Northward migration of tropical storms via the Saharo-Arabian desert belt during past interglacials

The hydrological regime of the Levant during the Quaternary was controlled primarily by Mediterranean systems (e.g., the Cyprus low) associated with North Atlantic climate shifts. The water levels of terminal lakes in the Dead Sea basin reflected the regional hydrology and indicate high stand conditions throughout glacial intervals (e.g., Lake Lisan, whose level reached 160 m below msl) and low stands during interglacials (e.g., the Holocene Dead Sea with levels around 400 m below msl). However, deposition of travertines and speleothems south of the Dead Sea basin during past interglacials (e.g., MIS7 and 5) suggest significant, albeit brief, intrusions of humidity through the Red Sea corridor, probably in relation to enhanced activity of tropical storms and the Red Sea synoptic trough. These events, also recorded by sporadic freshwater floods in the Dead Sea lakes and increased phreatic freshwater activity along the Gulf of Aqaba (where significant parts of coral reefs were altered from aragonite to calcite), are superimposed on the long-term interglaical arid conditions. The southern incursions of wetness probably had an important impact on human migration out of Africa through the Red Sea-Levantine corridor.