TY - JOUR
T1 - Late-Quaternary lowstands of Lake Titicaca
T2 - Evidence from high-resolution seismic data
AU - D'Agostino, Karin
AU - Seltzer, Geoffrey
AU - Baker, Paul
AU - Fritz, Sherilyn
AU - Dunbar, Robert
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank N. Catari, S. Cross, G. Mollericon, and D. Mucciarone for help in acquisition of the seismic data; Ing. J. Sanjines and Ing. M. Revello of the Autoridad Autonoma de Lago Titicaca, La Paz, for the necessary permission to conduct research on the lake and for invaluable logistical assistance; J. Halfman and D. Woodrow of The Hobart and William Smith Colleges for loan of the X-Star sub-bottom profiling system; and F. Anselmetti, M. De Batist, S. Colman, and C. Scholz for critical reviews of the manuscript. This research was supported by US NSF Grants ATM-9600051 to G.S., ATM-9619672 to P.B., ATM-9708256 to S.F., and ATM-9624715 to R.D.
PY - 2002/4/15
Y1 - 2002/4/15
N2 - Approximately 600 km of high-resolution seismic reflection data were collected to investigate the late-Quaternary stratigraphic development of Lake Titicaca. The focus of this report is on two seismic sequence boundaries, which are interpreted as erosional surfaces formed at times of low lake level. The younger erosional surface occurs as much as 90 m below the present lake level and up to 8 m below the present sediment-water interface. This erosional surface is interpreted to be coeval with a well-documented early- to mid-Holocene lowstand, dated between ∼ 8000 and 3600 cal yr BP. An earlier and previously unknown erosional surface occurs at a sub-bottom depth of approximately 30 m, and as much as 240 m below the present lake level, which implies a major late-Pleistocene lowstand of Lake Titicaca. By extrapolation of sedimentation rates from the upper ∼ 14 m of sediment, we estimate the age of this older lowstand at > 90000 cal yr BP. Both lowstands of Lake Titicaca indicated by the seismic data are likely to have been a response to climatic change in the region.
AB - Approximately 600 km of high-resolution seismic reflection data were collected to investigate the late-Quaternary stratigraphic development of Lake Titicaca. The focus of this report is on two seismic sequence boundaries, which are interpreted as erosional surfaces formed at times of low lake level. The younger erosional surface occurs as much as 90 m below the present lake level and up to 8 m below the present sediment-water interface. This erosional surface is interpreted to be coeval with a well-documented early- to mid-Holocene lowstand, dated between ∼ 8000 and 3600 cal yr BP. An earlier and previously unknown erosional surface occurs at a sub-bottom depth of approximately 30 m, and as much as 240 m below the present lake level, which implies a major late-Pleistocene lowstand of Lake Titicaca. By extrapolation of sedimentation rates from the upper ∼ 14 m of sediment, we estimate the age of this older lowstand at > 90000 cal yr BP. Both lowstands of Lake Titicaca indicated by the seismic data are likely to have been a response to climatic change in the region.
KW - Andes
KW - Lake Titicaca
KW - Lake level change
KW - Seismic reflection data
KW - Tropical paleoclimate
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U2 - 10.1016/S0031-0182(01)00411-4
DO - 10.1016/S0031-0182(01)00411-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0037091908
SN - 0031-0182
VL - 179
SP - 97
EP - 111
JO - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
JF - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
IS - 1-2
ER -