Natural saline water, waste water, and irrigation return flow endanger the groundwater aquifers in the Rift. In the long run this will ruin the socio-economic backbone of the settlements in the area. Sustainability of the water resources will only be achieved when the process of water replenishment and its underground flow is understood and water extraction is regionally controlled. Rare earth element and spider patterns are presented as new tools for studying the hydrology. Progress in 3-D modelling of groundwater flow proved successfully the impact of pumping on the surroundings of wells and overexploitation of aquifers.

This book presents various approaches to the resolution of the severe water resource issues of the Middle East, with particular emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian water conflicts. The authors include leading Palestinian and Israeli water experts who have worked together on joint research projects aimed at building up mutual understanding and respect. The studies consider the various approaches that could be used to improve cooperation and solve the problems arising from conflicting interests.

This condensed volume summarizes updated knowledge on the warm-monomictic subtropical Lake Kinneret, including its geophysical setting, the dynamics of physical, chemical and biological processes and the major natural and anthropogenic factors that affect this unique aquatic ecosystem. This work expands on a previous monograph on Lake Kinneret published in 1978 and capitalizes on the outcome of more than 40 years of research and monitoring activities. These were intensively integrated with lake management aimed at sustainable use for supply of drinking water, tourism, recreation and fishery. The book chapters are aimed at the limnological community, aquatic ecologists, managers of aquatic ecosystems and other professionals. It presents the geographic and geological setting, the meteorology and hydrology of the region, continues with various aspects of the pelagic and the littoral systems. Finally, the last section of the book addresses lake management, demonstrating how the accumulated knowledge was applied in order to manage this important source of freshwater. The section on the pelagic system comprises the heart of the book, addressing the major physical processes, external and internal loading, the pelagic communities (from bacteria to fish), physiological processes and the major biogeochemical cycles in the lake.

A fascinating exploration of lakes around the world, from Walden Pond to the Dead Sea. More than a century and a half have passed since Walden was first published, and the world is now a very different place. Lakes are changing rapidly, not because we are separate from nature but because we are so much a part of it. While many of our effects on the natural world today are new, from climate change to nuclear fallout, our connections to it are ancient, as core samples from lake beds reveal. In Still Waters, Curt Stager introduces us to the secret worlds hidden beneath the surfaces of our most remarkable lakes, leading us on a journey from the pristine waters of the Adirondack Mountains to the wilds of Siberia, from Thoreau’s cherished pond to the Sea of Galilee. Through decades of firsthand investigations, Stager examines the significance of our impacts on some of the world’s most iconic inland waters. Along the way he discovers the stories these lakes contain about us, including our loftiest philosophical ambitions and our deepest myths. For him, lakes are not only mirrors reflecting our place in the natural world but also windows into our history, culture, and the primal connections we share with all life. Beautifully observed and eloquently written, Stager’s narrative is filled with strange and enchanting details about these submerged worlds—diving insects chirping underwater like crickets, African crater lakes that explode, and the growing threats to some of our most precious bodies of water. Modern science has demonstrated that humanity is an integral part of nature on this planet, so intertwined with it that we have also become an increasingly powerful force of nature in our own right. Still Waters reminds us how beautiful, complex, and vulnerable our lakes are, and how, more than ever, it is essential to protect them.

This book is an attempt to present a comprehensive view on the aquatic biogeog raphy of a small but very dynamic and complex area of the globe. Luckily, this area, called here the Levant, has attracted much interest in the past and is being increasingly studied in the present. The interphasing between the knowledge of the historical and formative processes and that of the recent distributional aspects is fairly good. The recent years saw also a widening effort which expressed itself in several symposia and monographic books. Therefore I considered it possible to treat the whole subject of the aquatic biogeography of the Levant singlehandedly rather than in the presently widespread manner of an edited book. I am keenly conscious of the shortcommings of my approach of presenting much second-hand information. Possibly this is being compensated by the fact that this book has a more coherent structure and eventually a clearer scientific message. The effort spent in synthesizing the data from the widely different sources hopefully pays off in a presentation which is more easily comprehended by the average reader. For the suspicious reader, I would recommend to read first the closing chapter of this book in which the quintescence of this book and its message is presented in a summariz ing manner.

This book describes the soils of Israel, offering details of their distribution, chemical, physical, and mineralogical characteristics and agricultural attributes. The pathways to the formation of each soil type are discussed against the background of such soil-forming factors as climate, lithology and physiography. The distribution of the different soil types is explained, based on the relationships between soils and soil-forming factors. This the first reference on the topic since 1948.

Fauna and flora oflakes are an integrative result of regional past history and present environmental factors. In the Lake Kinneret area where Prehistoric Man witnessed the last tectonic readj ustments of the Rift Valley, geological events do not belong only to the remote past but still strongly affect the lacustrine environment. It is therefore necessary to give a detailed picture of the regional background and limnological features of the lake (Parts I and II) before describing its planktic and benthic com munities (Parts III and IV) and the Vertebrate fauna of the lake and its surroundings (Part V). The trophic relationships between communities are beyond the scope of a Monograph and have consequently not been studied in detail but only mentioned occasionally. It is intentional that Man and his penetration into the Kinneret area have been treated on a purely zoological basis. It underlines the fact that Man, as any other living organism, is part of the ecosystem and ruled by its laws and that his activities have an automatic feed back on his environment. However, in contrast with other living organisms, Man is able to 'utilize' the lakes and their watersheds for his benefit if, by appropriate management, he minimizes the damaging influence of his activities. This is the main purpose of the research carried out presently on Lake Kinneret and its watershed and briefly described in Part VI.

Scarcity of water is a problem in many areas around the world. In this sense the Middle East which suffers from frequent droughts and a shortage of potable water, is not unique. However, when political disagreements among states combine with issues of fair and equitable access to common water resources, the problems associated with water scarcity seem intractable. In this sense the Middle East, and particularly the Jordan River Valley, is indeed unique. This enlightening book brings together the insights of scholars from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and the United States who employ a broad range of perspectives and disciplines–engineering, agronomy, biology, economics, history, geography, and political science–to examine the significance of water in Middle East conflicts. These contributors do not offer facile remedies. Rather they show that any solution must be achieved within a political and social framework of peace, enlightened economic policies, and technical measures that take due account of environmental conditions. This volume is the result of the conference "Water in the Jordan Valley," sponsored by the Center for Peace Studies, a division of the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma.

This volume explores the climates, landscapes, ecosystems and hazards that comprise the Mediterranean world. It traces the development of the Mediterranean landscape over very long timescales and examines modern processes and key environmental issues in a wide range of settings. The Mediterranean is the only region on Earth where three continents meet and this interaction has produced a very distinctive Physical Geography. This book examines the landscapes and processes at the margins of these continents and the distinctive marine environment between them. Catastrophic earthquakes, explosive volcanic eruptions and devastating storms and floods are intimately bound up within the history and mythology of the Mediterranean world. This is a key region for the study of natural hazards because it offers unrivalled access to long records of hazard occurrence and impact through documentary, archaeological and geological archives. The Mediterranean is also a biodiversity hotspot; it has been a meeting place for plants, animals and humans from three continents throughout much of its history. The Quaternary records of these interactions are more varied and better preserved than in any other part of the world. These records have provided important new insights into the tempo of climate, landscape and ecosystem change in the Mediterranean region and beyond. The region is unique because of the very early and widespread impact of humans in landscape and ecosystem change - and the richness of the archaeological and geological archives that chronicle this impact. This book examines this history and these interactions and places current environmental issues in long term context. Contributors : Ramadan Husain Abu-Zied Harriet Allen Jacques Blondel Maria-Carmen Llasat James Casford Marc Castellnou Andrew Goudie Andrew Harding Angela Hayes Tom Holt Babette Hoogakker Philip Hughes Jos Lelieveld John Lewin Francisco Lloret Francisco Lopez-Bermudez Mark Macklin Jean Margat Anne Mather Frédéric Médail Christophe Morhange Clive Oppenheimer Jean Palutikof Gerassimos Papadopoulos Josep Piñol David Pyle Jane Reed Neil Roberts Eelco Rohling Iain Stewart Stathis Stiros John Thornes Chronis Tzedakis John Wainwright