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The Holocene
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A late-Holocene (<2600 BP) glacial advance in the south-central Andes (29°S), northern Chile

M. Grosjean

Department of Geography, University of Bern, 12 Hallerstrasse, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

M. A. Geyh

State Geological Survey Lower Saxony, Hannover-Buchholz, 3000 Hannover 51, Germany

B. Messerli

Department of Geography, University of Bern, 12 Hallerstrasse, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

H. Schreier

Resource Management Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3, Canada

H. Veit

Department of Geography, University of Bern, 12 Hallerstrasse, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

Radiocarbon dates and relative ages of soils on moraines provide evidence of a substantial late-Holocene (<2600 BP) readvance of glaciers in the western part of the arid Andes at 29°S. The glacier in the Encierro valley, northern Chile, reached about 60% of its late-Pleistocene extent. The equilibrium line altitude ELA during this advance remained between 4250 and 4500 m which is above the modern 0°C isotherm of the free atmosphere during summer. It is suggested that, given the specific climate at high elevations in the extremely arid Andes, a substantial increase in effective moisture is sufficient to explain this advance, whereas no significant temperature depression was needed. This compares favourably with the regional late-Holocene climatic history, when lake levels were higher and effective moisture greater than today between 3000 and 1800 BP. Judging from regional palaeodata, we suggest that this late-Holocene humid spell was most likely related to increased Westerly moisture sources from the Pacific.

Key Words: Glacier advance • late Holocene • neoglaciation • palaeosols • climatic change • Westerlies • northern Chile • arid Andes • South America

The Holocene, Vol. 8, No. 4, 473-479 (1998)
DOI: 10.1191/095968398677627864
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