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Holocene multidecadal- to millennial-scale hydrologic variability on the South American Altiplano

Department of Geosciences, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68588-0340, USA, State Water Resource Control Board, 1001 I Street, Sacramento CA 95814, USA, eekdahl{at}waterboards.ca.gov

Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Geosciences, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68588-0340, USA, Department of Geosciences and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68588, USA

Paul A. Baker

Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham NC 27708, USA

Catherine A. Rigsby

Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville NC 27858, USA

Kirstin Coley

Department of Geography, Royal Holloway College, Egham TW20 0EX, UK

Precipitation on the South American Altiplano varies at a range of temporal scales. A long-term secular increase in moisture availability from the early/mid Holocene to the present, driven by increasing summer insolation resulting from precessional changes in the Earth's orbit, has been documented in earlier studies. However, higher frequency Holocene variability is not yet understood. Here we present high-resolution diatom assemblage data from two small Altiplano lakes, Lago Lagunillas and Lago Umayo, indicating changes in effective moisture in the southern tropical Andes at decadal, centennial and millennial timescales throughout the mid to late Holocene. A strong millennial-scale component, similar in pacing to periods of increased icerafted debris flux in the North Atlantic, is observed in both lake records, which suggests that regional precipitation and North Atlantic climate variability are coupled at these scales. The interpretation of the higher frequency variability is hampered by the small number of high-resolution continental and marine records for comparison.

Key Words: Altiplano • South America • Peru • Lake Titicaca • diatoms • tropical palaeoclimate • hydrological variability • millennial scale • Holocene.

The Holocene, Vol. 18, No. 6, 867-876 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683608093524


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