Olabayo Samuel Olaopa 

Current research

Reconstructing the paleoenvironment and paleoclimatic conditions of the Dead Sea Region during the Pliocene 

The aim of this study is to reconstruct the environmental settings and climatic conditions of the Dead Sea region that dates back to the Pliocene.  For this goal, the Bnot Lot Formation, a high-resolution lagoonal-lacustrine sedimentary sequence exposed in the Dead Sea region, will be studied. The formation encompasses an exquisite record of intercalating layers of sand, silt, and marl that span over 200 m, and an abundance of faunal and floral fossils assemblages, which makes it appropriate for providing detailed Information for reconstructing environmental and hydrological settings. This study is of high importance as the previous works done were basic descriptions (Zak, 1967) and chronological constrained using cosmogenic isotopes (Matmon et al., 2014). However, a knowledge gap on the environmental conditions surrounding its deposition still largely prevails. Therefore, this current study will improve on the pre-existing knowledge, by using modern analytical techniques to study the geochemical and sedimentological properties of the exposed sequence samples. This will provide valuable information on the general environmental settings and climatic conditions that shaped the Levant region during the Pliocene. The Pliocene is the most recent period with comparable climatic conditions to the present, where the world experienced high temperatures and high atmospheric CO2 during a prolonged time. This proposed study is vital to gaining insights into the effects of global warming on the levant region and potentially an analog for modeling future conditions.