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Central Chile (32–35°S) lies at the northern border of strong Westerly influence and thus exhibits a steep precipitation gradient. Therefore, the palaeoclimatic archives in the region are suitable for detecting past moisture changes. The study of Laguna Aculeo (33°50'S, 70°54'W) presents a multiproxy Holocene lake record including sedimentology, geochemistry, mineralogy, pollen, diatoms, and radiocarbon dating (17 dates). Results indicate an arid early to mid-Holocene period (about 9500–5700 cal yr B.P.). After 5700 cal yr B.P. effective moisture increased progressively and around 3200 cal yr B.P., modern humid conditions were established. Numerous intercalated clastic layers reflect flood deposition during rainy winters. A fluvial unit was deposited shortly before 9000 cal yr B.P. Subsequently, flood events were absent until 5700 but have become frequent since 3200 cal yr B.P. The frequency of flood layers possibly points to weak or no El Niño activity during the early and mid-Holocene, with a subsequent increase during the late Holocene. During the early and mid-Holocene, the Westerlies were probably blocked and hence deflected southward by the subtropical high-pressure cell. Higher precipitation during the last 3200 yr seems strongly related to a weakened subtropical high-pressure cell with intensified Westerlies and possibly increased El Niño activity.

We revise substantially the regional chronology of lake-level fluctuations from the late-glacial/early Holocene humid phase along a high altitude transect (3500 to 4500 m) between 18°S and 28°S in the Southwestern Altiplano of Northern Chile. Radiocarbon dates and 210Pb profiles for limnic and terrestrial materials allow us to estimate and justify reservoir correction values for conventional 14C dates. Our chronology suggests that the latest Pleistocene/early Holocene humid phase started between 13,000 and 12,000 14C yr B.P., and that maximum lake levels were reached between 10,800 and 9200 14C yr B.P. This is significantly younger than what has been established so far for the Titicaca–Uyuni Basin in Bolivia. The paleolakes disappeared sometime between 8400 and 8000 14C yr B.P. Our revised chronology agrees with the regional history of human occupation, and is broadly synchronous with vegetation changes in subtropical continental South America, and with the onset of wetland expansion in the northern hemisphere tropics.

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Conventional radiocarbon dates for sediment samples from aquatic systems and of coeval terrestrial samples deviate from each other due to the reservoir effect. The reservoir correction is usually assumed to be constant with time for a specific aquatic system. Our studies confirm that seasonal and secular changes are frequent and are governed by the limnological conditions. Lakes have two principal sources of 14C: atmospheric CO2 and the total dissolved inorganic carbon (TDIC) of the entering groundwater and runoff. The former has values of ca. 100 pMC; the latter usually has a 14C value well below 100 pMC. Atmospheric CO2 enters the lake by exchange via its surface. The proportions of these two kinds of input determine the magnitude of the reservoir correction in freshwater lakes. It is mainly a function of the volume/surface ratio of the lake and, consequently a function of the water depth. The surface of lakes with outflow does not change when sedimentation decreases the depth of the water. The depth of Schleinsee Lake in southern Germany has decreased from 30 to 15 m since ca. 9000 bp. As a result, the reservoir correction has decreased from ca. -1550 to -580 yr. In contrast, the depth of Lake Proscansko in Croatia increased with growth of the travertine dam and the reservoir correction changed from ca. -1790 to -2650 yr during the last 8800 yr. The largest fluctuations of lake levels occur in closed lakes in arid regions when the climate changes from humid to arid and vice versa. As a result, the reservoir correction of the 14C dates for the total organic fraction from Lejía Lake in the Atacama Desert of Chile varied between <-1800 yr and -4700 yr over a period of only 1800 yr between 11,500 and 9700 bp. The corresponding reservoir correction for the marl fraction is much higher. In summary, accurate and reliable 14C dating of lake sediments requires a study of the temporal changes of the reservoir effect by analysis of both the organic and marl fractions. The most reliable 14C dates are obtained from terrestrial plant remains.

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