Pleistocene lakes in the Arava Rift of Israel (Sayif Formation): facies and paleoenvironmental setting

Evidence of the existence of small, ephemeral Pleistocene lakes has been found along the margins of the Arava Valley. These lacustrine carbonates are contained within the Sayif Formation, often intercalated with or contiguous to spring travertines. Petrographic and chemical data indicate fresh water conditions. The carbonates reflect changing input ratios of channel flow to spring fed effluence. These deposits are especially outstanding for the fact that they reside within a region that is at present extremely arid and contains no contemporaneous local analogies. These deposits bear witness to mild climatic amelioration that affected the area during middle to late Pleistocene times. These small lakes may be remnants of climate features coeval to the Samra and Amora terminal lakes which filled the Arava-Dead Sea basin further northwards.