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Geology, Stratigraphy, and Chronology of the Pilauco Site

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Pilauco: A Late Pleistocene Archaeo-paleontological Site

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

Abstract

The Pilauco site is located in north-western Chilean Patagonia, Region de Los Lagos (40°34′12″S, 73°06′12″W). The stratigraphy of the site comprises of two distinct Pleistocene units. The lower unit corresponds to the sequence San Pablo of MIS5e age and consists of clastic and volcanoclastic sediments (PB-1 to PB-5). The upper unit includes the strata PB-6 to PB-9 with age constraints between 17,370 and 4,340 cal. year BP. The strata bearing fossil mammals and archaeological evidence (PB-7 and PB-8; 16,400–12,800 cal. year BP) correspond to layers of sand derived by means of colluvial transport from the nearby hills to the north of the site, in a fine-grained matrix of organic anoxic material and dispersed gravel clasts deposited in a seasonal wetland. The contact between the layers PB-8 and PB-9 is characterized by an erosional unconformity, a drastic increase in charcoal particles coeval with the nearly complete disappearance of pollen and other plant remains. Moreover, layer PB-9 lacks paleontological and archaeological remains. The discordance has been dated on ~12,800 cal. year BP, which coincides with the Younger Dryas Northern Hemisphere climatic oscillation. The local geological characteristics are concordant with regional geomorphological interpretations that have identified several terraces formed during the last glaciation and the Holocene.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/, consulted in July 2015.

  2. 2.

    http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/, consulted in July 2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Mario Pino, Rodrigo M. Vega & Karin Soto-Bollmann

  2. Transdisciplinary Center for Quaternary Research in the South of Chile, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Mario Pino, Alejandra Martel-Cea & Daniel Fritte

  3. Graduate School Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Alejandra Martel-Cea

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  1. Mario Pino
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  2. Alejandra Martel-Cea
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  3. Rodrigo M. Vega
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  4. Daniel Fritte
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  5. Karin Soto-Bollmann
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Correspondence to Mario Pino .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Mario Pino

  2. Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Giselle A. Astorga

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Pino, M., Martel-Cea, A., Vega, R.M., Fritte, D., Soto-Bollmann, K. (2020). Geology, Stratigraphy, and Chronology of the Pilauco Site. In: Pino , M., Astorga, G. (eds) Pilauco: A Late Pleistocene Archaeo-paleontological Site. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23918-3_3

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