Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Quaternary Research 72 (2009): 400-409, doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2009.06.010.
Description:
A high-resolution multi-proxy study including the elemental and isotopic
composition of bulk organic matter, land plant-derived biomarkers, and alkenone-based sea
surface temperature (SST) from a marine sedimentary record obtained from the Jacaf Fjord
in northern Chilean Patagonia (~ 44°20'S) provided a detailed reconstruction of continental
runoff, precipitation, and summer SST spanning the last 1750 years. We observed two
different regimes of climate variability in our record: a relatively dry/warm period before
900 cal yr BP (lower runoff and average SST 1°C warmer than present-day) and a wet/cold
period after 750 cal yr BP (higher runoff and average SST 1°C colder than present-day).
Relatively colder SSTs were found during 750-600 and 450-250 cal yr BP, where the latter
period roughly corresponds to the interval defined for the Little Ice Age (LIA). Similar
climatic swings have been observed previously in continental and marine archives of the
last two millennia from central and southern Chile, suggesting a strong latitudinal
sensitivity to changes in the Southern Westerly Winds, the main source of precipitation in
southern Chile, and validating the regional nature of the LIA. Our results reveal the
importance of the Chilean fjord system for recording climate changes of regional and
global significance.
Description:
The preparation of this article was made possible by the support of the Comité
Oceanográfico Nacional Chile through the Special Fund to Promote Interdisciplinary
Publications of the CIMAR Program. Sampling was funded by the CIMAR FIORDO-7
Program (Grant CPF 01-10).
Keywords:
Holocene
;
Westerly Winds
;
Chile
;
Northern Patagonia
;
Jacaf fjord
;
Precipitation
;
Sea surface temperature
;
Lipid biomarkers
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
Format:
application/pdf
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