News Release

Paleoclimate of the Middle East

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Stalagmites

image: Stalagmites, like this one in Soreq Cave (Israel), can record long histories of climate change in their chemistry. view more 

Credit: Image courtesy of Avner Ayalon and Miryam Bar-Matthews

A study finds that although the current climate of the Middle East region is marked by dry summers and wet winters, carbonate minerals preserved in Soreq Cave in Israel display evidence that the summer monsoon periodically extended into Israel during the last interglacial period and, combined with wetter winters than those at present, delivered elevated precipitation to the region; the temporal signals of monsoon incursion overlap with archaeological indicators of human migration out of Africa, suggesting that paleoclimate may have influenced early human movement in the Middle East.

Article #19-03139: "Resolving seasonal rainfall changes in the Middle East during the last interglacial period," by Ian J. Orland et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ian J. Orland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI; tel: 814-880-7584; e-mail: orland@wisc.edu

###


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.