TY - JOUR
T1 - Early to Middle Miocene climate in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile
AU - Oerter, Erik
AU - Amundson, Ronald
AU - Heimsath, Arjun
AU - Jungers, Matthew
AU - Chong, Guillermo
AU - Renne, Paul
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the mine access, support, and survey work of Compania Minera El Tesoro, support from NSF Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry program, and the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station. This paper was improved by the editorial input of Thierry Correge and the reviews of Martin Reich, Adrian Hartley and an anonymous reviewer.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - The Cenozoic paleoclimate of the Atacama Desert is not well known. We examined 14 early to mid-Miocene paleosols exposed in the El Tesoro Mine, near Calama, Chile. The paleosols developed on an aggrading alluvial fan system, and lie above the mineralized gravel horizons that host a copper ore body. Soil-forming conditions that oscillated between chemical weathering and clay production (humid: analogous to modern Alfisols) to environments favoring the accumulation of pedogenic carbonate (arid to semi-arid: analogous to modern Aridisols) are indicated. In contrast, the region is presently hyperarid, and soils accumulate sulfates, chlorides, and nitrates. While total chemical analyses clearly show the accumulation of Ca by the carbonate-rich paleosols, none of the soils exhibit significant losses of elements by leaching. The δ18O values of the carbonates range from -8.79‰ to -3.16‰ (VPDB). The O isotope data, when combined with published data from the region, reveal a significant divergence in the O isotope composition of precipitation in the eastern and western margins of the Andean plateau since the early Miocene, suggesting that simple interpretations of declining δ18O values of carbonate with increasing elevation may not be appropriate. These paleosols clearly indicate that wetter conditions prevailed in what is now the Atacama Desert during the early to mid-Miocene.
AB - The Cenozoic paleoclimate of the Atacama Desert is not well known. We examined 14 early to mid-Miocene paleosols exposed in the El Tesoro Mine, near Calama, Chile. The paleosols developed on an aggrading alluvial fan system, and lie above the mineralized gravel horizons that host a copper ore body. Soil-forming conditions that oscillated between chemical weathering and clay production (humid: analogous to modern Alfisols) to environments favoring the accumulation of pedogenic carbonate (arid to semi-arid: analogous to modern Aridisols) are indicated. In contrast, the region is presently hyperarid, and soils accumulate sulfates, chlorides, and nitrates. While total chemical analyses clearly show the accumulation of Ca by the carbonate-rich paleosols, none of the soils exhibit significant losses of elements by leaching. The δ18O values of the carbonates range from -8.79‰ to -3.16‰ (VPDB). The O isotope data, when combined with published data from the region, reveal a significant divergence in the O isotope composition of precipitation in the eastern and western margins of the Andean plateau since the early Miocene, suggesting that simple interpretations of declining δ18O values of carbonate with increasing elevation may not be appropriate. These paleosols clearly indicate that wetter conditions prevailed in what is now the Atacama Desert during the early to mid-Miocene.
KW - Andes Mountains
KW - Atacama paleoclimate
KW - Hyperaridity
KW - Paleosol
KW - Pedogenic carbonate
KW - Stable isotopes
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U2 - 10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10.038
DO - 10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10.038
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84949623385
SN - 0031-0182
VL - 441
SP - 890
EP - 900
JO - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
JF - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
ER -