where vast abandoned alluvial surfaces 10 2 10 4 km 2 are covered by well developed desert pavements these surfaces may experience erosion rates that are slower than those documented elsewhere on our planet and can retain their original geometry for more than 2 m y major factors that reduce erosion converge in these regions extreme hyperaridity tectonic stability fl at and horizontal surfaces i e no relief and effective surface armoring by a clast mosaic of highly resistant lithology the 10 be concentrations in amalgamated desert pavement chert clasts collected from abandoned alluvial surfaces in the southern negev israel representing the sahara arabia deserts indicate simple exposure ages of 1 5 1 8 ma or correspond to maximum erosion rates of 0 25 0 3 m m y 1 the 36

mediterranean moisture source for an early holocene humid period in the northern red sea paleosalinity and terrigenous sediment input changes reconstructed on two sediment cores from the northernmost red sea were used to infer hydrological changes at the southern margin of the mediterranean climate zone during the holocene between approximately 9 25 and 7 25 thousand years ago about 3 per thousand reduced surface water salinities and enhanced fluvial sediment input suggest substantially higher rainfall and freshwater runoff which thereafter decreased to modern values the northern red sea humid interval is best explained by enhancement and southward extension of rainfall from mediterranean sources possibly involving strengthened early holocene arctic oscillation patterns and a regional monsoon type circulation induced by increased land sea temperature contrasts we conclude that afro asian monsoonal rains did not cross the subtropical desert zone during the early to mid holocene

new insight into pedogenic processes in extremely arid environments and their paleoclimatic implications the negev desert israel abstract stratigraphic studies conducted on the alluvial fill of several ephemeral stream channels in the southern arava valley dead sea rift indicate the existence of a calcic soil developed 50 100 cm beneath the channel surfaces this anomalous calcic soil does not fall within the categories of any standard soil or paleosol definition and thus has been termed fluvial pedogenic unit fpu the fpu occurs at the lower limit of the contemporary scour and fill processes in the aerated zone and it defines the maximum scour and fill during floods the fpu is also found in late pleistocene and holocene terraces termed paleo fpu indicating that the hydrological regime of past floods was similar to the present one the formation of a calcic fpu in this unique environmental setting is associated with the cumulative influence of persistent differences in water availability to various parts of the channel before and during flood events the carbonate accumulation results from low recurrence of flood events relatively limited moisture amounts and almost no involvement of vegetation in its formation the isotopic analyses of calcic crusts in the fpu and in the paleo fpu indicate that arid climatic conditions prevailed during their formation this indicates that the flood regime under arid climatic conditions characterized most of the negev desert during the late pleistocene and the holocene however a clear difference in the 18 o and the 13 c values was detected between the active channels and the terraces this difference suggests a change in the rainwater composition rather than changes of temperature or amounts of rainfall

drainage system reorganization and late quaternary tectonic deformation along the southern dead sea transform the dead sea transform dst accounts for 105 km of left lateral slip between the arabian plate and the sinai subplate since the miocene paleoseismic studies along the arava valley segment of the dst suggest that late quaternary deformation has been primarily concentrated along the axis of the transform valley here we examine late quaternary changes in drainage system characteristics and attribute them to recent tectonic deformation in this region field based geomorphic mapping topographic cross sections and optically stimulated luminescence osl dating of fluvial deposits were used to map and date recent changes in the fluvial characteristics of catchments along the western margin of the southern arava our results reveal coeval migration of channels consistent with tectonically induced surface tilting caused by north south compressional deformation along the western margin of the transform valley osl dating indicates this tilting was initiated in the late pleistocene and continued at least into the mid holocene the late quaternary tectonic deformation along the southern arava segment of the dst is distributed across a wider zone than previously considered and extends out to the margins of the transform valley we associate the inferred wider deformation zone to possible changes in the geometry of motion along the dst

the significance of geomorphological and soil formation research for understanding the unfinished roman ramp at masada abstract new multidisciplinary research based on geomorphological investigation and soil survey conducted at the slopes of masada fort enabled us to reevaluate and question the dramatic events that took place there in 73 74 ce according to the 1st century ce jewish historian flavius josephus the fort built on a high elevated and isolated rocky block facing the dead sea in israel is now on the unesco list of world heritage sites here according to josephus a group of jewish rebels occupying masada chose to kill each other and die as free people rather than go into captivity this act took place after the rebels realized that the roman army laying a complex assault ramp against the fort of masada were breaching its walls the archaeological finds unearthed at masada revealing the daily life of the jewish rebels and the well preserved remains of the roman siege apparatus seem at face value to complement josephus description however our new geomorphological and soil examination of the assault ramp and the natural terrain in its vicinity enable us to clearly separate between the man made construction and the natural slope environments and draw a clear boundary between the two in addition we conclude that since their formation they were not subjected to later modification by processes such as natural erosion slope sliding or anthropogenic interruptions as the roman assault ramp was found to be an uncompleted structure we conclude that the final scenario of the siege could not have happened as josephus described it this meticulous new research confirms our earlier hypothesis that the assault ramp was never completed and therefore could not have been operational such a conclusion challenges the common understanding of how the roman siege of masada ended

hydro climate research of the late quaternary of the eastern mediterranean levant region based on speleothems research a review abstract the eastern mediterranean em levant region is the eastern borderland of the eastern mediterranean sea ems the ems brings mediterranean climate zones to the immediate coastal region and hinterland but away from the influence of the ems the region rapidly becomes a desert paleoclimate evidence derived from a large number of studies on speleothems from caves located along sharp climatic gradients enables deep insight into the climate in the em levant region growth periods and isotopic composition of speleothems from the various climate regimes capture the regional signals of temperature rainfall amount and vegetation speleothems from northern and central israel grew continuously in areas where present day annual rainfall is 400 500 mm and show that water was always available during glacials and interglacials these speleothems display a well defined 18o orbital modulation of glacial and interglacial marine isotope stages mis and show good correlations with the ems marine records pointing to strong direct sea land links the climatic record indicates relatively drier and cooler glacials but extreme wet peaks during interglacials mainly mis 5e between 128 120 ka bp pluvial conditions penetrated to the northern central and southern negev desert the present day climatic gradient between the different climatic regions existed through interglacials however growth periods of speleothems from the northern negev desert from the rain shadow desert and the dead sea basin suggest that during last glacial the desert boundary moved from its interglacial and present day position 30 km farther south and 60 km farther east due to positive water balance

palaeoclimate interpretations of late pleistocene vegetated linear dune mobilization episodes evidence from the northwestern negev dunefield israel abstract the vegetated linear dune vld field of the northwestern nw negev desert situated at the downwind eastern end of the northern sinai nw negev erg constitutes an ideal setting for dating and interpreting its late quaternary dune encroachment episodes this study builds upon the results of roskin et al age origin and climatic controls on vegetated linear dunes in the northwestern negev desert israel quaternary science reviews 30 2011 1649 1674 that presented the stratigraphy of 35 sections and 97 optically stimulated luminescence osl ages from the nw negev dunefield here we refine our analysis of the negev late pleistocene dune mobilizations and stabilizations and interpret their palaeoclimatic controls in light of regional and global sediment records and proxies while initial dune encroachment into and stabilization in the nw negev took place during the last glacial maximum lgm at 23 18 ka spatial and statistical analyses of the osl dataset suggest that since the lgm negev dune activity was concentrated in two significant mobilization stabilization episodes a main episode at 16 13 7 ka and a minor one at 12 4 11 6 ka when the dunes reached their maximum spatial extent and stabilized these episodes include rapid dune encroachment and accretion events and coincide with the heinrich 1 and younger dryas cold events respectively the late pleistocene sand transporting winds were characterized by a westerly direction that resulted in west east vld elongation dune mobilizations may have occurred in response to wintertime east mediterranean cyclonic systems that brought storms of rainfall and strong winds the rapid dune mobilization events and their concurrence with the heinrich 1 and younger dryas cold events suggest a more global control despite the rainfall the elongating vlds were probably sparsely vegetated because of the high wind power their stabilization resulted from a decrease in storminess with the onset of a more arid holocene climate other global low latitude dune mobilizations and stabilizations are concentrated at the end of the late pleistocene leading us to suggest that these were also controlled mainly by global cold events and subsequent changes in windiness the recurring discontinuous aeolian sedimentation pattern found in osl dated vlds provides new and important chronological and sedimentological insight into prominent dune mobilization and stabilization processes the suggested link between global drops in cold event windiness and low latitude dune stabilization episodes emphasizes the prevalence of winds over aridity regarding major dune mobilizations for low latitude dunes even if vegetated

late quaternary paleoclimate in the eastern mediterranean region from stable isotope analysis of speleothems at soreq cave israel abstract the eastern mediterranean continental paleoclimate during the past 25 000 years was determined by a high resolution petrographic stable isotopic and age study of speleothems from soreq cave israel 18o 13c trends indicate that all speleothems older than 7000 yr formed under conditions that differ from those of today the period from 25 000 to 17 000 yr b p was characterized by the highest 18o and 13c values which indicate deposition at temperatures of 12 16 c annual rainfall of 300 450 mm and vegetation typical of a mixed c3 c4type from 17 000 to 10 000 yr b p deglaciation in northern europe 18o values dropped progressively correlative with warming 2 3 c and a gradual increase in precipitation a simultaneous decrease in 13c gives a range expected for c3 type vegetation this period also shows significant 18o and 13c spikes which are correlatable with global events e g heinrich events and the younger dryas stade the speleothems that grew between 10 000 and 7000 yr b p have a unique petrography showing irregular thin laminae of various colors and much detritus they have the lowest 18o corresponding to 1000 mm rain coupled with the highest 13c caused by flooding events which stripped the soil cover from 7000 to 1000 yr b p conditions became closer to those of today this study demonstrates that global events which were recognized in northern europe and north africa are also evident in the eastern mediterranean and are reflected principally by large changes in the rainfall rate

estimating the age of desert alluvial surfaces with spaceborne radar data abstract we present a new dating approach for desert alluvial surfaces that utilizes radar image data to obtain regional scale correlations between dated surfaces and surfaces of unknown ages the study was carried out along the arava segment of the dead sea transform north of the gulf of elat aqaba using advanced land observation satellite alos phased array type l band synthetic aperture radar palsar data with 6 12 m pixel resolutions nineteen independently dated quaternary morphostratigraphic alluvial units 5 to 1910 ka from eight different sites with variable lithologies carbonate magmatic chert were examined in order to develop test and validate the proposed approach expanding on previous studies that established the characteristic smoothing of desert alluvial surface through time and the capability of measuring such roughness variations with radar we employed a pixel aggregation approach that yielded a robust r 2 0 95 power law relation between the average radar backscatter value from the surface ar and the abandonment age t of the unit as measured with independent methods such as luminescence and or cosmogenic radionuclide dating we found that 1 this ar t correlation can be inverted to obtain calibrated radar based t estimates as old as 1 5 ma with 35 uncertainty 2 alos palsar 6 m pixel images acquired at incidence angles of 34 38 yielded optimal results 3 a sample of at least 70 contiguous radar pixels was required to capture the natural roughness variability of the surfaces examined and 4 surface lithology did not exert a primary effect on t inversions validation experiments yielded radar based ages of 3 1 91 32 484 169 and 1604 561 ka that compare to holocene 56 14 540 60 and 1590 250 ka ages previously determined for the same surfaces respectively we propose that with region specific calibrations spaceborne radar data can be used to quantitatively estimate the age of abandoned alluvial units across regional scales

quaternary scale evolution of sequences of talus flatirons in the hyperarid negev article i nfo talus flatiron sequences are ubiquitous landforms in arid and semiarid regions characterized by horizontal erodible rocks capped by more resistant rocks alternating phases of deposition and erosion lead to the formation of generations of talus flatirons in which ancient ones are located farther from the source cliff the existing conceptual model of this systematic spatial distribution of talus flatirons is related to glacial interglacial climatic cycles and to relatively high rates of cliff retreat three groups of talus flatirons were analyzed in the northeastern hyperarid negev desert the analyses include mapping age determination using optically stimulated luminescence and cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating electrical resistivity tomography and sedimentological and soil analyses all talus flatirons contain gypsic salic soil catena typical to hyperarid climate b80 mm yr 1 no pedogenic indicators of past wetter environments such as buried calcic soil 10 be exposure ages of the talus flatirons suggest that they were deposited during the middle pleistocene 610 ka and 170 ka for the oldest and intermediate aged talus flatiron groups respectively these ages combined with the present location of the talus flatirons relative to the source cliff yield retreat rates of 6 12 and 200 m ma 1 for the bedrock cliff and talus flatiron apex respectively and in opposite directions our results show that a climatic changes at glacial interglacial time scales are not the main controls over the formation of talus flatiron generation and b that significant cliff retreat is not the main cause for the systematic spatial distribution of talus flatiron generations relative to the cliff our results indicate that the process of talus flatiron formation in the negev desert must be associated with the balance between production deposition and removal of clasts under hyperarid conditions with only a minor cliff retreat

new empirical relationships among magnitude rupture length rupture width rupture area and surface displacement source parameters for historical earthquakes worldwide are compiled to develop a series of empirical relationships among moment magnitude m surface rupture length subsurface rupture length downdip rupture width rupture area and maximum and average displacement per event the resulting data base is a significant update of previous compilations and includes the additional source parameters of seismic moment moment magnitude subsurface rupture length downdip rupture width and average surface displacement each source parameter is classified as reliable or unreliable based on our evaluation of the accuracy of individual values only the reliable source parameters are used in the final analyses in comparing source parameters we note the following trends 1 generally the length of rupture at the surface is equal to 75 of the subsurface rupture length however the ratio of surface rupture length to subsurface rupture length increases with magnitude 2 the average surface displacement per event is about one half the maximum surface displacement per event and 3 the average subsurface displacement on the fault plane is less than the maximum surface displacement but more than the average surface displacement thus for most earthquakes in this data base slip on the fault plane at seismogenic depths is manifested by similar displacements at the surface log linear regressions between earthquake magnitude and surface rupture length subsurface rupture length and rupture area are especially well correlated showing standard deviations of 0 25 to 0 35 magnitude units most relationships are not statistically different at a 95 significance level as a function of the style of faulting thus we consider the regressions for all slip types to be appropriate for most applications regressions between magnitude and displacement magnitude and rupture width and between displacement and rupture length are less well correlated and have larger standard deviation than regressions between magnitude and length or area the large number of data points in most of these regressions and their statistical stability suggest that they are unlikely to change significantly in response to additional data separating the data according to extensional and compressional tectonic environments neither provides statistically different results nor improves the statistical significance of the regressions regressions for cases in which earthquake magnitude is either the independent or the dependent parameter can be used to estimate maximum earthquake magnitudes both for surface faults and for subsurface seismic sources such as blind faults and to estimate the expected surface displacement along a fault for a given size earthquake

the micromorphology of gypsum and halite in reg soils the negev desert israel gypsum and halite are the most common salts in reg soils developed on alluvial parent material under extremely arid conditions in the negev desert israel the aim of this paper is to document the changes in the micromorphology of these salts at different stages of reg soil development on two alluvial fan chronosequences the micromorphological analyses included thin section observations and scanning electron microscope and electron microprobe analyses in this arid soil environment gypsum and halite possess a variety of crystal forms which may change with depth in a single profile and or between profiles of different ages the variety of crystal forms results from changes in the microenvironmental conditions that occur in desert reg soils over time poikilitic lenticular gypsum is found in all reg soils and is distributed throughout the profiles the conditions needed for such crystals to form are high ionic impurities and deposition in a void system where space is not limiting microcrystalline alabastrine gypsum is only found in mature reg soils and is crystallized when the profile has high amounts of fine material and a well developed desert pavement in a well developed reg soil profile indicators such as a well developed desert pavement and high amounts of fine earth limit the leaching depth and cause gypsum deposition from supersaturated soil solutions under high evaporation rates close to the surface prismatic and fibrous gypsum are less common low amounts of prismatic gypsum are found in young and mature soils while fibrous gypsum is found only in mature soils in re cemented shattered gravel the halite crystal form is mainly cubic with low amounts of host material incorporated into the crystal it occurs predominantly in mature reg soil profiles through the crystallization from supersaturated soil solutions at the depth of maximum water penetration although the alabastrine prismatic and fibrous gypsum and cubic halite are deposited in a displacive manner no correlation was found between their occurrence and the distribution of shattered gravel in the soil profile

revealing sediment sources mixing and transport during erosional crater evolution in the hyperarid negev desert israel abstract to better understand the sedimentary history of the erosional crater of makhtesh hazera in the hyper arid negev desert of southern israel we have measured concentrations of in situ 10 be in alluvial sediments from the active drainage system and from abandoned alluvial terraces and dated them using optically stimulated luminescence osl these sedimentary sequences suggest changes in the drainage system behavior over time and show a periodic pattern in which periods of sediment aggradation alternate with periods of degradation through incision and erosion in alluvial terrace sediments 10 be concentrations were combined with osl ages to gain insight of the temporal framework of sediment deposition and shed light on the process of sediment storage osl and simple 10 be exposure ages of terrace sediments give deposition ages between 340 ka to 50 ka at which time the youngest alluvial terrace was incised deposition was interrupted twice at 300 ka and 160 ka when periods of rapid incision caused the abandonment of the active fluvial surface and the stabilization of a younger and lower fluvial surface in the active drainage system 10 be concentrations suggest several possible quartz sources of which the lower cretaceous sandstone bedrock exposed at the base of the cliff enclosing the makhtesh is the most dominant the results suggest that sediment eroding form these cliffs are conveyed through the active alluvial channels without significant sediment contribution from alluvial terraces or from eroded bedrock exposed within the makhtesh in contrast to our measurements in the active drainage system 10 be concentrations in alluvial terrace sediments record significant storage within the makhtesh we suggest that the geometry of the makhtesh mainly the disproportion between the size of the makhtesh and its narrow outlet leads to significant accumulation of sediment within the makhtesh episodic breaching of the barrier is followed by rapid and short lived incision into the stored sediment the long residence time of sediment within the makhtesh results in high measured 10 be concentrations at the end of each of these short incision episodes when channels are already carved into the alluvial sediment and terraces are formed the channels only convey sediment directly eroded from the bounding cliff of the makhtesh a situation presently observed

runoff generation rill erosion and time scales for hyper arid abandoned alluvial surfaces the negev desert israel abstract sequences of abandoned alluvial surfaces are ubiquitous desert landscapes considered as responding to quaternary timescale climatic fluctuations and tectonic activity the post depositional evolution surficial properties of these alluvial surfaces change with time a surface clast breakdown and development of desert pavement b dust and salts accumulation c reg gravelly desert soil evolution in the present study we focus on the hydrological response and the resulting erosional processes to these changes in surface properties over a sequence of late pleistocene holocene abandoned alluvial surfaces in nahal evrona catchment at the hyperarid southern arava valley north of the towns of eilat israel and aqaba jordan the methods used in the study are a simulated rainfall experiments to determine hydrological characteristics b terrestrial laser scanning tls to determine surface roughness c osl dating for the chronology d surface and soil descriptions and measurements and grain size analyses to determine texture of the uppermost av horizon of the reg soil e gis analysis of the new drainage network developing over the older abandoned alluvial surfaces the results show that with time roughness decreases infiltration decreases to about 8 9 relative to present rates point runoff generation increases 5 fold and as a result rill and gully erosion initiated finally leading to the destruction of the alluvial surface under the current hyper arid climate in the southern negev desert between 30 and 50 ka of surface weathering and soil development are required before significant runoff is generated and 100 ka until effective runoff initiates rill and gully erosion over these abandoned alluvial surfaces this local source runoff and gully erosion essentially destroys the alluvial surfaces in the southern arava valley within a period of 400 500 ka roughness extracted from spaceborne lidar scanning which is inversely related to surface age directly reduces friction and resistance to runoff can provide an estimate for the hydrological characteristics of the surfaces this can support applications such as rainfall runoff models risk assessment etc

transition from arid to hyper arid environment in the southern levant deserts as recorded by early pleistocene cummulic aridisols abstract the time at which deserts established their current arid or hyper arid conditions remains a fundamental question regarding the history of earth cosmogenic isotope exposure ages of desert pavement and welded calcic gypsic salic reg soils that developed on relatively flat alluvial surfaces 2 ma ago in the negev desert indicate long geomorphic stability under extremely dry conditions over a short interval during their initial stage of development between 1 2 ma these cumulative soils are characterized by calcic soils reaching maximum stage iii of carbonate morphology this interval is the only period when calcic soil horizons formed on stable abandoned alluvial surfaces in the southern negev desert since 1 ma pedogenesis changed toward more arid soil environment and the formation of gypsic salic soil horizons that were later followed by dust accumulation the dichotomy of only moderately developed calcic soil stages ii iii during a relatively long time interval 105 106 years indicates an arid environment that does not support continuous development but only occasional calcic soil formation the very low 18o and relatively high 13c values of these early pedogenic carbonates support soil formation under arid climatic conditions such an environment was probably characterized by rare and relatively longer duration rainstorms which occasionally allowed deeper infiltration of rainwater and longer retention of soil moisture this in turn enabled the growth of sparse vegetation that enhanced deposition of pedogenic carbonate at 1 ma these rare events of slightly wetter conditions ceased and less atmospheric moisture reached the southern negev desert leading to deposition of soluble salts and dust deposited in the soils the combination of long term hyperaridity scarcity of vegetation and lack of bioturbation salts cementation dust accumulation and tight desert pavement cover has protected the surfaces from erosion forming one of the most remarkably stable landscapes on earth a landscape that essentially has not eroded but accumulated salt and dust for more than 106 yr

controls on aggradation and incision in the ne negev israel since the middle pleistocene we investigated the mid pleistocene to recent aggradation incision pattern of two drainage systems nahal peres and nahal tahmas in the hyperarid north eastern negev desert southern israel although these drainage systems drain into the tectonically active dead sea basin lake level fluctuations cannot account for the aggradation incision pattern as bedrock knickpoints disconnect the investigated parts of these drainage systems from base level influence we applied geomorphic mapping soil stratigraphy optically stimulated luminescence osl and cosmogenic in situ 10be exposure dating to reconstruct cycles of aggradation and incision of alluvial terraces and to study their temporal association with regional periods of humidity and aridity and global glacial interglacial cycles the spatial and temporal relationships between the alluvial units suggest changes in the drainage system behavior since the middle pleistocene and show a pattern in which prolonged periods of sediment aggradation alternated with short periods of rapid and intense degradation through erosion and incision into sediment and bedrock we obtain ages for several pleistocene holocene periods of incision 1 1 ma 300 ka 120 ka 20 ka 12 ka and 2 ka although broadly synchronous the nahal peres and nahal tahmas systems exhibit temporal differences in aggradation and incision hyperarid conditions have persisted in the region at least since the middle pleistocene as evidenced by gypsic salic soils that ubiquitously cap the investigated alluvial terraces this observation is consistent with other observations throughout the negev indicating prolonged aridity thus alternation between sediment aggradation and degradation cannot be correlated in a simple and straightforward way to climatic changes we explain the temporal differences in aggradation and incision between nahal peres and nahal tahmas as resulting from the differences in stream gradient basin hypsometry and drainage basin area which influences the amount of water passing through the system regardless of humidity source tropical plumes red sea trough or mediterranean fronts and the frequency and intensity of rainfall in the region our study shows that 1 unlike other climatic proxies such as speleothems the evolution of alluvial terraces which involves many stages sediment generation transport deposition and subsequent incision results in a significant time gap between the actual ages of terraces and the timing of external triggers such as climatic fluctuations and 2 such time gaps may vary even within nearby drainage systems due to differences in drainage systems specific characteristics and thus result in asynchronicity or at least poor synchronicity of alluvial terrace deposition and incision

trampoline effect in extreme ground motion in earthquake hazard assessment studies the focus is usually on horizontal ground motion however records from the 14 june 2008 iwate miyagi earthquake in japan a crustal event with a moment magnitude of 6 9 revealed an unprecedented vertical surface acceleration of nearly four times gravity more than twice its horizontal counterpart the vertical acceleration was distinctly asymmetric the waveform envelope was about 1 6 times as large in the upward direction as in the downward direction which is not explained by existing models of the soil response we present a simple model of a mass bouncing on a trampoline to account for this asymmetry and the large vertical amplitude the finding of a hitherto unknown mode of strong ground motion may prompt major progress in near source shaking assessments

red sedimentary units as indicators of early pleistocene tectonic activity in the southern negev desert israel abstract alluvial units termed red units accumulated along the western margin of the dead sea rift dsr valley southern negev desert israel in the early pleistocene these sedimentary units consist of coarse to fine grained alluvium of local origin which contain calcic paleosols the sediments of the red units accumulated in stream valleys and newly forming semi closed local tectonic basins during a tectonic phase that deformed the western margin of the dsr as a result of this deformation the pliocene northward flowing regional drainage system of the southern negev disintegrated to the present northeast flowing ephemeral drainage systems of nahal zihor nahal hiyyon and nahal paran all of them draining to the arava valley in the dsr this change was induced by two deformation episodes 1 reactivation of the zihor and the milhan faults two major northeast trending tectonic lines and 2 east and northeast tilting of the entire region during upwarp arching of the central negev the paleosols of the red units are characterized by pedogenic features such as rhizoconcretions and bk horizons the paleosols developed in the alluvial sediments that were deposited and preserved in local small structural basins along the main fault lines and in reversed or abandoned westward flowing pliocene stream valleys formation of paleosols was initiated in the stream valleys when they attained a near horizontal gradient due to gradual eastward directed regional tilting followed by low rates of deposition the sections of the red units in the pliocene valleys were incised due to continuing tilting which completely reversed the primary westward gradient of the valleys and they were incised by new east and northeast flowing streams the red units have paleoclimatic implications since the middle pleistocene the southern negev has been characterized by gypsic and salic soils typical of an extremely arid climate while the calcic soils detected in the red units point to a semi arid climate this indicates a gradual transition from more humid conditions in the early pleistocene to the present extreme aridity therefore the red units reflect a distinct tectonic and climatic regime and can serve as regional morphostratigraphic marker of early pleistocene age in this paper we used this marker to reconstruct the tectonic deformation that established the present configuration of the southern negev terrain

neogene climate change and uplift in the atacama desert chile comment reply we welcome comments by hartley regarding our neogene climate reconstruction of the atacama desert rech et al 2006 1 and the opportunity to further discuss the resolution and sensitivity of soils and sedimentological deposits for inferring hyperaridity in the geologic record in regard to our

broadband modeling of the 2002 denali fault earthquake on the earth simulator abstract we use a spectral element method implemented on the earth simulator in japan to simulate broadband seismic waves generated by the 3 november 2002 denali fault earthquake this mw 7 9 event is the largest strike slip earthquake in north america in almost 150 years the source model is constrained by teleseismic body waves and observed surface offsets the earthquake was initiated by a small thrust event and is well characterized by a five segment fault geometry dominated by right lateral rupture along 220 km of the denali fault we perform the three dimensional numerical simulations at unprecedented resolution and reveal significantly enhanced ground motions directivity toward the conterminous united states for both body and surface waves

stages and rate of the gravel shattering process by salts in desert reg soils abstract gravel shattering by salts is a common process in gravelly young to mature desert reg soils the shattered gravel is found on the surface and in the b and c horizons down to a maximum depth of 50 cm field studies on the process of salt weathering in deserts are scarce therefore the objectives of this study are to present the stages of development of the gravel shattering process by salts in desert reg soils and to discuss factors influencing the rate of development under natural conditions prevailing in the negev desert the studied reg soils were developed on two alluvial fan chronosequences in the negev desert the fan of nahal ze elim and the fan of nahal shehoret the development of the shattering process can be divided into five stages a e based on chemical physical and micromorphological features of the reg soils stages a d very young yo young reg soils represent the early holocene to the present some 14 000 years salinity values are between 0 27 16 mmho cm and the percentage of the shattered gravel is between 20 and 70 the shattered gravel however still maintains its original shape stage e mature reg soil represents the middle pleistocene to early holocene or 500 000 years salinity values at this stage reach 62 mmho cm although part of the gravel does not keep its original shape and starts to disperse in the profile the percentage of shattered gravel is only 75 80 it was found that the process of salt shattering in reg soils does not depend on concentrations or mineralogy of the salts but on the micro environmental conditions of the soil profile the process requires extreme and rapid variations of temperatures and moisture conditions such as found close to the soil surface to cause salt crystallization in a confined system with time the sealing of the soil surface through the development of desert pavement and a gravel free b horizon results in a change in the soil micro environment this change impedes the process irrespective of the amounts concentrations and types of salt minerals which exist in the profile the fact that in extreme arid regions the gravel shattering process develops primarily close to the reg soil surface suggests that it can be used to identify buried reg soils and to reconstruct climatic and micro environmental conditions of paleosols

the role of rare rainstorms in the formation of calcic soil horizons on alluvial surfaces in extreme deserts abstract soils in similar geomorphic settings in hyperarid deserts 1 should have similar characteristics because a negative moisture balance controls their development however reg soils in the hyperarid southern negev and namib deserts are distinctly different soils developed on stable alluvial surfaces with only direct input of rainfall and dust depend heavily on rainfall characteristics annual rainfall amount can be similar 15 30 mm but storm duration can drastically alter reg soil properties in deserts the cooler fall winter and dry hot summers of the southern negev desert with a predominance brief 1 day rainstorms result in gypsic saline soils without any calcic soil horizon although the namib desert receives only 50 60 of the southern negev annual rainfall its rainstorm duration is commonly 2 4 days this improves leaching of the top soil under even lower annual rainfall amount and results in weeks long grass cover the long term cumulative effect of these rare rain grass relationships produces a calcic gypsic saline soil the development of these different kinds of desert soils highlights the importance of daily to seasonal rainfall characteristics in influencing soil moisture regime in deserts and has important implications for the use of key desert soil properties as proxies in paleoclimatology

quaternary evolution of a hyperarid drainage under climatic fluctuations and rift margin base level fall ne negev israel abstract the long term bedrock incision of streams in the northeastern negev has been dictated since the early pliocene by the subsidence of the dead sea basin however this incision is accompanied by very long intervals of sediment aggradation here we document the quaternary scale fluvial response to changing base level lithology structure and climate along the hyperarid nahal zafit ne negev the oldest 1 2 ma alluvial remnants point to a widespread beveled bedrock pediment at the base of the hazera anticline this pediment like other stream pediment anticline relationships in the region provides the baseline framework into which nahal zafit incises during the early to middle pleistocene this pediment was the base level for all streams emerging out of the anticlines the tectonic subsidence of the regional base level at the rift margin farther downstream has caused incision and upstream migration of bedrock knickpoints triggering the development of a wide incised valley in the mazar syncline adjacent to the hazera anticline since 330 ka fluvial terraces landslides and taluses record intervals of basin wide fluvial deposition under prevailing hyperarid to arid climate despite the general arid climate prolonged fluvial deposition intervals occurred at ca 330 265 230 125 and 110 20 ka rapid and quite short duration bedrock incision occurred in between these much longer intervals of aggradation in addition to the proposed climatic imprint on fluvial aggradation incision cycles and the first order base level control of the rift margin fault the formation of strath terraces and distribution of stored sediments within the drainage basin point to the fundamental role that lithology and structure play in the quaternary evolution of the ne negev watersheds

particle size fractionation of eolian sand along the sinai negev erg of egypt and israel eolian sand fractions along the west east transport system of the northern sinai peninsula northwestern negev erg of egypt and israel were analyzed in this study with regard to source dune geomorphology eolian transport and paleoclimate the studied erg is composed of active linear seif dunes in northern sinai western part and stabilized vegetated linear dunes in the nw negev dune field eastern part linear seif dunes differ from vegetated linear dunes in their vegetation cover linearity internal structure and dynamics sand samples were analyzed for sand grain morphology and particle size distribution although both dune types are continuous landforms with similar orientations and sand grain roundness values the linear dunes of sinai are coarser grained than the negev vegetated linear dunes the vegetated linear dunes have a variable but higher proportion of very fine sand 50 125 m content and a varying but lower sand fining ratio defined as the ratio of fine sand percentage to very fine sand percentage from these observations we infer that fractionation of sand occurred along the studied eolian transport path during periods of enhanced windiness very fine sands are suggested to have been transported by saltation and low suspension from source deposits and sand sheets we suggest that a significant proportion of the very fine sand fraction of nile delta sands has been transported downwind through northern sinai during the late pleistocene especially when linear dunes reached the nw negev due to last glacial period windiness and probably larger sediment supply generally decreasing wind velocities and increasing precipitation along the west east dune transport path enhanced vegetative cover in the northern negev and enabled deposition of the very fine sand component within the dunes and probably further downwind our results suggest that particle size distribution can elucidate much about erg history over time scales of a glacial interglacial cycle especially in cases where the sand provenance is of a single dominant source

measuring the time and scale dependency of subaerial rock weathering rates over geologic time scales with ground based lidar the evolution of roughness as a function of surface age was used to quantify weathering rates on rocky desert surfaces surface topography on eight late quaternary alluvial terraces which record the weathering of holocene 5 1 ka boulder strewn deposits into mature 87 2 ka desert pavements in the negev desert of israel was measured with ground based lidar roughness on each terrace was characterized with power spectral density psd analysis and changes in psd as a function of length scale 0 04 1 50 m and surface age were used to estimate diminution weathering rates of the surface rocks we found psd values that systematically increase as a power law function of roughness exponent of 2 0 and decrease as an inverse power law function of surface age this psd evolution indicates a fragmentation rock weathering process driven by salt shattering throughout the 87 k y period examined psd analysis of the lidar data also revealed weathering rates that increase with rock size and decrease as an inverse power law function of time from initial values 20 mm k y to 1 mm k y within 60 k y

styles and rates of long term denudation in carbonate terrains under a mediterranean to hyper arid climatic gradient abstract carbonate minerals unlike silicates have the potential to dissolve almost completely and with high efficiency thus in carbonate terrains denudation rate and style the governing process of denudation mechanical or chemical should be more sensitive to climatic forcing using 36 cl measurements in 39 carbonate bedrock and sediment samples we calculate long term denudation rates across a sharp climatic gradient from mediterranean to hyper arid conditions our samples were collected along the arugot watershed which drains the eastern flank of the judea range central israel to the dead sea and is characterized by a pronounced rain shadow denudation rates of flat lying bedrock outcrops sampled along interfluves differ by an order of magnitude from 20 mm ka 1 in the mediterranean zone to 1 3 mm ka 1 in the hyper arid zone these rates are strongly correlated with precipitation and thus reflect the importance of carbonate mineral dissolution in the overall denudation process in contrast denudation rates of steep bedrock surfaces depend on the hillslope gradient but only in the hyper arid climate zone indicating that mechanical processes dominate the overall hillslope denudation within this zone the dominance of slope dependent mechanical erosion in the hyper arid zone is also reflected by an increase in spatially average denudation rates from 17 19 mm ka 1 in the mediterranean semi arid zones to 21 25 mm ka 1 in the hyper arid zone these higher rates are attributed to clast contribution from steep slopes under arid climate this suggests an increased importance of mechanical processes to the overall denudation in the hyper arid zone we demonstrate that the transition between chemically dominated denudation to mechanically dominated denudation occurs between 100 and 200 mm of mean annual precipitation long term denudation rates across the judea range indicate that between mediterranean and hyper arid climates chemical weathering rates are limited by precipitation nevertheless in more humid climates chemical weathering rates are apparently limited by the rates of carbonate mineral dissolution this study demonstrates that carbonate terrains have the capacity to shift between mechanically and chemically dominated denudation in response to changes in precipitation similar transitions in response to changes in temperature or the level of tectonic activity have been previously reported we suggest that the abrupt nature of such transitions can be primarily attributed to the efficiency of carbonate dissolution processes and the competition between surface and subsurface drainage systems in carbonate terrains

the role of the nile in initiating a massive dust influx to the negev late in the middle pleistocene the late middle pleistocene initiation of loess accretion in the negev desert israel resulted from a chain of events starting with the exposure of shallow offshore nile delta sands beginning 180 ka during a period of glacially lowered eustatic sea level this exposure allowed the formation of the dunes of the sinai negev erg and the eastward movement of the dunes under the gusty glacial time winds in northern sinai this eastward dune advance occurred by eolian saltation that generated the coarse silts that accumulated downwind as loess we postulate that the absence of earlier negev loess is not a result of interglacial erosion as previously proposed but is due to the relatively recent convergence of the above conditions necessary for loess formation we based our interpretation on analyses of two long term natural dust traps and the association of coarse quartz silt production with the advancing quartz rich dunes over this carbonate terrain although the nile delta is considered an early to middle pleistocene feature and therefore could have been the source of sand throughout the quaternary it attained the shallow depth range of glacial interglacial sea level changes only during late marine oxygen isotope stage 7 to early stage 6 allowing its wide exposure in quaternary times prior to erg formation negev dust was finer composed of silt and clays derived from distal sources in the sahara and arabian deserts

application of a soil water balance model to evaluate the influence of holocene climate change on calcic soils mojave desert california u s a abstract we used a process based soil water balance model to simulate the downward flux of soil water under varied conditions of climate vegetation and soil texture to determine the potential impact of episodic periods of wetter pluvial climate during the holocene on calcic soils in the mojave desert that have a bimodal distribution of carbonate daily weather data associated with a relatively wet climate years with extreme increases in annual rainfall 33 cm yr and dry climate historic average annual rainfall 15 cm yr was used to simulate the affects of pleistocene and holocene climate change on soil water balance linkages among atmospheric circulation patterns regional increases in precipitation and historic flooding in the mojave desert california suggest that historic wet years provide an analog for wetter climates that occurred during the last glacial period latest pleistocene and episodically during holocene periods of pluvial activity modeling results indicate that soil water balance for dry and wet years strongly corresponds with the upper and lower zones of carbonate accumulation respectively soil water only reached the lower zone of carbonate during a wet year when extreme increases in winter spring storm activity resulted in a significant increase in precipitation and the downward flux of soil water the linkage between increases in frontal storm activity and pluvial events suggests that the shallow zone of the bimodal distribution of carbonate is a result of periods of significant decreases in winter and spring rainfall and not primarily due to increases in holocene temperature or the development of clay rich horizons calculation of carbonate solubility and accumulation rates suggests that the bimodal distribution of carbonates in soils may have also been impacted by episodic periods of extreme increases in precipitation associated with perennial lakes during the holocene results suggests that much of the carbonate in the upper 75 cm of pleistocene soils may have accumulated during the late holocene rather than throughout the entire holocene

magnitude scaling of the near fault rupture directivity pulse abstract current ground motion models all assume monotonically increasing spectral amplitude at all periods with increasing magnitude however near fault recordings from recent earthquakes confirm that the near fault fault normal forward rupture directivity velocity pulse is a narrow band pulse whose period increases with magnitude this magnitude dependence of the period of the near fault pulse is expected from theory because the period of the pulse is related to source parameters such as the rise time duration of slip at a point on the fault and the fault dimensions which generally increase with magnitude this magnitude dependence of the pulse period causes the response spectrum to have a peak whose period increases with magnitude such that the near fault ground motions from smaller earthquakes may exceed those of larger earthquakes at intermediate periods around 1 s this paper presents preliminary equations relating the period of the fault normal component of the forward rupture directivity velocity pulse to the earthquake magnitude and a preliminary model for the acceleration response spectra of near fault fault normal ground motions that includes the magnitude dependence of the period of the response spectral peak

the potential influence of dust flux and chemical weathering on hillslope morphology convex soil mantled carbonate hillslopes in the eastern mediterranean abstract convex soil covered hillslopes are ubiquitous in various tectonic and climatic settings and their morphologic characteristics can be significantly altered by dust flux and chemical weathering carbonate hillslopes across the eastern mediterranean display a classic convex morphology despite high rates of dust deposition which are apparently similar in magnitude to denudation rates and despite a highly soluble bedrock lithology these high rates of dust flux and bedrock dissolution result in soil composition which is strikingly different from the underlying bedrock in this study we apply a modified regolith mass balance equation which includes dust input and chemical depletion and utilize a combination of field work and geochemical methods immobile and major elements xrd to estimate the fraction of dust derived materials in the soil and the fraction of the soil that was lost via dissolution soil and bedrock were sampled at 7 eastern mediterranean study sites across a prominent north to south gradient in both precipitation 250 to 900 mm yr 1 and dust flux 150 to 40 g m 2 yr 1 and compared with dust composition our results indicate that the dust fraction in the soil correlates with modern measurements of dust deposition rates and decrease from nearly 100 of the 2 mm indicating that mechanical weathering of the underlying bedrock contributes to regolith formation and plays a role in shaping carbonate hillslopes using a commonly used soil transport model we show that the observed dust fraction and chemical weathering can potentially account for a 50 change in hillslope curvature furthermore the predicted steady state hilltop curvature based on our results fits well the observed curvature based on high resolution lidar derived topographic data our results highlight the potential importance of dust and chemical weathering in soil production formulations and hillslope evolution models and we propose that these contributors to soil mass balance could also be relevant for silicate terrain in addition we also demonstrate that the source material of mediterranean soils varies with environmental factors such as rainfall dust deposition rates and bedrock mechanical properties

palaeohydrological corridors for hominin dispersals in the middle east 250 70 000 years ago abstract the timing and extent of palaeoenvironmental connections between northeast africa the levant and the arabian peninsula during the middle and late pleistocene are critical to debates surrounding dispersals of hominins including movements of homo sapiens out of africa although there is evidence that synchronous episodes of climatic amelioration during the late middle and late pleistocene may have allowed connections to form between northern africa and western asia a number of palaeoclimate models indicate the continued existence of an arid barrier between northern arabia and the levant here we evaluate the palaeoenvironmental setting for hominin dispersals between and within northeast africa and southwest asia during marine isotope stages mis 7 5 using reconstructions of surface freshwater availability as an environmental proxy we use remotely sensed data to map palaeohydrological features lakes wetlands and rivers across the presently hyper arid areas of northern arabia and surrounding regions integrating these results with palaeoclimate models palaeoenvironmental proxy data and absolute dating to determine when these features were active our analyses suggest limited potential for dispersals during mis 7 and 6 but indicate the formation of a palaeohydrological corridor the tabuk corridor between the levant and the arabian interior during the mis 6 5e glacial interglacial transition and during mis 5e a recurrence of this corridor following a slightly different route also occurred during mis 5a these palaeohydrological and terrestrial data can be used to establish when proposed routes for hominin dispersals became viable furthermore the distribution of arabian archaeological sites with affinities to levantine assemblages some of which are associated with homo sapiens fossils and the relative density of middle palaeolithic assemblages within the tabuk corridor are consistent with it being utilised for dispersals at various times

10be exposure ages of ancient desert pavements reveal quaternary evolution of the dead sea drainage basin and rift margin tilting abstract early to late pleistocene 10 be exposure ages of abandoned surfaces in the negev desert reveal the regional drainage evolution history and its relationship with the subsidence of the western margin of the dead sea rift the dated desert paved surfaces have developed over originally westward flowing rivers which were abandoned by early pleistocene and whose relicts are now progressively tilted towards the rift axis the slow and non destructive subsidence coupled with extreme hyperaridity enabled the preservation of these ancient surfaces along some of the main water divides in the negev nearly irrespective of their distance from the rift axis constraints on the tilting history are obtained from analyzing the spatial pattern of the exposure ages suggesting subsidence rates as low as 120 300 m ma 1 in the southern arava valley since the late pliocene it is shown that the transition from the pliocene to current drainage pattern occurred over a short period during the early pleistocene and that the governing fluvial response that followed the delineation of current basins is represented by a continuous spectrum of ages of inset terraces

aggradation incision transition in arid environments at the end of the pleistocene an example from the negev highlands southern israel abstract one of the most significant environmental processes that occurred at the transition from the last glacial phase into the present inter glacial phase in arid regions was the shift from aggradation to incision in the drainage systems this is evident by the sharp transition from a fluvial regime depositing fine grained sediment within the wadis to intensive incision which formed gullies and narrow channels that dissected the late pleistocene sediments in order to investigate this transition we studied three small scale basins in the arid region of the negev highlands southern israel although the selected basins drain toward different base levels their geomorphological parameters particle size distribution of alluvial units and their osl ages are similar sediments from the penultimate glacial cycle are found in patches in the bigger catchments fluvial loess was widely deposited since at least 67 ka until after 28 ka covering valleys and slopes between 28 and 24 ka loess was washed from the slopes into the channels exposing the underlying colluvium at 24 ka erosion began with the transport of slope colluvium as gravels into the valleys that eroded the underlying loess sediments incision became dominant at 12 ka and is still ongoing and intensifying dust and reworked loess continued to be deposited during the main incision stages it is proposed that the transition from aggradation to incision was controlled by rates of loess supply and removal until 24 ka dust choked the drainage system and only after reduction in dust supply was erosion and incision possible it began first on the slopes and then in the channels our results show that an increase in precipitation is not a prerequisite for initiation of incision as is often assumed similar processes are described in other arid zones around the world

systematic mn fluctuations in laminated rock varnish developed on coeval early holocene flint artifacts along a climatic transect negev desert israel abstract this study presents an assessment of the potential application of mn content in rock varnish laminae as a paleoclimate indicator to investigate the environmental controls on varnish formation we determined mn composition in rock varnish formed on flint artifacts produced during the earliest holocene from eight coeval prehistoric sites in the negev desert israel these sites lie along a north south annual rainfall transect ranging between 120 and 30 mm yr 1 the varnish is 100 times enriched in mn relative to the content in the desert dust source material chemical profiles across the varnish display 4 6 distinct mn peaks in all sampled sites pointing to systematic fluctuations within the varnish along a wide range of environmental settings the mean mn contents in the various sites range between 10 7 and 15 6 at yet within this range the mn content in the negev varnish does not show a correlation with mean annual rainfall as moisture is needed for mn mobility wetting cycles by dew or light rain which are not adequately represented by the mean annual rainfall amounts but control the number of wetting drying cycles may explain the variance within the results from the arid and hyperarid negev varnish

statistical features of short period and long period near source ground motions abstract this study collects recorded ground motions from the near source region of large earthquakes and considers to what extent this historic record can inform expectations of future ground motions at similar sites the distribution of observed peak ground acceleration pga is well approximated by the lognormal distribution and we expect the observed distribution to remain unchanged with the addition of data from future earthquakes however the distribution of peak ground displacements pgd will likely change after a well recorded large earthquake specifically we expect future observations of pgd greater than those previously recorded we use seismic scaling relations to motivate the expected distribution of pgd as uniform on the logarithmic scale or at least fat tailed because pga does not scale with fault rupture area or slip on the fault there are no such scaling relations to predict the observed distribution of pga the observed records show that there is essentially no correlation between pgd and pga for near source ground motions from large events the large uncertainty in a future value of pgd in the near source region of a large earthquake exists despite the ability of earth scientists to accurately model long period ground motions in contrast the relative certainty in a future value of pga exists despite the inability to model short period ground motions reliably the stability of the observed distribution of pga with respect to new ground motion records enables us to predict the distribution of future pga and to calculate the probability of exceeding the largest recorded pga

middle late quaternary paleoclimate of northern margins of the saharan arabian desert reconstruction from speleothems of negev desert israel abstract speleothems in arid and hyper arid areas of negev desert israel are used in paleoclimate reconstruction of northern margins of saharan arabian desert focused on the following objectives 1 precise u th dating of the timing of speleothem growth as an indicator of periods of humid climate i e positive effective precipitation 2 the origin of rainfall using the speleothem 18 o and changes in spatial pattern of speleothem deposition and speleothem thickness along a north south transect 3 changes of vegetation cover based on speleothem 13 c variations during the last 350 ka major humid periods referred to herein as negev humid periods nhp occurred in the central and southern negev desert at 350 310 ka nhp 4 310 290 ka nhp 3 220 190 ka nhp 2 and 142 109 ka nhp 1 nhp 4 nhp 2 and nhp 1 are interglacial events whereas nhp 3 is associated with a glacial period during nhp 1 2 and 3 the thickness and volume of the speleothems decrease from the north to the south and in the most southern part of the region only a very thin flowstone layer formed during nhp 1 with no speleothem deposition occurring during nhp 2 and 3 these data imply that the eastern mediterranean sea was the major source of the rainfall in northern and central negev more negative speleothem 18 o values relative to central parts of israel soreq cave are attributed to rayleigh distillation because of the increasing distance from the mediterranean sea speleothem deposition during the nhp 4 in the southern negev was more intensive than in most of the central negev suggesting the prominence of the tropical rain source decrease in speleothem 13 c during nhp events indicates growth of the vegetation cover nevertheless the ranges of 13 c values show that the vegetation remained semi desert c4 type throughout the nhps with an additional significant carbon fraction coming from the host rock and the atmosphere these observations together with small thickness of the speleothem layers favor that nhp events consisted of clusters of very short humid episodes interspersed with long droughts nhp events were contemporaneous with climate periods with monsoon index of 51 cal cm 2 day and with the formation of sapropel layers in the mediterranean sea such simultaneous intensification of the monsoon and atlantic mediterranean cyclones is probably related to the weakening of the high pressure cell above sub tropical atlantic ocean which enabled more rainfall to penetrate into the saharan arabian desert from the north and south the contemporaneous occurrence of the nhp events and the increased monsoon rainfall could have opened migration corridors creating climatic windows of opportunity for dispersals of hominids and animals out of the african continent

environmental changes recorded in the upper pleistocene along the desert boundary southern israel abstract most paleoclimatic studies in the middle east and africa suggest large changes in climate during the last 100 000 years a specific area of interest is the record of environmental changes along the desert boundary this study was conducted in such a boundary in the northern negev israel sedimentological evidence and the 18 o 16 o 13 c 12 c and 14 c content of carbonate nodules formed within the sediments were examined data obtained in two study areas 35 km apart suggest that while soil formation was occurring in the northwest only fluviatile and lake deposition occurred to the southeast the results of this study suggest that during the late pleistocene the boundary was much steeper than in the holocene the period before 35 000 yr b p periodically was wetter than at present with freshwater lakes and soil covered by c 3 plants a change to a more arid condition occurred during the last glacial maximum in europe 18 000 yr b p a second wet period not as wet as the earlier one occurred with the retreat of the glaciers in europe at this time decrease of loess supply and formation of the top soil occurred at both study locations in the southern area this wet period ended with highly evaporated sabkha deposits about 11 000 yr b p the holocene record suggests progressive aridity which was accompanied in the southeast location by covering the area with dunes

soils as a tool for estimating ages of quaternary fault scarps in a hyperarid environment the southern arava valley the dead sea rift israel abstract on the alluvial fan of nahal shehoret in the extremely arid region of the negev desert israel reg soils developed on stable alluvial surfaces in colluvium along terrace risers and in colluvial units on a complex fault scarp were compared the degree of soil profile development provided an age estimate of the surface that was faulted a maximum age estimate of the scarp or terrace riser and an estimate of the maximum recurrence intervals of faulting events irsl dates of the tectonically displaced alluvial surfaces and colluvial units at the same site enabled us to re evaluate the use of reg soils for relative dating the major faulting event started at 34 8 4 3 ka it displaced a late pleistocene surface of the nahal shehoret alluvial fan dated at 56 10 8 ka renewed fluvial activity and deposition of alluvium on the downfaulted block had almost terminated by 13 6 2 3 ka the scarp was formed during the latest pleistocene and was followed by smaller faulting events which had only minor effects on the fault scarp morphology the similarity of age estimates from irsl dating and the degree of soil development in this environment indicates that soils can be used to date surfaces and colluvial units

lake levels and sequence stratigraphy of lake lisan the late pleistocene precursor of the dead sea lake lisan the late pleistocene precursor of the dead sea existed from 70 000 to 15 000 yr b p it evolved through frequent water level fluctuations which reflected the regional hydrological and climatic conditions we determined the water level of the lake for the time interval 55 000 15 000 cal yr b p by mapping offshore nearshore and fan delta sediments by application of sequence stratigraphy methods and by dating with radiocarbon and u series methods during the studied time interval the lake level fluctuated between 340 and 160 m below mean sea level msl between 55 000 and 30 000 cal yr b p the lake evolved through short term fluctuations around 280 290 m below msl punctuated at 48 000 43 000 cal yr b p by a drop event to at least 340 m below msl at 27 000 cal yr b p the lake began to rise sharply reaching its maximum elevation of about 164 m below msl between 26 000 and 23 000 cal yr b p then it began dropping and reached 300 m below msl at 15 000 cal yr b p during the holocene the lake corresponding to the present dead sea stabilized at ca 400 m below msl with minor fluctuations the hypsometric curve of the basin indicates that large changes in lake area are expected at above 403 and 385 m below msl at these elevations the lake level is buffered lake lisan was always higher than 380 m below msl indicating a significantly large water contribution to the basin the long and repetitious periods of stabilization at 280 290 m below msl during lake lisan time indicate hydrological control combined with the existence of a physical sill at this elevation crossing this sill could not have been achieved without a dramatic increase in the total water input to the lake as occurred during the fast and intense lake rise from 280 to 160 m below msl at 27 000 cal yr b p

pliocene pleistocene climate of the northern margin of saharan arabian desert recorded in speleothems from the negev desert israel abstract the middle late pliocene climate was 2 3 c warmer than today but with similar levels of atmospheric co2 this period reflects climate conditions expected in the near future and is therefore an important target for current data modeling studies this study reconstructs the pliocene quaternary evolution of arid conditions on the northern margin of the saharan arabian desert using radiometrically u pb dated periods of speleothem deposition from three caves of the negev desert israel speleothem growth started between 3 75 and 3 ma at the end of the first significant tectonic uplift of the western shoulder of the dead sea rift major speleothem deposition indicating wet conditions occurred during the pliocene around 3 1 ma with subsequent aridity during the last 3 myr punctuated by short wet episodes the pleistocene negev humid periods nhp the oldest dated nhp occurred between 1 7 and 1 25 ma and other short humid episodes continued intermittently later speleothem 18o values 6 9 to 11 2 show that the humid episodes were associated with periods of low global ice volume and warm temperatures after correction for rainfall 18o changes associated with ice volume and temperature effects the observed relative constancy of speleothem 18o values from pliocene to late pleistocene indicates rainfall was from a common source most probably the eastern mediterranean sea the humid pliocene conditions could be generated by more southerly position of the mediterranean coast allowing the access of mediterranean precipitation to the negev as well as by warmer atlantic sea surface temperatures that weakened the azores high pressure cell maximum amounts of precipitation were 500 600 mm a during the pliocene and 300 mm a during pleistocene nhp the pliocene and the earliest pleistocene nhp are associated with formation of lakes in the negev low 87sr 86sr ratios of 0 7078 in the pliocene speleothems are indicative of low dust supply low water residence time in the vadose zone and relatively high weathering rates of the cave host rock increase of 87sr 86sr ratios to 0 7082 0 7083 in the pleistocene suggest an increased supply of desert dust high water residence time in the vadose zone and reduced host rock weathering

the evolution of holocene reg gravelly soils in deserts abstract reg soil is an aridisol developed upon a stable alluvial surface composed of sand to coarse gravel the objectives of the present study were 1 to examine the initial evolution of reg soil properties with time 2 to assess and explain the rates of development of different properties 3 to establish the suitability of different soil properties for relative age dating the time dependent soil properties examined were 1 mechanical weathering of surficial rocks and desert pavement evolution 2 chemical and biological weathering of surficial rocks 3 the thickness of soil profiles and soil horizons 4 soil texture in the different horizons 5 salts and gypsum distribution and concentration in different soil horizons 6 degree of mechanical weathering of gravel in c horizons fifteen successive surfaces of the nahal wadi ze elim sequence of alluvial fans were selected for study dead sea region israel under an extremely arid climate the sequence is of holocene age 14 000 years b p to recent the main conclusions are 1 reg soils develop rather fast in several 10 3 years since their initiation however the various soil properties developed at different rates 2 the rates of change of three soil properties decrease with time these are the texture in different horizons change in added airborne and rain washed dust salinity within the soil profile change in added salts and gypsum and the amount of mechanically shattered rocks 3 soil thickness is established rather rapidly young and older holocene soil have practically the same depth surficial weathering rates appear to remain fairly constant with time 4 in coarse gravel the evolution of reg soils is dependent on added fines and salts of airborne origin and the resultant changing hydrologic regime in the soil profile the run off infiltration ratio changes as more fines and salts are added to the soil profile and as desert pavement develops 5 surficial features and fine clay in the soil profile may be used for approximate dating of otherwise undatable holocene alluvial surfaces salts and gypsum content should be cautiously used in a rather general way

permanent quaternary hyperaridity in the negev israel resulting from regional tectonics blocking mediterranean frontal systems 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 de veloped 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 21 the fact that the hyperarid 50 mm yr 21 southern negev lacks any calcic horizons indicates that it never experienced an average rainfall of 80 mm yr 21 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

increased frequency of torrential rainstorms during a regional late holocene eastern mediterranean drought identifying climates favoring extreme weather phenomena is a primary aim of paleoclimate and paleohydrological research here we present a well dated late holocene dead sea sediment record of debris flows covering 3 3 to 1 9 cal ka bp twenty three graded layers deposited in shallow waters near the western dead sea shore were identified by microfacies analysis these layers represent distal subaquatic deposits of debris flows triggered by torrential rainstorms over the adjacent western dead sea escarpment modern debris flows on this escarpment are induced by rare rainstorms with intensities exceeding 30 mm h 1 for at least one hour and originate primarily from the active red sea trough synoptic pattern the observed late holocene clustering of such debris flows during a regional drought indicates an increased influence of active red sea troughs resulting from a shift in synoptic atmospheric circulation patterns this shift likely decreased the passages of eastern mediterranean cyclones leading to drier conditions but favored rainstorms triggered by the active red sea trough this is in accord with present day meteorological data showing an increased frequency of torrential rainstorms in regions of drier climate hence this study provides conclusive evidence for a shift in synoptic atmospheric circulation patterns during a late holocene drought

spatial and temporal distribution of slip for the 1992 landers california earthquake we have determined a source rupture model for the 1992 landers earthquake m w 7 2 compatible with multiple data sets spanning a frequency range from zero to 0 5 hz geodetic survey displacements near field and regional strong motions broadband teleseismic waveforms and surface offset measurements have been used explicitly to constrain both the spatial and temporal slip variations along the model fault surface our fault parameterization involves a variable slip multiple segment finite fault model which treats the diverse data sets in a self consistent manner allowing them to be inverted both independently and in unison the high quality data available for the landers earthquake provide an unprecedented opportunity for direct comparison of rupture models determined from independent data sets that sample both a wide frequency range and a diverse spatial station orientation with respect to the earthquake slip and radiation pattern in all models consistent features include the following 1 similar overall dislocation patterns and amplitudes with seismic moments of 7 to 8 10 26 dyne cm seismic potency of 2 3 to 2 7 km 3 2 very heterogeneous unilateral strike slip distributed over a fault length of 65 km and over a width of at least 15 km though slip is limited to shallower regions in some areas 3 a total rupture duration of 24 sec and an average rupture velocity of 2 7 km sec and 4 substantial variations of slip with depth relative to measured surface offsets the extended rupture length and duration of the landers earthquake also allowed imaging of the propagating rupture front with better resolution than for those of prior shorter duration strike slip events our imaging allows visualization of the rupture evolution including local differences in slip durations and variations in rupture velocity rupture velocity decreases markedly at shallow depths as well as near regions of slip transfer from one fault segment to the next as rupture propagates northwestward along the multiply segmented fault length the rupture front slows as it reaches the northern limit of the johnson valley landers faults where slip is transferred to the southern homestead valley fault an abrupt acceleration is apparent following the transfer this process is repeated and is more pronounced as slip is again passed from the northern homestead valley fault to the emerson fault although the largest surface offsets were observed at the northern end of the rupture our modeling indicates that substantial rupture was also relatively shallow less than 10 km in this region

bathymetry of lake lisan controls late pleistocene and holocene stream incision in response to base level fall abstract this paper examines the millennial scale evolution of the longitude profile of nahal wadi zin in the dead sea basin in the northern arava valley israel nahal zin has incised 50 m into relatively soft late pleistocene lake lisan sediments incision was forced by the regressive 10 km lake level fall of a total of 200 m of lake lisan from its highest stand at 25 ka and exposure of the lake floor sediments to fluvial and coastal processes alluvial cut terraces of the incising channel are well preserved along the 17 5 km of the lowermost reach of nahal zin at its outlet into the dead sea basin nahal zin deposited a holocene alluvial fan at the base of a 10 80 m high escarpment in unconsolidated sediments the escarpment is associated with the amazyahu fault which forms the southern structural boundary of the present dead sea basin geomorphic mapping optically stimulated luminescence osl ages and soil stratigraphy allowed correlation of terrace remnants and reconstruction of several past longitudinal profiles of nahal zin and its incision history together with the published lake level chronology these data provide an opportunity to examine stream incision related to base level lowering at a millennial scale osl ages of the terraces fit relatively well with the established lake level chronology and follow its regression and fall for a few thousands of years the longitudinal profile response to the lake level fall was downstream lengthening onto the exposed former lake bed most of the incision 40 m occurred later when the lake level reached the top of the amazyahu fault escarpment and continued to drop the incision was a relatively short episode at about 17 ka and cut through this escarpment almost to its base the fast incision its timing and the profiles of the incising channels indicate that the escarpment was an underwater feature and was not formed after the lake retreated this fairly simple scenario of regressive lake level fall and knickpoint exposure and incision is modeled here using a one dimensional numerical incision model based on a linear diffusion equation the calculated diffusion coefficient fits earlier results and data obtained from other streams in the area and confirms the upscaling of this simple model to the millennial scale

evolution of reg soils in southern israel and sinai abstract reg soils mostly camborthids and gypsiorthids cover some 15 of the negev and sinai deserts analytical data of seven profiles on depositional surfaces of increasing age in the negev show clear relationships between ages of surfaces and soil profile features exemplified in the development of the cambic salic and gypsic horizons the youngest soil a coarse desert alluvium soil typic torriorthent of dry wadi beds up to a few thousand years old has little profile differentiation and is generally non saline or slightly saline on the higher terraces connected with the lisan formation about 70 000 12 000 years b p clear profile differentiation and the beginning of development of cambic horizons can be discerned evident in their colour textural p differences the soils are already saline and somewhat gypsiferous both soils are not yet defined as regs because of their negligible or restricted profile differentiation reg soils on the older and higher geomorphic surfaces in the arava rift valley several hundred thousand years old have well differentiated profiles with cambic salic and gypsic horizons below their stony desert pavements typical reg soils have light coloured vesicular horizons over mellow very pale brown loam frequently with laminar structure almost completely stone free layers the reddish brown loamy to clay loam b horizons are very saline and show intensive salt weathering of gravels gypsic and petrogypsic horizons occur at depth such reg soils represent the stable surfaces and soils of deserts and were developed over a long period of desert weathering

desert speleothems reveal climatic window for african exodus of early modern humans one of the fi rst movements of early modern humans out of africa occurred 130 100 thousand years ago ka when they migrated northward to the levant region the climatic conditions that accompanied this migration are still under debate using high precision multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry mc icp ms u th methods we dated carbonate cave deposits speleothems from the central and southern negev desert of israel located at the northeastern margin of the saharan arabian desert speleothems grow only when rainwater enters the unsaturated zone and this study reveals that a major cluster of wet episodes the last recorded in the area occurred between 140 and 110 ka this episodic wet period coincided with increased monsoonal precipitation in the southern parts of the saharanarabian desert the disappearance at this time of the desert barrier between central africa and the levant and particularly in the sinai negev land bridge between africa and asia would have created a climatic window for early modern human dispersion to the levant

terrestrial stable isotope records of late quaternary paleoclimates in the eastern mediterranean region abstract terrestrial stable isotope records 13 c 12 c 18 o 16 o and d h ratios of late quaternary paleoclimates in the eastern mediterranean region are reviewed significant paleoclimatic reconstructions come from a variety of isotopic studies paleogroundwaters although they cannot be accurately dated show oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions highly depleted in heavier isotopes compared to modern meteoric waters in arid regions of southern israel sinai and northeastern africa and attest to a major difference in climatic regime some time in the pleistocene th u dating of land snails showing a similar 18 o depletion indicates ages of 100 000 yr and 300 000 yr for this climatic regime in the negev desert of southern israel carbon isotope records of organic matter have not been studied extensively in the region except for the record of holocene land snails in the negev these document a southward shift in pure c 3 plant communities in the middle and early holocene relative to their present distribution and indicate wetter conditions at those times an oxygen isotope curve for the holocene reflecting changes in the isotopic composition of precipitation has been established from analysis of carbonate materials land snail shells and speleothems the curve indicates a depletion of ca 2 in 18 o centered around 7000 cal yr bp with modern levels being reached by 5000 cal yr bp carbon isotope analysis of soil carbonates in paleosols developed in loess in the negev show the existence of dramatic north south climatic gradients at the times of formation of the soils ca 13 000 28 000 and 37 000 14 c yr bp as occur also today due to the waning influence of mediterranean to the south some isotopic methods widely used in other regions have received little or no attention in the eastern mediterranean region these include oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in wood phosphate oxygen and organic carbon in bones and teeth and carbon in soil organic matter

provenance of the various grain size fractions in the negev loess and potential changes in major dust sources to the eastern mediterranean abstract the isotopic composition of sr and nd and elemental concentrations e g na k ca mg al of three primary negev loess sequences trace the relative contributions of desert dust sources over the past 180 000 yr to the southeastern mediterranean we focused on the geochemical signature of the fine 20 m grain size modes of the loess to identify their respective provenances the isotopic composition of the coarse fraction falls on a mixing line of sources feeding the nile and its delta the chemical compositions of the coarse fraction and the sinai negev sand dunes are similar indicating that this fraction is the product of aeolian abrasion of the adjacent sinai negev sands in turn these sands are derived from the nile delta and transported inland the fine fraction has less negative end values and slightly deviates from the mixing line indicating an additional end member the higher end values and mg al ratios of the fine fraction are relatively well correlated r2 0 64 and point to arabian dust as an additional source temporal changes in the geochemical composition of loess over time reflect changes in climates of source areas and the eastern mediterranean shifts from saharan to arabian fine dust dominated intervals indicate wetter conditions in the southern sahara that weaken dust fluxes from this source relative to the arabian fluxes

luminescence dating of fault related alluvial fan sediments in the southern arava valley israel abstract infrared stimulated luminescence irsl from coarse grained alkali feldspars was used to date alluvial and colluvial deposits from nahal shehoret situated in the hyperarid southern arava valley israel late pleistocene gravelly and sandy wadi deposits associated with fault related colluvial sediments were exposed in trench 17 t 17 which was excavated across a distinct fault scarp deposition of the lower alluvial beds in t 17 took place between 90 and 100 ka this was followed by the first period of tectonic activity and by erosion the age of the upper alluvial bed ranges from 75 to 60 ka a period of stability and reg soil formation was then followed by two scarp forming faulting events resulting in colluviation the colluvium deposited after the second event was dated to 36 ka modern colluvial sediments from nahal shehoret have residual irsl ages of a few hundred years whereas modem alluvial sediments have ages of a few thousand years colluvial sediments may therefore be more suitable for luminescence dating in arid regions

inversion of strong ground motion and teleseismic waveform data for the fault rupture history of the 1979 imperial valley california earthquake a least squares point by point inversion of strong ground motion and teleseismic body waves is used to infer the fault rupture history of the 1979 imperial valley california earthquake the imperial fault is represented by a plane embedded in a half space where the elastic properties vary with depth the inversion yields both the spatial and temporal variations in dislocation on the fault plane for both right lateral strike slip and normal dip slip components of motion inversions are run for different fault dips and for both constant and variable rupture velocity models effects of different data sets are also investigated inversions are compared which use the strong ground motions alone the teleseismic body waves alone and simultaneously the strong ground motion and teleseismic records the inversions are stabilized by adding both smoothing and positivity constraints the moment is estimated to be 5 0 10 25 dyne cm and the fault dip 90 5 dislocation in the hypocentral region south of the united states mexican border is relatively small and almost dies out near the border dislocation then increases sharply north of the border to a maximum of about 2 m under interstate 8 dipslip motion is minor compared to strike slip motion and is concentrated in the sediments the best fitting constant rupture velocity is 80 per cent of the local shear wave velocity however there is a suggestion that the rupture front accelerated from the hypocenter northward the 1979 imperial valley earthquake can be characterized as a magnitude 5 earthquake at the hypocenter which then grew into or triggered a magnitude 6 earthquake north of the border

palaeosols and late pleistocene rainfall fluctuations in the negev desert the existence of a series of palaeosols in the present day desert region of southern israel the northern negev desert 1 2 indicates recurring periods of wetter climate in the past up to seven well developed palaeosols occur within a section and each has a horizon containing soft calcium carbonate nodules 3 15 mm in diameter the palaeosols are developed within loess or fluvially redeposited loess consisting of silty clay or clayey silt the 14c ages of the uppermost three calcic horizons average 13 000 yr bp calcic horizon ch i 28 000 yr bp ch ii and 37 000 yr bp ch iii drier phases occurred between these periods of pedogenesis especially during the last glacial maximum centred at 18 000 yr bp when extensive erosion occurred analysis of the 13c content of nodule carbonates points to the occurrence of strong north south rainfall gradients during each period of calcic horizon formation which excludes the possibility of monsoonal rains contributing to the increased rainfall during these periods the palaeosols correspond to global warm phases of the last glacial period

late quaternary weathering erosion and deposition in nahal yael israel an impact of climatic change on an arid watershed in their seminal paper in 1979 bull and schick proposed a conceptual model for the geomorphic response to pleistocene to holocene climate change based on the hyperarid nahal yael watershed in the southern negev desert in this model the change from semiarid late pleistocene to hyperarid early holocene climates reduced vegetation cover increased the yield of sediment from slopes and accelerated aggradation of terraces and alluvial fans the model is now over 30 yr old and during this time chronologic paleoenvironmental and hydrogeomorphic research has advanced here we reevaluate the model using data acquired in nahal yael over the 30yr since the original model was proposed recent studies indicate that the late pleistocene climate was hyperarid and a transition from semiarid to hyperarid climates did not occur the revised chronology reveals a major 35 20 ka episode of accelerated late pleistocene sediment production on slopes with lower rates probably already at ca 50ka due to increased frequency of wetting drying cycles caused by frequent extreme storms and floods between 35 and 27 ka without lag time these sediments were transported and aggraded in depositional landscape components fluvial terraces and alluvial fans this intensified sediment production and delivery phase is unrelated to the pleistocene holocene transition the depositional landforms were rapidly incised between 20 and 18 ka since and or soon after this last glacial maximum lgm incision most material leaving the basin originated from sediments stored in depositional landforms and was not produced from bedrock using these new data we propose a revision to the bull and schick model in this hyperarid environment our revision suggests that the model should include the frequent storms and floods responsible for a late pleistocene pulse of intense weathering due to numerous cycles of wetting and drying on slopes and coeval sediment transport to fluvial terraces and alluvial fans we also discuss the common use and pitfalls of using the bull and schick conceptual model to explain observations in diverse arid environments usually without sufficient data on basin specific stratigraphic chronologic paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information

rain shadow development during the growth of mountain ranges an atmospheric dynamics perspective 1 an idealized atmospheric model is used to explore the links between climate and topography in the development of orographic rain shadows during orogenesis the atmospheric dynamics theory of density stratified fluid flow over topography is used to interpret the results the controlling nondimensional parameter is nh u where n is the brunt vaisala frequency a measure of atmospheric stability h is the terrain relief and u is the initial horizontal wind speed rain shadow development is found to be a nonlinear and nonunique function of both topography and atmospheric state indicating that geological records of orographic aridity cannot be interpreted in terms of relief alone when upstream topography exceeds nh u 1 during surface uplift downstream orographic precipitation vanishes and downstream orographic cloud mass decreases by as much as 90 upstream blocking of air flow can generate a forward projecting rain shadow in which a relatively low ridge nh u 1 may be decoupled from the atmospheric flow by a zone of flow stagnation extending upstream of the high terrain such an effect may occur if the valley separating the two ranges is narrower than the length scale of flow stagnation in the model configuration used here lateral widening of a relatively low nh u 1 range increases downstream cloud mass by up to a factor of 3 these results help to refine interpretations of climate tectonic interactions in shaping the geological record of the sierra nevada and andes

pleistocene paleoclimate of the arid region of israel as recorded in calcite deposits along regional transverse faults and in veins abstract the 18o and 13c values of the calcites associated with e w and ne sw transverse faults in the negev israel indicate that calcite was deposited from meteoric water a regional change in the 18o and 13c values was observed the 18o content in the calcite increases from the southwestern 18 o 17 8 to the northeastern 18 o 2 9 part of the region the 13c values show the opposite trend of the 13c content decrease from 2 in the south to 10 in the northeast these trends had to reflect changes in regional paleoclimate suggesting a change in the isotopic composition of the solution from which the calcite was deposited in different periods the variations in the 18o values reflect shifts in the 18o values of precipitation and are associated with a change in the source of moist air masses which came from the equatorial atlantic in the early pleistocene and from the mediterranean during a later period variations in 13c values reflect changes from humid to arid conditions two modes of calcite deposition are suggested 1 precipitation of calcite minerals in the unsaturated zone following the dissolution in the soil or 2 calcite deposition that occurred as co2 was lost during emergence of paleogroundwater from lower cretaceous and jurassic aquifers

from dust to varnish geochemical constraints on rock varnish formation in the negev desert israel abstract chemical compositions of rock varnish from the negev desert of israel and local settled dust were used to constrain the mechanisms of varnish formation and patterns of mn enrichment and accumulation in the varnish rock varnish was sampled from coeval undisturbed prehistoric flint artifacts along a south north climatic transect 30 120 mm yr of rain our analyses indicate that mn ba and pb in the varnish are significantly enriched 100 in respect to the local settling dust and that mn content systematically fluctuates with depth in the varnish the varnish and settled dust data combined with basic thermodynamic and kinetic reasoning are used to constrain the following geochemical model of rock varnish formation dust accumulates in micro basins on exposed rock surfaces under ph 8 common negev value and during wetting by dew and rain mn in the dust is mobilized and leached to a depth of 5 m under the varnish surface where hollandite mn oxides precipitate and are adsorbed onto and between the porous clay minerals that comprise most of the varnish during its mobile phase mn oxide is negatively charged and adsorbs rare earth elements once the solution dries abrasion removes the upper weakly cemented dust sediment which contains mainly si al and fe which are not mobile at ph 8 ca is also removed in large quantities mn ba pb and the ree are deposited at a depth and thus protected from erosion reoccurrences of these processes result in a noticeable accumulation of these elements but not of si al or fe the alternating mn rich and mn poor laminas form as a result of a competition between the leaching rate of mn and the adhesion rate of the clay minerals when moisture is high low lamina with high low mn clay mineral ratio forms

a critical examination of near field accelerograms from the sea of marmara region earthquakes in 1999 turkey was struck by two major earthquakes that occurred 86 days apart on the north anatolian fault system both earthquakes had right lateral strike slip mechanisms with moment magnitudes greater than 7 the number of strong motion records obtained from the kocaeli earthquake 17 august 1999 m w 7 4 was 34 the second event designated as the bolu duzce earthquake 12 november 1999 m w 7 2 triggered 20 instruments among the records that we have from these earthquakes seven are from near source ground motion data these records were obtained from the cities of gebze gbz yarimca ypt izmit izt capital city of the province of kocaeli adapazari skr capital of the province of sakarya duzce dzc shaken strongly in both the events and bolu bol in many of these urban centers extensive structural damage was observed although these near field data have greatly expanded the strike slip near source ground motion database worldwide for m w 7 earthquakes they represent a blurred image of the actual severity of the ground motions in the epicentral area because of the sparseness of the national strong motion network and the unrepresentative geologic conditions at the recording sites we examine the records to determine whether they provide clues about the extensive damage on the housing stock in the epicentral region the goal is tackled with earthquake structural engineering criteria in mind using the drift spectrum as the primary yardstick there appears to be conflicting evidence that the fault normal fn direction should represent a greater damage causing potential when this potential is based on ground story drift spectra the component with larger ground velocity does correlate better with the component with larger drift demand but this does not always coincide with the fn direction the period of the peak velocity pulse matches the structural period where the drift demand is the largest further refinements of code requirements that consider this effect are in order manuscript received 20 august 2000

rupture process of the 1999 kocaeli turkey earthquake estimated from strong motion waveforms the multiple time window linear waveform inversion is applied to study the source process of the 1999 kocaeli turkey earthquake using strong motion data two peculiar observations characterize this event the first one is a conflicting observation of the long surface ruptures and short source duration resulting from the observed strong motion waveforms the second is an anomalously short s p time observed at a station skr considering its hypocentral distance a supershear rupture propagation ellsworth and celebi 1999 and the p wave triggering of an asperity anderson et al 2000 were both proposed to explain the record at skr our waveform inversion study is aimed to examine these possibilities in order to clarify the relation between the spatial distribution of the surface ruptures and coseismic slips we divide the assumed fault plane into three parts and look for the first time window front propagation velocity propagation velocity of triggering front of the first time window at each subfault in each part by performing numerous inversions changing the first time window front propagation velocity separately in each part and selecting the best first time window propagation velocities that give largest variance reduction at the same time appropriate smoothness of spatiotemporal slip distribution is searched for by performing inversions with different strength of smoothing constraints against the observational equations and judging the relative appropriateness of inversion results in terms of the akaike s bayesian information criterion the best source model is characterized by an asperity that is about 35 km east of the epicenter and near a segment boundary at sapanca lake triggered by the first time window front with 5 8 km sec close to p wave velocity the time progression of the rupture suggests a scenario where a p wave arriving from the hypocenter or somewhere around the hypocenter triggered the second largest asperity near the junction of the segments at sapanca lake which is a preferable interpretation the first time window propagation velocities west of the hypocenter and east of skr are expected to be 3 0 km sec manuscript received 20 august 2000

slip history and dynamic implications of the 1999 chi chi taiwan earthquake we investigate the rupture process of the 1999 chi chi taiwan earthquake using extensive near source observations including three component velocity waveforms at 36 strong motion stations and 119 gps measurements a three plane fault geometry derived from our previous inversion using only static data ji et al 2001 is applied the slip amplitude rake angle rupture initiation time and risetime function are inverted simultaneously with a recently developed finite fault inverse method that combines a wavelet transform approach with a simulated annealing algorithm ji et al 2002b the inversion results are validated by the forward prediction of an independent data set the teleseismic p and sh ground velocities with notable agreement the results show that the total seismic moment release of this earthquake is 2 7 10 20 n m and that most of the slip occurred in a triangular shaped asperity involving two fault segments which is consistent with our previous static inversion the rupture front propagates with an average rupture velocity of 2 0 km s 1 and the average slip duration risetime is 7 2 s several interesting observations related to the temporal evolution of the chi chi earthquake are also investigated including 1 the strong effect of the sinuous fault plane of the chelungpu fault on spatial and temporal variations in slip history 2 the intersection of fault 1 and fault 2 not being a strong impediment to the rupture propagation and 3 the observation that the peak slip velocity near the surface is in general higher than on the deeper portion of the fault plane as predicted by dynamic modeling