Anton Vaks
Doctor of geology and mineralogy
Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel
Research Interests: I study speleothems in arid and cold regions to reconstruct past humid periods in present-day deserts as well as periods of permafrost thawing in present-day permafrost regions. Age determination of deposition periods of speleothems in these regions is performed by U-series (U-Pb and U-Th) chronology. When cyclicity of these climate events is compared to the global climate cycles (glacial vs interglacial), it reveals how present-day arid and permafrost regions may respond to warming of the global climate. Studies of our team from Israel show that during cool (glacial) periods more water infiltrated into the caves on the desert boundary, compared to the warm periods. Our team also found that Siberian permafrost was more stable on its southern boundary during periods when sea-ice in Arctic was present in the summer, compared to the periods with ice-free summers. We also study a relationship between desert paleoclimate and human evolution, focusing on migrations of animals and humans from Africa to Levant and Asia. I also use Li-isotopes in speleothems to reconstruct weathering patterns on the surface above the caves. Our team also uses ancient phreatic speleothems (speleothems that grew below groundwater level) to study the processes of tectonic uplift and base level subsidence on western margin of Dead Sea Transform.
Publications 2019–2024
- Umbo S., Lechleitner F., Opel Th., Modestou S., Braun T., Vaks A., Henderson G., Scott P., Osintzev A., Kononov A., Adrian I., Dublyansky Yu., Giesche A., Breitenbach S., 2024. Speleothem Evidence for Late Miocene Extreme Arctic Amplification – An Analogue for near Future Anthropogenic Climate Change? EGUsphere [preprint]. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1691
- Margerum J., Homann J., Umbo S., Nehrke G., Hoffmann T., Vaks A., Kononov A., Osintsev A., Giesche A., Mason A., Lechleitner F.A., Henderson G.M., Kwiecien O., Breitenbach S.F.M., 2024. Reconstruction of Holocene and Last Interglacial Vegetation Dynamics and Wildfire Activity in Southern Siberia. EGUsphere [preprint]. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1707
- Maytal S.-R., Haviv I., Vaks A., Mason A., Elisha B., Bar-Matthews M., Ayalon A., 2023. Aragonite (U-Th)/He Geochronology: Full Retentivity Across Geologic Timescales (104–107 yr). CHEMICAL GEOLOGY 617, 121233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121233
- Robinson J., Homann J., Umbo S., Scott P., Nehrke G., Hoffmann T., Vaks A., Kononov A., Osintsev A., Mason A., Lechleitner F.A., Henderson G.M., Breitenbach S.F.M., 2022. Reconstruction of Holocene Wildfire Occurrence Using Levoglucosan and Lignin Biomarkers from Siberian Stalagmites. In: Proceedings of the EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts. EGU22-10202. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-10202
- Mason A.J., Vaks A., Breitenbach S.E.M., Hooker J.N., Henderson G.M., 2022. A Simplified Isotope Dilution Approach for the U-Pb Dating of Speleogenic and Other Low-232Th Carbonates by Multi-Collector ICP-MS. GEOCHRONOLOGY 4(1), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2020-37 Заменить на диске
- Chaldekas O., Vaks A., Haviv I, Albert R., Gerdes A., 2022. U-Pb Speleothem Geochronology Reveals a Major 6 Ma Uplift Phase along the Western Margin of Dead Sea Transform. GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN 134(5–6), 1571–1584. https://doi.org/10.1130/B36051.1
- Nuriel P., Wotzlaw J.F., Ovtcharova M., Vaks A., Stremtan C., Šala M., Roberts N.M.W., Kylander-Clark A.R., 2021. The Use of ASH-15 Flowstone as a Matrix-Matched Reference Material for Laser-Ablation U-Pb Geochronology of Calcite. GEOCHRONOLOGY 3, 35–47. https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-35-2021
- Shtober-Zisu N., Vaks A., Korngreen D., Frumkinc A., 2020. Slope Retreat Rates Estimated from Chronology of Tufa Deposits Sheltered by Inland Notches on Mt. Carmel, Israel. GEOMORPHOLOGY 367, 107319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107319
- Lechleitner F.A., Mason A.J., Breitenbach S.F.M., Vaks A., Haghipour N., Hendersona G.M., 2020. Permafrost-Related Hiatuses in Stalagmites: Evaluating the Potential for Reconstruction of Carbon Cycle Dynamics. QUATERNARY GEOCHRONOLOGY 56, 101037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2019.101037
- Vaks A., Mason A.J., Breitenbach S.F.M., Kononov A.M., Osinzev A.V., Rosensaft M., Borshevsky A., Gutareva O.S., Henderson G.M., 2020. Palaeoclimate Evidence of Vulnerable Permafrost during Times of Low Sea Ice. NATURE 577, 221–225. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1880-1
- Friesem D.E., Malinsky-Buller A., Ekshtain R., Gur-Arieh S., Vaks A.; Mercier N., Richard M., Guérin G., Valladas H., Hovers E., 2019. New Data from Shovakh Cave and Its Implications for Reconstructing Settlement Patterns in the Amud Drainage, Israel. JOURNAL OF PALEOLITHIC ARCHAEOLOGY 2, 298–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41982-019-00028-2
- Comas-Bru L., Harrison S.P., Werner M., …, Vaks A. et al., 2019. Evaluating Model Outputs Using Integrated Global Speleothem Records of Climate Change since the Last Glacial. CLIMATE OF THE PAST 15(4), 1557–1579. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1557-2019
