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Palynology and Depositional Environment of the Río Ignao Nonglacial Deposit, Province of Valdivia, Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Calvin J. Heusser*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, New York University, Box 608, Tuxedo, New York 10987, USA

Abstract

In south-central Chile, the Río Ignao nonglacial deposit with a minimal radiocarbon age of 56,000 +2000, −1700 yr shows the following sequence of pollen assemblages, starting with the oldest: Gramineae (zone 1), Gramineae-Corynabutilon-Lomatia-Ovidia (zone 2), Nothofagus-Embothrium-Gramineae (zone 3A), Nothofagus-Gramineae-Tubuliflorae (zone 3B and D), and Nothofagus-Drimys-Myrtaceae (zone 3A). This sequence implies an initial dry and rather cold climate that later became wetter and somewhat warmer, reached a warm peak, and ultimately became colder and drier. At the warmest time, the Andean tree line is estimated to have been about 900 m lower and average January (summer) temperature about 3–4°C colder than at present. The Río Ignao deposit is believed to represent an early interstade of the last glaciation, known in southern Chile as the Llanquihue Glaciation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

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References

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