Climatic and ecologic changes during Miocene surface uplift in the Southern Patagonian Andes

Blisniuk, Peter M.; Stern, Libby A.; Chamberlain, C. Page; Idleman, B. D.; Zeitler, Peter K.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2004.11.015

Cited by 238 publications

(245 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…We hypothesize that tectonic processes at the Chilean active margin influenced the Neogene sedimentary record. A significant ecosystem change at ~16.5 Ma was reported from the Argentinean foreland of the Patagonian Andes by Blisniuk et al (2005), who interpreted shifts in δ 13 C and δ 18 O values as consequences of more than 1 km of surface uplift of the Southern Andes and related increased aridity resulting from development of a rain shadow. This major uplift should have resulted in increased precipitation and erosion on the western flank of the Andes, which likely would have triggered changes in subduction mode through increased sedimentation rates in the trench (Melnick and Echtler, 2006;Vietor and Echtler, 2006).…”

Section: Climate Paleoceanography and Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Miocene subtropical water temperatures in the southeast Pacific

Nielsen

Glodny

2009

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Cenozoic climate of western South America is strongly controlled by features like Andean uplift and the Humboldt Current. The first strontium isotope age data from central and southern Chile provide a latest Oligocene to late early Miocene age for classic warm-water mollusk faunas reaching as far south as 45°S.Comparison with the biogeography of congeneric living species indicates that sea surface temperatures off central and southern Chile during that time were at least 5°C higher than today; i.e., minimum annual mean sea surface temperatures for Darwin's Navidad fauna at 34°S are estimated as 20°C. As expected, the number of tropical taxa decreases towards the south but several are still present as far south as 45°S. The ages scatter relatively broadly between ~24 and ~16 Ma, partly even within individual localities. Shallow water and deeper water faunas are revealed to have similar ages. When considered in light of convincing micropaleontological evidence for late Miocene to early Pliocene depositional ages, the Srisotope data support a hypothesis that the mollusk fauna is reworked.

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Section: Climate Paleoceanography and Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Miocene subtropical water temperatures in the southeast Pacific

Nielsen

Glodny

2009

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…The hyperarid conditions in the Atacama Desert were established at least 10 to 15 Ma ago, the arid conditions may have already been established during the Cretaceous, which promotes the extremely low geomorphic process rates in this region (Hartley, 2003;Dunai et al, 2005;Nishiizumi et al, 2005;Rech et al, 2006). The general circulation in the southern Central Andes has persisted during the Pleistocene and may have been launched in the middle Miocene, which implies that the humid conditions in the south have been stable and controlled by the Southern Westerlies over a very long time span Bice et al, 2000;Haselton et al, 2002;Blisniuk et al, 2005). This is supported by the fact that the distribution of precipitation is mimicked by the thickness of sediment fill in the trench off South America, which document a significant increase of sediment thickness south of the Juan-Fernández Ridge and support the long-term stability of the general precipitation pattern along the western Andean margin (Bangs and Cande, 1997;Melnick and Echtler, 2006) (Figure 1).…”

Section: Climatic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The topographic imprint of a transient climate episode: the western Andean flank between 15·5° and 41·5°S

Rehak

Bookhagen

Strecker

et al. 2010

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Mountain-range topography is determined by the complex interplay between tectonics and climate. However, often it is not clear to what extent climate forces topographic evolution and how past climatic episodes are reflected in relief. The Andes are a tectonically active mountain belt encompassing various climatic zones with pronounced differences in rainfall and glacier extent under similar plate-boundary conditions. In the Central to South-Western Andes climatic zones range from hyperarid desert with mean annual rainfall of 5 mm/a (22.5°S) to year-round humidity with 2500 mm/a (40°S). The Andes thus provide a unique setting for investigating the relationship between climate and topography. We present the analysis of 120 catchments along the western Andean watersheds between 15.5° and 41.5°S, which is based on SRTMV3-90m data and the new medium-resolution rainfall (TRMM) dataset. For each basin, we extracted geometry, relief, and climate parameters to test whether Andean topography shows a climatic imprint and to analyze how climate influences relief. Our data document that elevation and relief decrease with increasing rainfall and descending snowline elevation. Furthermore, we show that local relief reaches high values of 750 m in a zone between 28° to 35°S. During Pleistocene glacial stages this region was affected by the northward shifting southern hemisphere Westerlies, which provided moisture for valley-glacier formation and extended glacial coverage as well as glacial erosion. In contrast, the southern regions between 35° to 40°S receive higher rainfall and have a lower local relief of 200 m, probably related to an increased drainage density. We distinguish two different, climatically-controlled mechanisms shaping topography: (1) fluvial erosion by prolonged channel-hillslope coupling, which smoothes relief, and (2) erosion by valley glaciers that generates relief. Finally, our results suggests that the catchment-scale relief of the Andes between 28° to 35°S is characterized by a pronounced transient component reflecting past climatic conditions.

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“…In its western exposures conglomeratic lenses are common (Furque and Camacho, 1972;Blisniuk et al, 2005). SCF thins to the southeast, from about 600 m in thickness in the northwest (Ramos, 1979;Blisniuk et al, 2005) to w250 m in the southeast (Tauber, 1994(Tauber, , 1997. The gradual transition of marine deposits (Monte León, Estancia 25 de Mayo and El Chacay formations) to the overlying terrestrial deposits of the SCF seems to be slightly diachronous Vizcaíno et al (2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is composed of mudstones, tuffaceous sandstones and tuffs, deposited in fluvial environments under the influence of intense explosive pyroclastic input (Feruglio, 1949;Furque and Camacho, 1972;Bown and Fleagle, 1993;Tauber, 1994Tauber, , 1997Matheos and Raigemborn, 2012). In its western exposures conglomeratic lenses are common (Furque and Camacho, 1972;Blisniuk et al, 2005). SCF thins to the southeast, from about 600 m in thickness in the northwest (Ramos, 1979;Blisniuk et al, 2005) to w250 m in the southeast (Tauber, 1994(Tauber, , 1997.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the Atlantic coast (SE Santa Cruz province) the top of the Monte León Formation is dated at 18 Ma by means of Sr isotopes on marine shell carbonate , and the base of the SCF is dated at 17.8 Ma by the Ar/Ar method on minerals from tuff layers (Perkins et al, 2012). To the northwest, near Lago Posadas, Blisniuk et al (2005) provided a range of 22.5 to 14.3 Ma for the whole column of the SCF using Ar/Ar methods from tuff layers. The age of 22.5 Ma was questioned by Perkins et al (2012) who, based on sedimentation rates and lack of sedimentation breaks, suggested that the base of the unit should not be older than w19 Ma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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