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The palaeohydrology of Nahal Zin, a 1400 km(2) catchment in the hyperarid Negev Desert, is inferred from slackwater deposits and palaeostage indicators in a canyon near its lower end. The palaeoflood record, augmented by the instrumental and historical records of the last decade, includes 28 floods ranging from 200 to 1500 m(3) s(-1) over the last 2000 years. This helps to reanalyse the frequency of floods in this drainage system. The clusters of floods around 1000 years sp and again during the last 60 years are characterized by high flow magnitudes.

Periods with many floods correspond well to periods with high Dead Sea levels and are probably relatively wet periods, while periods with few floods correspond well to low Dead Sea levels indicating a drier climate. Fluctuations in the frequency of floods are typical of periods of transition from one climate regime to another. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.