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The Holocene
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Strong El Niño events during the early Holocene: stable isotope evidence from Peruvian sea shells

Matthieu Carrè

Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, UMR 5554, Place Eugène Bataillon CC064 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France; carre{at}isem.univ-montp2.fr

Ilhem Bentaleb

Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, UMR 5554, Place Eugene Bataillon CC064 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France

Michel Fontugne

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Domaine du CNRS, 91198 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France

Daniele Lavallee

Archèologie des Amèriques UMR CNRS 8096, Maison R. Ginouves, 21, Allke de l‘Universite’, 92023 Nanterre Cedex, France

Intrashell oxygen and carbon stable isotope profiles ({delta}18O,{delta}13C) were established for Mesodesma donacium shells from the preceramic archaeological site, Quebrada de los Burros in coastal southern Peru, to reconstruct the sea-surface temperature (SST) variations and to estimate changes of the El Niño-Southem Oscillation (ENSO) interannual variability from the early Holocene to the present. Very strong oxygen isotopic excursions attributed to El Niño events are evident in three shells dated between 9 and 7.9 ka. This indicates that short and strong warm events were breaking the mean cooler surface conditions (2-3°C cooler compared with today SSTs) in relation with an intense upwelling system. At 4.8 ka, slightly lower mean SST (cooler than today by 0.7°C) and a reduced seasonality confirms the previous hypothesis of a weak ENSO variability at this period.

Key Words: El Niño • ENSO • stable isotopes • Oxygen isotopes • carbon • isotopes • sea-surface temperatures • molluscs • Peru • Holocene

The Holocene, Vol. 15, No. 1, 42-47 (2005)
DOI: 10.1191/0959683605h1782rp
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