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Late Pleistocene–early Holocene paraglacial and fluvial sediment history in the Turbio valley, semiarid Chilean Andes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Rodrigo Riquelme ,
Constanza Rojas ,
Germán Aguilar  and
Pablo Flores
Rodrigo Riquelme*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Fac. de Ingeniería y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile
Constanza Rojas
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Fac. de Ingeniería y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile
Germán Aguilar
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Fac. de Ingeniería y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transfert en Géologie, Université de Toulouse, 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
Pablo Flores
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Fac. de Ingeniería y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +56 55 355977.
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Abstract

The transitional character of climatic conditions confers great relevance to paleoclimate studies in the semiarid region where glacial and Holocene geomorphologic records are scarce. Here we present the paraglacial and fluvial evolution of the Turbio valley (30°S) using both field observations and 14C AMS chronology. Two key sites at the uppermost Turbio valley show glacial margins which likely formed during the 17–12 ka Central Andean Pluvial Event and earlier 37–27 ka episodes associated with glacial advances reported elsewhere in the semiarid Andes. Likewise, two episodes of subsequent paraglacial response are identified: a first episode corresponds to early Holocene fine-grained deposits (~ 11,500–7800 cal yr BP) extending far downstream (> 40 km) from the glacial margins. These deposits and coeval debris cones (~ 11,000–5500 cal yr BP) are the result of arid conditions with occasional runoffs that were unable to export sediments along the trunk valley. The second episode corresponds to disconformably overlying fluvial gravels extending ~ 70 km downstream from the glacial margin, indicative of an increase in the fluvial transport capacity occurring not long after 5500 cal yr BP. Fluvial transport increase resulted from a late Holocene shift to wetter climate conditions, representing a forcing factor which enhanced the paraglacial response.

Keywords

Semiarid AndesLate Pleistocene glacial advanceParaglacial geomorphologyHolocene climatic changes
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 75 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 166 - 175
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

1 Present address: Sociedad Minera Isla Riesco, Avenida El Bosque Norte 500, piso 19, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile.

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