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The last 7500 cal yr B.P. of westerly rainfall in Central Chile inferred from a high-resolution pollen record from Laguna Aculeo (34°S)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Rodrigo Villa-Martínez ,
Carolina Villagrán  and
Bettina Jenny
Rodrigo Villa-Martínez
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Palinología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
Carolina Villagrán
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Palinología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
Bettina Jenny
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
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Abstract

We report multiproxy analyses of a sediment core obtained from Laguna Aculeo that spans the past 7500 years. Laguna Aculeo (33°50′S, 70°55′W) is one of the few natural inland lakes located in the Mediterranean zone of Central Chile, near the northern margin of the influence of the southern westerlies. The record shows elevated pollen counts of halophytes and seasonally drying of the lake basin prior to 5700 cal yr B.P., indicating severe aridity and warmer-than-present conditions. This was followed by the establishment of a fresh-water lake, along with an increase in arboreal and herbaceous plant diversity between 5700 and 3200 cal yr B.P. An intensification of this trend started at 3200 cal yr B.P., along with the abrupt decrease of halophytes until 100 cal yr B.P. Within this humid period, pollen accumulation rates show large-amplitude fluctuations, coeval with numerous turbidite layers, suggesting a highly variable and torrential rainfall pattern. This intense and variable precipitation regime is probably associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. We suggest that the modern Mediterranean climate of Central Chile was established at ∼3200 cal yr B.P. Paleovegetation and paleolimnological changes starting at 100 cal yr B.P. correlate with documented human activity surrounding the lake.

Keywords

Mid-HoloceneWesterliesCentral ChileLaguna AculeoClimate change
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , November 2003 , pp. 284 - 293
Copyright
University of Washington

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