Integrated Calendar

Layered halite sequences were deposited in deep hypersaline basins throughout the geological record. These sequences are of research interest for hydrocarbon extraction, mineral exploration, tectonics and structural geology and paleoclimate research. Modern analogs and the processes leading to deposition of thick halite sequences were studied only through analyses of the common modern, shallow environments, which are fundamentally different in their nature from halite-depositing, deep waterbodies. Thus, the spatiotemporal evolution of halite sequences remained ambiguous. I will present, first, a study of the active precipitation of halite layers from the only modern analog in the world for deep, halite-precipitating basin; the hypersaline Dead Sea. Then the implications of these results to the geological record will be emphasized. Novel in situ observations in the Dead Sea link seasonal hydroclimatic conditions, thermohaline stratification, halite saturation, and the characteristics of the actively forming halite layers. The main findings of this study are: (a) Halite deposition dynamics is directly related to the development of the thermohaline stratification and it is primarily temperature controlled; it is counter-intuitive to the common approach that focus on the role of the hydrological budget in the study of hypersaline environments. (b) A pronounced depth dependency of the degree of halite saturation and halite deposition. (c) A well-defined seasonality of halite deposition on the deep lakefloor. (d) Preferential halite accumulation at the deep, hypolimnetic lake floor (>25m depth) due to intensive halite dissolution at the shallow epilimnetic lakefloor, and its re-deposition at depth, in a process termed “halite focusing”. (e) Halite accumulates at high rates in the deep lakefloor, doubling (or even more) the expected thickness without halite focusing. (f) Freshwater inflows further amplify halite thickness at the drier parts of the lake. These findings provide insights and quantify the processes required for reconstructing past hypersaline environments from halite sequences, in the Dead Sea and worldwide.