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

TitleEarly Warming of Tropical South America at the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2002
AuthorsSeltzer, G. O., D. T. Rodbell, Baker P. A., S. C. Fritz, Tapia P. M., Rowe H. D., & Dunbar P. B.
JournalScience
Volume296
Pagination1685-1686
AbstractGlaciation in the humid tropical Andes is a sensitive indicator of mean annualtemperature. Here, we present sedimentological data from lakes beyond theglacial limit in the tropical Andes indicating that deglaciation from the LastGlacial Maximum led substantial warming at high northern latitudes. Deglaciationfrom glacial maximum positions at Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia (16¡S),and Lake Junin, Peru (11¡S), occurred 22,000 to 19,500 calendar years beforethe present, several thousand years before the B¿lling-Aller¿d warming of theNorthern Hemisphere and deglaciation of the Sierra Nevada, United States(36.5¡ to 38¡N). The tropical Andes deglaciated while climatic conditions remainedregionally wet, which reßects the dominant control of mean annualtemperature on tropical glaciation