Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes in central Tierra del Fuego (~54°S) inferred from pollen analysis

Abstract

A pollen record was obtained from a coring site at La Correntina mire (54°33 0 S, 66°59 0 W, 206 m a.s.l.) to the east of Lago Fagnano, centre of Tierra del Fuego.The results indicate that the valley bottom was free of ice shortly before 15,400 cal BP. Pioneer vegetation included dwarf shrub heaths, grasses and herbs with sparsely distributed Nothofagus trees, indicative of dry conditions. Nothofagus expanded by 10,000 cal BP and the foreststeppe ecotone was established by 9,400 cal BP, implying warm conditions and an increase in available moisture. After ca. 5,000 cal BP, the development of a closed-canopy forest is interpreted as the result of wetter and colder conditions. After 3,000 cal BP, Nothofagus forest became more open, and by about 400 cal BP there was a further decline of the forest. A closed-canopy Nothofagus forest re-established after 400 cal BP.

Palinología Del Meso-Cenozoico en Argentina. Volumen en Homenaje a Mirta Elena Quattrocchio

“…The increasing temperature and lower levels of (Fagnano Lake area) until ca. 9,500 cal yr BP (Musotto et al, 2016a). Nowadays, a similar pattern of vegetation belonging to the steppe/forest ecotone and steppe is observed in the central and north sector of the island, respectively, with precipitations less than 500 mm yr -1 and summer temperature between 11-12 °C .…”

Early to middle Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Beagle Channel (southernmost Argentina) based on terrestrial and marine palynomorphs

“…a BP (Musotto et al . ). This warm period was coincident with a marine transgressive episode in Tierra del Fuego as documented by marine deposits, mostly raised beaches, distributed along the both northern and southern shores of the Beagle Channel (Gordillo et al .…”

Past human populations and landscapes in the Fuegian Archipelago, southernmost South America

“…8600 cal yr BP), located at the Beagle Channel (Orquera and Piana, 2009; Zangrando, 2009; Fig. 1), took place during the northern steppe archaeological hiatus, when these margins were still part of a steppe/forest ecotone (Musotto et al, 2016). At this time, local paleoecological data indicate a relatively arid pulse about 8600 cal yr BP (Musotto et al, 2016) within a broader regional context characterized by several arid and cold episodes (e.g., Zolitschka et al, 2013; Irurzum et al, 2014; Zhu et al, 2014).…”

“…The late Pleistocene deglaciation process in the Fuegian Archipelago was characterized by pulses and reversals (McCulloch et al, 1997; Rabassa et al, 2000; Bentley et al, 2005; Coronato et al, 2008), until glaciers retreated into the Fuegian Andes around 18,000 cal yr BP (with some chronological differences, depending on the author; e.g., McCulloch et al, 2005; Kaplan et al, 2008; Coronato et al, 2009; Hall et al, 2013; Musotto et al, 2016). Broadly, paleoecological evidence indicates relatively warm and moister conditions during the Holocene (e.g., Heusser, 1993; Ariztegui et al, 2008; Zolitschka et al, 2013).…”

“…1000–500 cal yr BP (Mauquoy et al, 2004; Waldmann et al, 2010; Ponce et al, 2011) and the LIA at ca. 700–200 cal yr BP (Strelin et al, 2008; Borromei et al, 2010; Ponce et al, 2011, 2017; Menounos et al, 2013; Musotto et al, 2016).…”