Early Warming of Tropical South America at the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition

Authors

G. O. Seltzer, Syracuse University
D. T. Rodbell, Union College, Schenectady, NY
P. A. Baker, Duke UniversityFollow
Sherilyn C. Fritz, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
P. M. Tapia, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
H. D. Rowe, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
R. B. Dunbar, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Date of this Version

May 2002

Comments

Published in SCIENCE VOL 296, 31 MAY 2002. Copyright 2002. Used by permission. www.sciencemag.org

Abstract

Glaciation in the humid tropical Andes is a sensitive indicator of mean annual temperature. Here, we present sedimentological data from lakes beyond the glacial limit in the tropical Andes indicating that deglaciation from the Last Glacial Maximum led substantial warming at high northern latitudes. Deglaciation from glacial maximum positions at Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia (16°S), and Lake Junin, Peru (11°S), occurred 22,000 to 19,500 calendar years before the present, several thousand years before the Bølling-Allerød warming of the Northern Hemisphere and deglaciation of the Sierra Nevada, United States (36.5° to 38°N). The tropical Andes deglaciated while climatic conditions remained regionally wet, which reflects the dominant control of mean annual temperature on tropical glaciation.