Transient salt transport modeling of shallow brine beneath a freshwater lake, the Sea of Galilee, Israel

Abstract

During a lake highstand phase in the late Pleistocene the former saline Lake Lisan covered the topographic depression of Kinarot Basin currently occupied by the freshwater lake, Sea of Galilee. It was hypothesized that during this period, the dense saline waters of Lake Lisan percolated into the sediment. The recession of the saline lake from the basin and the rapid formation of a freshwater lake triggered solute transport from the sediment into the lake. A one-dimensional numerical model of solute transport that considers sediment compaction was developed to simulate chloride transport from the sediment into the lake. Simulation results were compared with measured chloride concentration profiles in sediment cores. On the basis of a sensitivity analysis, results are in agreement with the hypothesis that Lake Lisan solutes are currently discharged into the Sea of Galilee. The calculated upward water velocity in the sediment ranges between 9 and 22 mm yr-1.