Salt accumulation in the loessial sequence in the Be'er Sheva Basin,Israel

Evidence of climatic changes is recorded in the salt content of the surface sediments in arid zones. In wetter periods airborne salts are removed downward by leaching to the groundwater, whereas in drier periods they accumulate. The period of salt accumulation in the loessial sediments of the northern Negev is about 10,000 yr. This period represents the recent aridification phase. The beginning of this stretch of time followed the last humid period in the region. Top paleo soil (calcic horizon) found in the region and dated 12,000 yr B.P. is an indicator of this humid period. This article is a contribution from the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Datan, Israel, No. 1751E, 1986 series.     

High concentration of solutes at the upper part of the saturated zone (water table) of a deep aquifer under sewage-irrigated land

The water-table region (upper 50 cm of the saturated zone) of a 25 m deep phreatic sandstone aquifer, lying under fields irrigated with sewage effluents for up to 22 yrs, was monitored in 1971 and 1984. Average concentrations of NO⁻₃, Cl⁻ and SO²⁻₄ of up to 225, 307 and 155 mg l⁻¹, respectively, were detected in the upper 50 cm of the saturated region in two research wells in 1984. These concentrations, which are related to effluent and fertilizer input to groundwater, were two to four times higher than those found deep (37–55 m) below the water table in nearby (1000 m distant) production wells. Nitrate data and the estimated transit time through the unsaturated zone (2 m yr⁻¹) support the model suggesting that the major source of nitrate pollution in the past should be related to the oxidation of soil organic matter. The SO²⁻₄/Cl⁻ ratio is found to be a useful indicator for the arrival of SO²⁻₄-fertilizers at the groundwater interface. The observations presented in this paper question the suitability of plans for using effluents as a water source for agriculture in regions which are the replenishment areas of phreatic aquifers.     

A high stand of the Dead Sea at the end of the Neolithic period: Paleoclimatic and archeological implications

A salt deposit, covering land snail shells and rocks, was found in a space under a large boulder at Qumran near the Dead Sea at -280 m elevation and marks the level of the Dead Sea at c. 6700 yr BP. This level is some 120 m above the modern Dead Sea level and thus indicates substantially higher rainfall than at present. Archeological evidence indicates a falling sea level immediately following this time. Despite the favorable climate at the time of the high stand, the presently more arid areas of the southern Levant were nearly deserted. Only during the subsequent period of aridification did these areas become extensively settled by people of the Chalcolithic culture.     

Carbon and oxygen isotope composition of shell carbonate of desert land snails

Variation in¹³C/¹²C and¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios in the shell carbonate of several species of land snails was studied along a climatic gradient in semi-arid to arid areas in the southern Levant.¹³C was found to be enriched in snails from communities having plants with a C₄ photosynthetic pathway. Depleted δ¹³C values were found in areas with high mean annual rainfall, apparently due to higher input of metabolic CO₂ as a result of greater snail activity. Shell carbonate δ¹⁸O values show a weak relation to the δ¹⁸O values of rainwater. The shell δ¹⁸O values are enriched by 2–8‰ relative to isotopic equilibrium with environmental waters. Enrichment is suggested to result from metabolic effects on body water (with lower activity producing greater enrichment) but evaporation could also be a factor. Consistent differences in both¹³C and¹⁸O were found among species and may relate to the time when shell deposition occurs. As with most paleoenvironmental indicators, the application of shell isotopes is complicated by the multiplicity of controls of isotopic composition.     

Chemical reactions of sea water with rocks and freshwater: Experimental and field observations on brackish waters in Israel

Four major processes are observed to take place in the coastal aquifer of Israel, detectable even in the short times of water contact with the carbonate-containing host rocks. Three are chemical reactions, Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺ exchange, Na⁺-Ca²⁺ or Na⁺-Mg²⁺ base exchange, SO^2?₄ reduction and the fourth is dilution by freshwater. These reactions and their effects on the chemical composition of the waters were demonstrated experimentally. The range of chemical changes observed in the laboratory experiments overlap the range of the studied natural waters. This indicates that simulation of geologically long-term rock-water interaction could be achieved in laboratory experiments even at low temperatures.     

Synchronized changes in regional water balance since the mid-holocene

Detailed records of past climatic changes, especially those related to water balance, can be used to study regional scale climatic changes associated with both natural and anthropogenic causes. Such ancient records are available from various locations around the globe. The four records presented here have sufficient time resolution to demonstrate short-lived global oscillations in parameters related to water balance during the last 7,000 y. The data indicate that sub-Milankovitch climatic events are not restricted to times of major climatic transitions but occurred throughout the Holocene. Most of the past changes due to natural variability are at least of the same order of magnitude as those predicted by various models to occur during the next century.     

Isotopic evidence for meteoric-hydrothermal alteration of plutonic igneous rocks in the Yakutat Bay and Skagway areas,Alaska

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios were measured on coexisting minerals from quartz diorites and quartz monzonites from a section across the Coast Range batholith in the Skagway area, Alaska, including a variety of outlying plutons west of the batholith in the Yakutat Bay-Mt. St. Elias region (latitudes 59–60°N). The extremely low and variable δ¹⁸Oand δD results indicate widespread meteoric-hydrothermal alternaiton of the Coast Range batholith, and to a lesser extent, of the Yakutat Bay plutons as well. In the Yakutat Bay area, the plutons with K—Ar ages younger than 50 m.y. have widely varying δD values of ?72 to ?148, compared to δD = ?69to?90 for all but one sample in the 50–225 m.y. age grouping (one biotite has δD = ?109). This suggests that the major meteoric-hydrothermal episodes in this area occurred during the Eocene and Miocene. This involved relatively small meteoric water/rock ratios(<0.1), as none of the δ¹⁸O values show any clear-cut evidence of alteration (δ¹⁸O_quartz= 7.4 ?11.8; δ¹⁸O_feldspar= 5.7?10.0). However, in the section across the Coast Range batholith, 85% of the plutonic rocks have very low δD values of ?100 to ?167, and the δ¹⁸O values are extremely variable δ¹⁸O_feldspar= + 10.3to?4.0 and Δ¹⁸O_{quartz-feldspar}= 0.4?10.5. These data indicate that a major portion of the batholith, particularly the quartz monzonite-rich eastern part, but also including many of the quartz diorite plutons as well, interacted with meteoric-hydrothermal convective systems that involved water/rock ratios of about 0.3–1.4. The quart diorite plutons are most depleted in¹⁸O near their northeast contacts against the younger quartz monzonite intrusions. The primary igneous δ¹⁸O values of the quartz diorites were apparently higher than those of the quartz monzonites; they are also unusually high in¹⁸O compared to most other analyzed quartz diorites, suggesting derivation from, exchange with, or assimilation of high-¹⁸O metasediments or altered volcanic rocks. These data and conclusions are very similar to those reached previously on a similar isotopic study of the Coast Range batholith in British Columbia, 700 km to the southeast at latitudes 54–55°N, except that in the Skagway area an even greater proportion of the batholith was apparently depleted in deuterium. This implies that deep (?5km?) circulation of meteoric groundwaters is probably a characteristic of the later stages of emplacement of the Cordilleran batholiths of western North America, suggesting that the eastern sections of these batholiths in particular were emplaced at relatively shallow depths.     

Oxygen isotopes and the origin of high-87Sr/86Sr andesites

Andesites from the Peruvian Andes and the Banda arc of Indonesia are characterized by unusually high and variable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios. The Banda arc samples, including two cordierite-bearing lavas from Ambon, show a clear positive correlation between ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O. The andesitic rocks have δ¹⁸O values that range from 5.6 to 9.2‰. Over that range in δ¹⁸O, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr increases from 0.7044 to 0.7095. The cordierite-bearing lavas have δ¹⁸O values of approximately 15‰ and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of approximately 0.717. The similarity between δ¹⁸O values and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in total rocks and separated plagioclase phenocrysts of the Banda arc samples indicates that the measured isotope ratios are primary and have not been affected by secondary, low-temperature post-eruptive alteration. The observed variation between O and Sr isotopic ratios can be modeled by two-component mixing in which one component is of mantle isotopic composition. As the crust beneath the Banda arc is probably oceanic, contamination of the manle component may have resulted from the subduction of either continentally-derived sediments or continental crust. Mixing calculations indicate that the contaminant could have an isotopic composition similar to that observed in the cordierite-bearing lavas.The Andean samples, despite petrographic evidence of freshness, exhibit whole-rock δ¹⁸O values significantly higher than those of corresponding plagioclase phenocryst separates, indicating extensive low-temperature post-eruptive alteration. The plagioclase mineral separates show a range of δ¹⁸O values between 6.9 and 7.9‰. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of these same samples are, in most instances, not significantly different from those measured for the whole rock, thus signifying that the phenocrysts and groundmass were in isotopic equilibrium at the time of eruption. Unlike the lavas of the Banda arc, the Andean lavas show no strong positive correlation between ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and δ¹⁸O values, but instead lower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios appear to be associated with higher δ¹⁸O values. The δ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of the Peruvian samples are both slightly higher than those of “normal” island arc volcanics.The small proportions of contaminant implied by the O isotope results seem to preclude continental crustal contamination as a primary cause of high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios. The most plausible process that can explain both O and Sr isotope results is one in which sediments of continental origin are partially melted in the subduction zone. These melts rise into overlying mantle material and subsequently participate in the formation of calc-alkaline magmas.If the involvement of a sialic component in the genesis of andesitic magma occurs in the subduction zone, melting of that sialic material signifies temperatures of at least 750–800°C at the top of the subducted lithospheric slab at depths of approximately 150 km. The fact that contamination has apparently occurred in the Banda arc samples without producing any simple widespread correlations between Sr and O isotopic compositions on the one hand and major or trace element abundances on the other, shows that isotopic correlations, possibly including pseudo-isochrons, can be produced by mixing without producing trace element mixing correlations. Because O versus Sr isotope correlations are little affected by processes of partial melting of differentiation, they provide a direct means of testing whether Sr isotopic variations in volcanic rocks are of mantle origin or are due instead to mixing with sialic material.     

Permian-Triassic of the Tethys: Carbon isotope studies

Profiles of carbon isotopes were studied in marine limestones of Late Permian and Early Triassic age of the Tethyan region from 20 sections in Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Armenian SSR, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and China. The Upper Permian sections continue the high positive values of ¹³C previously found in Upper Permian basins in NW Europe and western USA. In the more complete sections of Tethys it can now be demonstrated that the values of ¹³C drop from the Murgabian to the Dzhulfian Stages of the Upper Permian, then sharply to values near zero during the last two biozones of the Dorashamian. These levels of ¹³C sample the Tethys Sea and the world ocean, and equal values from deep-water sediments at Salamis Greece indicate that they apply to the whole water column. We hypothesize that the high values of ¹³C are a consequence of Late Paleozoic storage of organic carbon, and that the declines represent an episodic cessation of this organic deposition, and partial oxidation of the organic reservoir, extending over a period of several million years. The carbon isotope profile may reflect parallel complexity in the pattern of mass extinction in Late Permian time.

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Zusammenfassung Untersucht wurden Profiie von Kohlenstoff-Isotopen mariner Karbonate aus dem Oberperm und der Untertrias der Tethys-Region aus 20 Lokalitäten in Jugoslawien, Griechenland, der Türkei, der Sowjet-Republik Armenien, dem Iran, Pakistan, Indien, Nepal und China. Die oberpermischen Proben zeigen dieselben hohen positiven gd¹³C Werte, wie sie vorher auch aus den oberpermischen Becken NW-Europas und dem Westen der USA berichtet wurden. Anhand von vollständigeren Abschnitten der Tethys kann dargelegt werden, daß die ¹³C Werte von der Murgabium- bis zur Dzhulfium-Phase des Oberperms abnehmen und dann innerhalb der letzten zwei Biozonen des Dorashamiums abrupt gegen Null verlaufen. Diese ¹³C Niveaus sind repräsentativ für die Tethys und den Weltozean. Sie gelten außerdem für alle Wassertiefen, wie durch ähnliche Werte aus Tiefsee-Sedimenten von Salamis (Griechenland) bestätigt wird. Unsere Annahme ist, daß die hohen ¹³C Werte auf spätpaläozoische Speicherung organischen Kohlenstoffs zurückzuführen ist. Die Abnahme stellt episodische Sedimentationsschwankungen des organischen Materials dar, während der die organischen Substanzen über einen Zeitraum von mehreren Millionen Jahren zum Teil aufoxidiert wurden. Das Kohlenstoff-Isotop Profil entspricht parallelisiert in etwa dem Muster des Massen-Aussterbens während des Oberperms.

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Résumé Des profils isotopiques du carbone ont été établis dans des calcaires marins d'âge tardi-permien à éo-triasique répartis dans 20 endroits du domaine téthysien: Yougoslavie, Grèce, Turquie, République Socialiste dArménie, Iran, Pakistan, Inde, Népal et Chine. Les profils établis dans le Permien supérieur montrent les mêmes valeurs positives de ¹³C observées antérieurement dans des bassins de même âge en Europe occidentale et dans l'ouest des USA. Dans les profils les plus complets de la Téthys, il est maintenant établi que les valeurs de ¹³C décroissent depuis le Murgabien jusqu'au Dzhulfien (Permien supérieur) pour devenir proches de zéro dans les deux dernières biozones du Dorasharmen. Ces valeurs de ¹³C sont caractéristiques de la Téthys et de l'Océan mondial; elles s'appliquent à toutes les profondeurs d'eau, comme en témoignent les valeurs fournies par des sédiments de mer profonde à Salamis (Grèce). Nous formulons l'hypothèse que les hautes valeurs de ¹³C sont la conséquence du stockage du carbone organique au Paléozoïque supérieur et que leur décroissance traduit un arrêt épisodique de cette sédimentation organique, accompagné d'une oxydation partielle de la matière organique s'étendant sur une période de plusieurs Ma. L'influence parallèle des phénomènes d'extinction massive à le fin du Permien se refléterait également dans les profils isotopiques du carbone.

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