RAPID: US Contribution to ICDP Dead Sea Deep Drill Core Project (DSDDP)

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Goldstein/1115312 The Dead Sea, located in the Dead Sea Basin (DSB) at the lowest continental elevation on Earth (~425 m below sea level), has alternately expanded during ice ages and contracted during warmer periods. At its maximum level during the last ice age as glacial Lake Lisan (~165 mbsl), it filled the DSB from its present location northward to include the Sea of Galilee. Its changing size and composition through time reflect the climatic-hydrologic history and the tectonic architecture of its location, in the mid-latitudes, on the continent, and on the boundary between the Saharan desert and Mediterranean climate zones. These changes are recorded and preserved in the lake sediments, giving them unique potential for investigating the expansion and contraction of these climatic zones, as well as the linkages between high latitude and tropical climate. Moreover, because the DSB formed by the Dead Sea Transform Fault, it is in an active tectonic region and sediments preserve the earthquake history. The DSB is also the locus of humankind?s migration out of Africa, and the home of peoples from Paleolithic to modern times. Studies of the sedimentary sections exposed on the Dead Sea margins have been applied to issues with global and regional implications associated with paleoclimate, tectonics, paleoseismology, paleomagnetism, and human history. The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) agreed in October 2009 to fund the Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project, which is expected to recover the longest, most continuous, and best-preserved paleo-environmental and paleo-seismic archive in the Middle East, with >500 m of core and covering the last ~800-1000 ka. The ICDP proposal included PIs from Israel, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and the USA. The ICDP is providing $800,000, ~40% of the budget of $2.1M, and has requested that the PIs seek matching funds from their respective countries. Broader impacts: The DSDDP is now a collaboration of six countries (Israel, Germany, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, USA). The Dead Sea Basin is a key region for human development as the route that humans took out of Africa, and previous work has demonstrated the value of sediments from older lakes (e.g. Lake Lisan) for paleo-environmental, paleo-tectonic, and archeological studies. The results will thus be of great interest to scientists in a variety of disciplines, and the public. These cores will be used for numerous graduate and undergraduate thesis projects. The PIs have a long track record in mentoring postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates. Moreover, the project needs staffing and there will be direct participation by US-based undergraduate and graduate students. The region is water-starved, with virtually all of the available fresh water in the region used by the surrounding countries, which adds severe additional stresses to already poor international relations. The observation from the early drilling phase, that the Dead Sea dries up periodically, shows that fresh water resources have diminished in the past, and climate models indicate that this will happen in the future with increased aridity. Thus learning about the history of aridity in the past is important to be able to plan for future water scarcity. The Dead Sea has a special place in the public imagination because of the associations with the stories of the Bible, and the drilling program will generate much media coverage due to its location and engender increased public interest in the geosciences. The Israeli team is making major attempts to include scientists from the Jordan and Palestine, and if this results in any additional communication and cooperation it will be a major broader impact.