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How did the Dead Sea change during the Pleistocene Epoch?

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White salt deposits cover rocks along the shore of the Dead Sea near Masada, Israel, with green water and dramatic cloudy sky in the background. — Dead Sea Salt deposits at the Dead Sea near Masada, Israel.

During the Pleistocene Epoch (approximately 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago), the Dead Sea underwent a significant expansion, rising to an elevation about 700 feet (200 metres) above its modern level. This transformation created a vast inland sea that extended roughly 200 miles (320 km), stretching from the Hula Valley in the north to 40 miles (64 km) beyond its current southern boundaries.1

Despite this massive size, the lake did not overflow into the Gulf of Aqaba because it was obstructed by a 100-foot (30-metre) rise in the Wadi Al-Arabah valley. Additionally, beginning about 2.5 million years ago, heavy streamflow into the region deposited thick layers of sediment, including shale, clay, sandstone, rock salt, and gypsum, which contributed to the geological composition of the area today.1