Diatoms at >5000 meters in the Quelccaya Summit Dome Glacier, Peru

Authors

Sherilyn C. Fritz, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Bruce E. Brinson, Rice University
W. E. Billups, Rice University
Lonnie G. Thompson, Ohio State UniversityFollow

Date of this Version

2015

Citation

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2015, pp. 369–374

Comments

© 2015 Regents of the University of Colorado

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1657/AAAR0014-075

Abstract

Diatoms were found in late Holocene age ice-core samples recovered from the Quelccaya Summit Dome in the tropical Andes of Peru and were imaged by environmental scanning electron microscopy and identified. Freshwater diatoms in the genera Hantzschia, Pinnularia, and Aulacoseira were the most common taxa in the samples and indicate a freshwater source for the material, which also is suggested by the presence of the freshwater alga Volvox. The overall species composition of the diatoms suggests that the majority of taxa originated from a high-elevation lake or wetland in the cordillera surrounding the ice cap. The abundant diatom valves, up to 70 μm in size, likely were transported to the ice via wind.