Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:49:23.768Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ice-Core Pollen Record of Climatic Changes in the Central Andes during the last 400 yr

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kam-biu Liu*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4105, USA
Carl A. Reese
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Southern Mississippi, Box 5051, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, USA
Lonnie G. Thompson
Affiliation:
Byrd Polar Research Center and Department of Geological Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 225 578 4420. E-mail address:[email protected] (K-b. Liu).

Abstract

This paper presents a high-resolution ice-core pollen record from the Sajama Ice Cap, Bolivia, that spans the last 400 yr. The pollen record corroborates the oxygen isotopic and ice accumulation records from the Quelccaya Ice Cap and supports the scenario that the Little Ice Age (LIA) consisted of two distinct phases�"a wet period from AD 1500 to 1700, and a dry period from AD 1700 to 1880. During the dry period xerophytic shrubs expanded to replace puna grasses on the Altiplano, as suggested by a dramatic drop in the Poaceae/Asteraceae (P/A) pollen ratio. The environment around Sajama was probably similar to the desert-like shrublands of the Southern Bolivian Highlands and western Andean slopes today. The striking similarity between the Sajama and Quelccaya proxy records suggests that climatic changes during the Little Ice Age occurred synchronously across the Altiplano.

Type
Short Paper
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, M.B. Binford, M.W. Brenner, M. Kelts, K.R. (1997a). A 3500 14C yr high-resolution record of water-level changes in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia/Peru. Quaternary Research 47, 169180. Google Scholar
Abbott, M.B. Seltzer, G.O. Kelts, K.R. Southon, J. (1997b). Holocene paleohydrology of the tropical Andes from lake records. Quaternary Research 47, 7080. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abbott, M.B. Wolfe, B.B. Aravena, R. Wolfe, A.P. Seltzer, G.O. (2000). Holocene hydrological reconstructions from stable isotopes and paleolimnology, Cordillera Real, Bolivia. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 18011820. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abbott, M.B. Wolfe, B.B. Wolfe, A.P. Seltzer, G.O. Aravena, R. Mark, G.G. Polissar, P.J. Rodbell, R.T. Rowe, H.D. Vuille, M. (2003). Holocene paleohydrology and glacial history of the central Andes using multiproxy lake sediment studies. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194, 123138. Google Scholar
Andreev, A.A. Nikolaev, V.I. Boi'sheiyanov, D.Y. Petrov, V.N. (1997). Pollen and isotope investigations of an ice core from Vavilov ice cap, October Revolution Island, Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, Russia. Géographie Physique et Quaternaire 51, 379389. Google Scholar
Betancourt, J.L. Latorre, C. Rech, J.A. Rylander, K.A. Quade, J. (2000). A 22,000-yr record of monsoonal precipitation from northern Chile's Atacama Desert. Science 289, 15421546. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourgeois, J.C. (1986). A pollen record from the Agassiz ice cap, northern Ellesmere Island. Boreas 15, 345354. Google Scholar
Bourgeois, J.C. Koerner, R.M. Gajewski, K. Fisher, D.A. (2000). A Holocene ice-core pollen record from Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Quaternary Research 54, 275283. Google Scholar
Chepstow-Lusty, A. Frogley, M.R. Bauer, B.S. Bush, M.B. Herrera, A.T. (2003). A late Holocene record of arid events from the Cuzco region, Peru. Journal of Quaternary Science 18, 491502. Google Scholar
Garreaud, R. Vuille, M. Clement, A.C. (2003). The climate of the Altiplano: observed current conditions and mechanisms of past changes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194, 522. Google Scholar
Hansen, B.C.S. Wright, H.E. Jr. Bradbury, J.P. (1984). Pollen studies in the Junin area, central Peruvian Andes. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 95, 14541465. Google Scholar
Hansen, B.C.S. Seltzer, G.O. Wright, H.E. Jr. (1994). Late Quaternary vegetational change in the central Peruvian Andes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 109, 263285. Google Scholar
Hardy, D.R. Vuille, M. Braun, C. Keimig, F. Bradley, R.S. (1998). Annual and daily meteorological cycles at high altitude on a tropical mountain. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 79, 18991913. 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Latorre, C. Betancourt, J.L. Rylander, K.A. Quade, J. (2002). Vegetation invasions into absolute desert: a 45,000 year rodent midden record from the Calama-Salar de Atacama basins, northern Chile (lat 22°�"24°S). Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 114, 349366. Google Scholar
Lichti-Federovich, S. (1975). Pollen analysis of ice core samples from the Devon Island ice cap. Paper-Geological Survey of Canada 75-1, Pt. 1 441444. Google Scholar
Liu, K.-b. Yao, Z. Thompson, L.G. (1998). A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geology 26, 135138. Google Scholar
McAndrews, J.H. (1984). Pollen analysis of the 1973 ice core from Devon Island glacier, Canada. Quaternary Research 22, 6876. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olson, D.M. Dinerstein, E. Wikramanayake, E.D. Burgess, N.D. Powell, G.V.N. Underwood, E.C. D'Amico, J.A. Strand, H.E. Morrison, J.C. Loucks, C.J. Allnutt, T.F. Lamoreux, J.F. Ricketts, T.H. Itoua, I. Wettengel, W.W. Kura, Y. Hedao, P. Kassem, K. (2001). Terrestrial ecoregions of the world: a new map of life on Earth. BioScience 51, 933938. Google Scholar
Reese, C.A. Liu, K.-b. (2002). Pollen dispersal and deposition on the Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru. Physical Geography 23, 4458. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reese, C.A. Liu, K.-b. (2005a). Interannual variability in pollen dispersal and deposition on the tropical Quelccaya Ice Cap. Professional Geographer 57, 185197. Google Scholar
Reese, C.A. Liu, K.-b. (2005b). A modern pollen rain study from the central Andes region of South America. Journal of Biogeography 32, 709718. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reese, C.A. Liu, K.-b. Mountain, K.R. (2003). Pollen dispersal and deposition on the Ice Cap of Volcan Parinacota, Southwestern Bolivia. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 35, 5863. Google Scholar
Schwalb, A. Burns, S.J. Kelts, K. (1999). Holocene environments from stable isotope stratigraphy of ostracods and authigenic carbonate in Chilean Altiplano Lakes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 148, 153168. Google Scholar
Thompson, L.G. Mosley-Thompson, E. Bolzan, J.F. Koci, B.R. (1985). A 1500 year record of tropical precipitation recorded in ice cores from the Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru. Science 229, 971973. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, L.G. Mosley-Thompson, E. Dansgaard, W. Grootes, P.M. (1986). The “Little Ice Age” as recorded in the stratigraphy of the tropical Quelccaya ice cap. Science 234, 361364. Google Scholar
Thompson, L.G. Davis, M. Mosley-Thompson, E. Liu, K.-b. (1988). Pre-Incan agricultural activity recorded in dust layers in two tropical ice cores. Nature 336, 763765. Google Scholar
Thompson, L.G. Mosley-Thompson, E. Davis, M.E. Lin, P.-N. Henderson, K.A. Cole-Dai, J. Bolzan, J.F. Liu, K.-b. (1995). Late Glacial Stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascaran, Peru. Science 269, 4650. Google Scholar
Thompson, L.G. Davis, M. Mosley-Thompson, E. Sowers, T.A. Henderson, K.A. Zagorodnov, V.S. Lin, P.-N. Mikhalenko, V.N. Campen, R.K. Bolzan, J.F. Cole-Dai, J. Francou, B. (1998). A 25,000 year tropical climate history from Bolivian ice cores. Science 282, 18581864. Google Scholar
Valero-Garcés, B.L. Delgado-Huertas, A. Navas, A. Edwards, L. Schwalb, A. Ratto, N. ("s et al., 2003). Patterns of regional hydrological variability in central-southern Altiplano (18°�"26°S) lakes during the last 500 years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194, 319338. Google Scholar
Vuille, M. (1999). Atmospheric circulation over the Bolivian Altiplano during dry and wet periods and extreme phases of the Southern Oscillation. International Journal of Climatology 19, 15791600. 3.0.CO;2-N>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vuille, M. Hardy, D.R. Braun, C. Keimig, F. Bradley, R.S. (1998). Atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with 1996/1997 summer precipitation events on Sajama Ice Cap, Bolivia. Journal of Geophysical Research 103, 1119111204. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vuille, M. Bradley, R.S. Keimig, F. (2000). Interannual climate variability in the Central Andes and its relation to tropical Pacific and Atlantic forcing. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 105, 1244712460. Google Scholar
Wolfe, B.B. Aravena, R. Abbott, M.B. Seltzer, G.O. Gibson, J.J. (2001). Reconstruction of paleohydrology and paleohumidity from oxygen isotope records in the Bolivian Andes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 176, 177192. Google Scholar
Zhou, J. Lau, K.-M. (1998). Does a monsoon climate exist over South America?. Journal of Climate 11, 10201040. 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar