Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes in central Tierra del Fuego (~54S) inferred from pollen analysis

CORONATO, ANDREA; ROBERT MARR; BORROMEI, ANA MARÍA; GERALD OSBORN; MUSOTTO,LORENA LAURA; BRIAN MENOUNOS

VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016 vol. 25 p. 117 - 130

0939-6314

A pollen record was obtained from a coringsite at La Correntina mire (54330S, 66590W, 206 m a.s.l.)to the east of Lago Fagnano, centre of Tierra del Fuego.The results indicate that the valley bottom was free of iceshortly before 15,400 cal BP. Pioneer vegetation includeddwarf shrub heaths, grasses and herbs with sparsely distributedNothofagus trees, indicative of dry conditions.Nothofagus expanded by 10,000 cal BP and the foreststeppeecotone was established by 9,400 cal BP, implyingwarm conditions and an increase in available moisture.After ca. 5,000 cal BP, the development of a closed-canopyforest is interpreted as the result of wetter and colderconditions. After 3,000 cal BP, Nothofagus forest became more open, and by about 400 cal BP there was a furtherdecline of the forest. A closed-canopy Nothofagus forestre-established after 400 cal BP