Mollusk Shells as bio-geo-archives Evaluating Environmental Changes During the Quaternary

GORDILLO, S.; BAYER, M.S.; BORETTO, G.M.; CHARÓ, M.P.

Springer

Lugar: London; Año: 2014 p. 80

978-3-319-03475-1

Given the wide range of disciplines involved in Quaternary research, this book aims to provide a comprehensive approach to how mollusk shell remains have been used in the reconstruction of Quaternary environments in southern South America. Our study was based on present-day Holocene and Pleistocene mollusk assemblages from different areas covering a wide distribution range between 40 and 54 S. The mollusk assemblages and/or selected taxa were analyzed using a multidisciplinary approach mainly involving taphonomy, paleoecology, morphometry, shell microstructure, and sclerochronology. A local-scale quantitative and qualitative analysis of mollusk assemblages at different latitudes suggests that each environment acted as a ??dynamic mosaic?? for the development of local communities in patchy habitats or sub-environments which, in accordance with sea-level changes, shifted over time. Changes in mollusk assemblages took place from a few hundred to several thousand years ago,and mostly follow local physical variations (i.e., substrate, availability of food, and currents); changes associated to global-scale climatic variability during the Holocene were also recorded in individual taxa. As the multi-proxy evidence used in this study provides a consistent picture of spatial and temporal environmental and climatic changes in southern South America, we have concluded that mollusk shells are extremely valuable tools for studies addressing Quaternary environments anywhere.