Holocene lake-level reconstruction of Lake Kinneret (Israel) based on a quantitative diatom-inferred depth model

Meso-eutrophic Lake Kinneret is the largest natural freshwater body in Israel and a major source of drinking and irrigation water for the region. Although the lake is currently the subject of extensive aquatic monitoring programmes, knowledge of the spatial distribution and habitat preferences of modern diatom assemblages is rather limited. We investigated the composition of diatom death assemblages and their associated depth and habitat distributions within the modern Lake Kinneret to create a tool for semi-quantitative calibration of Holocene lake-level change. A quantitative diatom-inferred water-depth model based on simple linear regression between modern diatom assemblages and water depth is presented in this study. Our calibrated lake-level reconstruction fits well to palaeo-shoreline measurements and appears to display greater sensitivity to minor lake-level variation than a simple plankton/benthos-ratio approach. A close similarity between Lake Kinneret and the Dead Sea is observable, indicating that they were subject to similar regional fluctuations in moisture availability. Our results confirm that the investigation of modern diatom death assemblages can be helpful to understand and calibrate the limnological history of lakes. Approaches like this should be considered more often in future palaeoenvironmental studies.