This main goal of this ERC project is delivering geomagnetic curves of the Holocene (the past 10,000 years), which include high-resolution description of the direction and the intensity of the geomagnetic field, from a combination of several state-of-the-art archives. So far, we focused on developing the following archives:
1. Archaeomagnetic records:
Being one of the most extensively studied archaeological zones worldwide, our study area provides immediate access to vast collection of well-dated archaeological materials. Two PhD student (Yoav Vaknin, Erez Hassul), with the help of several dtidents and per-hour employees, collected and measured hundreds of archaeological artifacts for paleomagnetic analyses. The results of this on-going-study have been summarized in the following articles:
Vaknin, Y., Shaar, R., Gadot, Y., Shalev, Y., Lipschits, O. and Ben-Yosef, E., (2020). The Earth’s magnetic field in Jerusalem during the Babylonian destruction: A unique reference for field behavior and an anchor for archaeomagnetic dating. PloS one, 15(8), p.e0237029.
Shaar, R., Bechar, S., Finkelstein, I., Gallet, Y., Martin, M.A. Ebert, Y., Keinan, J. and Gonen, L. (2020). Synchronizing geomagnetic field intensity records in the Levant between the 23rd and 15th centuries BCE: chronological and methodological implications. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21(12), p.e2020GC009251.
Shaar, R., Gallet, Y., Vaknin, Y., Gonen, L., Martin, M. A., Adams, M. J., and I. Finkelstein, I. (2022). Archaeomagnetism in the Levant and Mesopotamia reveals the largest changes in the geomagnetic field. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(12), e2022JB024962.
Application of the archaeomagnetic data as a new tool for dating archaeological materials was developed by PhD student Yoav Vaknin:
Vaknin, Y., Shaar, R., Lipschits, O., Mazar, A., Maeir, A.M. Garfinkel, Y., Freud, L., Faust, A., Tappy, R.E. Kreimerman, I. and Ganor, S. (2022). Reconstructing biblical military campaigns using geomagnetic field data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), p.e2209117119.
2. Sedimentary magnetism – The Dead Sea
The varved sediments of the Dead Sea consist of annual sequences of layers that enable extraordinary temporal resolution. A PhD student (Yael Ebert) has been developing this unique archive. Two articles summarizing her results were published.
Ebert, Y., Shaar, R., Levy, E. J., Zhao, X., Roberts, A. P., and Stein, M. (2020). Magnetic properties of late holocene dead sea sediments as a monitor of regional hydroclimate. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21(11), e2020GC009176.
Ebert, Y., Shaar, R., and Stein, M. (2021). Decadal geomagnetic secular variations from greigite bearing Dead Sea sediments. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 22(4), e2021GC009665.
3. The marine sediments of the Mediterranean sea offer a continuous record spanning the entire Holocene. Two students - Konstantin Khrizman and Yakar Zemach – have been working on this material and a first article summarizing their work has been published. A second is in preperation
Amiel, N., Shaar, R. and Sivan, O., (2020). The effect of early diagenesis in methanic sediments on sedimentary magnetic properties: Case study from the SE Mediterranean continental shelf. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, p.283.
Speleothem magnetism:
4. Laminated stalagmites are potentially ideal magnetic recorders. Recent advances in the sensitivity of magnetic instrumentation, available in my new lab now realize the full potential of speleothem magnetism and a manuscript describing our progress was published:
Burstyn, Y., Shaar, R., Keinan, J., Ebert, Y., Ayalon, A., Bar-Matthews, M., & Feinberg, J. M. (2022). Holocene wet episodes recorded by magnetic minerals in stalagmites from Soreq Cave, Israel. Geology, 50(3), 284-288.
