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The role of rare rainstorms in the formation of calcic soil horizons on alluvial surfaces in extreme deserts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Rivka Amit ,
Yehouda Enzel ,
Tamir Grodek ,
Onn Crouvi ,
Naomi Porat  and
Avner Ayalon
Rivka Amit*
Affiliation:
The Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem, 95501, Israel
Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
Tamir Grodek
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel
Onn Crouvi
Affiliation:
The Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem, 95501, Israel The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
Naomi Porat
Affiliation:
The Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem, 95501, Israel
Avner Ayalon
Affiliation:
The Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem, 95501, Israel
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (R. Amit), [email protected] (Y. Enzel), [email protected] (T. Grodek), [email protected] (O. Crouvi), [email protected] (N. Porat), [email protected] (A. Ayalon).
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Abstract

Soils in similar geomorphic settings in hyperarid deserts (< 50 mm yr−1) should have similar characteristics because a negative moisture balance controls their development. However, Reg soils in the hyperarid southern Negev and Namib deserts are distinctly different. Soils developed on stable alluvial surfaces with only direct input of rainfall and dust depend heavily on rainfall characteristics. Annual rainfall amount can be similar (15–30 mm), but storm duration can drastically alter Reg soil properties in deserts. The cooler fall/winter and dry hot summers of the southern Negev Desert with a predominance brief (≤ 1 day) rainstorms result in gypsic-saline soils without any calcic soil horizon. Although the Namib Desert receives only 50–60% of the southern Negev annual rainfall, its rainstorm duration is commonly 2–4 days. This improves leaching of the top soil under even lower annual rainfall amount and results in weeks-long grass cover. The long-term cumulative effect of these rare rain-grass relationships produces a calcic-gypsic-saline soil. The development of these different kinds of desert soils highlights the importance of daily to seasonal rainfall characteristics in influencing soil-moisture regime in deserts, and has important implications for the use of key desert soil properties as proxies in paleoclimatology.

Keywords

Namib DesertNegev DesertCalcic soilsGypsic-salic soilsCarbonate nodulesOxygen and carbon isotopesRainfall characteristics
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , September 2010 , pp. 177 - 187
Copyright
University of Washington

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