Implications of submonthly oxygen and carbon isotope variations in late Pleistocene Melanopsis shells for regional and local hydroclimate in the upper Jordan River valley

Many water-stressed regions of the globe have a highly seasonal precipitation regime. However, seasonality in the past and under changing climates is little studied. Submonthly records of sclerochronological δ 18 O and δ 13 C values of Melanopsis shells from the Jordan River Dureijat archaeological site (JRD) in the upper Jordan River valley presented here document the hydrology of paleo-Lake Hula. These records were assessed for changes in seasonal hydrology in the lake and compared with modern shells collected from present-day waterbodies in northern Israel and with models of δ 18 O shell . Results from shells in sediments dating from the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the Bølling-Allerød imply changes in waterbody size that qualitatively parallel changes in the late Pleistocene Lake Lisan levels; Hula Lake was well buffered when Lake Lisan stood at a high stand and poorly buffered when water levels were lower. Furthermore, data from shells dated to the LGM suggest inflowing water with lower δ 18 O values than local rainfall, providing evidence for a greater proportion of snow in the catchment than today. Reconstruction of water δ 18 O and mixing-model calculations suggest that snowmelt contribution to spring water during the LGM may have been more than twice the amount in the modern-day catchment.

Discharge · Drainage basin · Geochemistry · Geography · Geomorphology · Glacial period · Hydrology (agriculture) · Isotopes of oxygen · Last Glacial Maximum · Physical geography · Pleistocene · Precipitation · Snow · Snowmelt · Spring (device) · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry · Paleontology

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