{"NOAAStudyId":"16403","contactInfo":{"address":"325 Broadway, E/NE31","city":"Boulder","constraints":"Please cite original publication, online resource, dataset and publication DOIs (where available), and date accessed when using downloaded data. If there is no publication information, please cite investigator, title, online resource, and date accessed. The appearance of external links associated with a dataset does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the Department of Commerce/NOAA does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this Department of Commerce/NOAA Web site.","country":"USA","dataCenterUrl":"https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data","email":"paleo@noaa.gov","fax":"303-497-6513","longName":"National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce ","phone":"303-497-6280","postalCode":"80305-3328","shortName":"DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI","state":"CO","type":"CONTACT INFORMATION"},"contributionDate":"2014-03-28","dataPublisher":"NOAA","dataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","dataTypeInformation":"https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data/datasets/speleothem","difMetadataLink":"http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/metadata/published/paleo/dif/xml/noaa-cave-16403.xml","doi":null,"earliestYearBP":3100000,"earliestYearCE":-3098050,"entryId":"noaa-cave-16403","funding":[{"fundingAgency":"Israel Science Foundation","fundingGrant":"910/05"},{"fundingAgency":"Ring Foundation","fundingGrant":null}],"investigators":"Vaks, A.; Woodhead, J.; Bar-Matthews, M.; Ayalon, A.; Cliff, R.A.; Zilberman, T.; Matthews, A.; Frumkin, A.","mostRecentYearBP":115500,"mostRecentYearCE":-113550,"onlineResourceLink":"https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/16403","originalSource":null,"publication":[{"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 d18O values (-6.9 per mil to -11.2 per mil) show that the humid episodes were associated with periods of low global ice volume and warm temperatures. After correction for rainfall d18O changes associated with ice volume and temperature effects, the observed relative constancy of speleothem d18O 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.","author":{"name":"A. Vaks, J. Woodhead, M. Bar-Matthews, A. Ayalon, R.A. Cliff, T. Zilberman, A. Matthews, A. Frumkin"},"citation":"A. Vaks, J. Woodhead, M. Bar-Matthews, A. Ayalon, R.A. Cliff, T. Zilberman, A. Matthews, A. Frumkin. 2013. Pliocene–Pleistocene climate of the northern margin of Saharan-Arabian Desert recorded in speleothems from the Negev Desert, Israel. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 368, 88-100. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2013.02.027","edition":null,"identifier":{"id":"10.1016/j.epsl.2013.02.027","type":"doi","url":"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.02.027"},"issue":null,"journal":"Earth and Planetary Science Letters","pages":"88-100","pubRank":"1","pubYear":2013,"reportNumber":null,"title":"Pliocene–Pleistocene climate of the northern margin of Saharan-Arabian Desert recorded in speleothems from the Negev Desert, Israel","type":"publication","volume":"368"}],"reconstruction":"N","scienceKeywords":["hydrology"],"site":[{"NOAASiteId":"55866","geo":{"geoType":"Feature","geometry":{"coordinates":["30.9434","34.7396"],"type":"POINT"},"properties":{"easternmostLongitude":"34.7396","maxElevationMeters":"400","minElevationMeters":"400","northernmostLatitude":"30.9434","southernmostLatitude":"30.9434","westernmostLongitude":"34.7396"}},"locationName":"Continent>Asia>Western Asia>Middle East>Israel","mappable":"Y","paleoData":[{"NOAADataTableId":"26485","coreLengthMeters":null,"dataFile":[{"NOAAKeywords":["earth science>paleoclimate>speleothems>oxygen isotopes","earth science>paleoclimate>speleothems>carbon isotopes"],"fileUrl":"https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/israel/ashalim2013.txt","linkText":"Ashalim Cave Stable Isotope Data","urlDescription":"Data File","variables":[{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Character","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":null,"cvWhat":"sampling metadata>sample identification"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"calendar kiloyear before present","cvWhat":"age variable>age"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":"95% confidence interval margin of error","cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"calendar kiloyear","cvWhat":"age variable>age"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"calendar kiloyear before present","cvWhat":"age variable>age>age at sample end"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"calendar kiloyear","cvWhat":"age variable>age>age at sample start"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"million years ago","cvWhat":"age variable>age"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":"unspecified margin of error","cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"million year","cvWhat":"age variable>age"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":"raw","cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":"geological material>identified mineral>carbonate>calcium carbonate","cvMethod":"isotope ratio mass spectrometry","cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"per mil PDB","cvWhat":"chemical composition>isotope>isotope ratio>delta 18O"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":"raw","cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":"geological material>identified mineral>carbonate>calcium carbonate","cvMethod":"isotope ratio mass spectrometry","cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"per mil PDB","cvWhat":"chemical composition>isotope>isotope ratio>delta 13C"}]},{"NOAAKeywords":["earth science>paleoclimate>speleothems>carbon isotopes","earth science>paleoclimate>speleothems>oxygen isotopes"],"fileUrl":"https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/israel/ashalim2013.xls","linkText":"Ashalim Cave Stable Isotope Data","urlDescription":"Excel Data File","variables":[]}],"dataTableName":"Ashalim2013iso","dataTableNotes":null,"earliestYear":3100000,"earliestYearBP":3100000,"earliestYearCE":-3098050,"mostRecentYear":115500,"mostRecentYearBP":115500,"mostRecentYearCE":-113550,"species":[],"timeUnit":"cal yr BP"}],"siteName":"Ashalim Cave"}],"studyCode":null,"studyName":"Ashalim Cave, Israel Plio-Pleistocene Speleothem Stable Isotope Data","studyNotes":"Stable isotope (d18O and d13C) data from speleothems collected in Ashalim Cave, Negev Desert, Israel. 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