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Sedimentology-based reconstructions of paleoclimate changes in the Central Andes in response to the uplift of the Andes, Arica region between 19 and 21°S latitude, northern Chile

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Abstract

We focus on the sedimentological record of the Middle Miocene to modern deposits in the Andes of northern Chile between 19 and 21°S. These sediments, deposited at the Western Escarpment of the Central Depression, indicate successively more moisture on the western margin of the Altiplano and the Western Cordillera where the sources are. At the Pacific Coast, 20-Ma-old exposure ages and salic gypsisols reflect an existing and ongoing hyperarid climate. We interpret the increased divergence of climates between the Coast and the Altiplano as consequence of the Andean rise to elevations higher than approximately 2,500 m a.s.l., when the topography of the Altiplano was sufficiently high and areally extensive to attract Atlantic moisture. Accordingly, the inferred general increase in run-off was closely coupled with the uplift of the Andes if the steady rise model applies. In case that the rapid rise model for Andean uplift is correct, the inferred changes in sediment transport would have occurred independently of uplift, requiring an alternative, yet unknown driver.

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Acknowledgments

Research was funded through NSF project 20021 awarded to Schlunegger. The very constructive reviews of an earlier version of this manuscript by T. Jordan, G. Hoke, A. Mulch, A. Hartley, and N. Gasparini substantially improved the science of this paper and are kindly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Fritz Schlunegger

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, ETZ Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Florian Kober

  3. Geological Institute, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Gerold Zeilinger

  4. ETZ Zürich, Oshakati, Namibia

    Ruedi von Rotz

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  1. Fritz Schlunegger
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Correspondence to Fritz Schlunegger.

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Schlunegger, F., Kober, F., Zeilinger, G. et al. Sedimentology-based reconstructions of paleoclimate changes in the Central Andes in response to the uplift of the Andes, Arica region between 19 and 21°S latitude, northern Chile. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 99 (Suppl 1), 123–137 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-010-0572-8

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