Hydrological and Geological Controls on the Evolution of the Dead Sea Sinkholes

The human-induced shrinkage of the Dead Sea (DS) has led to the occurrence of thousands of sinkholes along its shoreline, by triggering the intrusion of fresh groundwater that replaced the brine water. The fresh groundwater dissolved a 10 ky old salt layer that formed subsurface cavities. The present chapter presents a summary of the main factors controlling the propagation rate of the DS sinkholes. These factors are: (1) the rheological properties of the sedimentary cap above the dissolution cavities in the salt layer, (2) variations in rate of fresh groundwater supply from rainfall in the recharge area in the Judea Mountains that control salt dissolution rates, and (3) episodes of floods in some of the stream tributaries, where the floodwater penetrates through pre-existing sinkholes that originally were formed by the groundwater dissolution.