ABSTRACT
A land-based oxygen-isotope record has recently become available from the Soreq cave site about 60km from the Mediterranean in Israel (Bar-Matthews et al., 1997). Analysis of spelaeothems from this cave has allowed a reconstruction to be made of the average annual temperature and rainfall at the time of deposition (Figure 3.15). During the last glacial maximum, average temperatures were estimated to be 6-10°C colder than present, with rainfall 50 to 80 per cent of the present average. The reconstruction suggests a general warming trend until around 7,000 years ago, when the present-day range was reached. Estimated rainfall, on the other hand, increases to present-day values between 17 and 15ka and continues to rise, peaking at 135-190 per cent of the modern average between 10 and 7ka. From 7ka, the estimated range is indistinguishable from the modern value.
