Climate variability in a 3.8 Ma old sedimentary record from the hyperarid Atacama Desert

dc.contributor.authorArens, Felix L.
dc.contributor.authorFeige, Jenny
dc.contributor.authorAiro, Alessandro
dc.contributor.authorSager, Christof
dc.contributor.authorHecht, Lutz
dc.contributor.authorHorstmann, Lucas
dc.contributor.authorKaufmann, Felix E.D.
dc.contributor.authorLachner, Johannes
dc.contributor.authorNeumann, Thomas
dc.contributor.authorNowaczyk, Norbert
dc.contributor.authorSchiperski, Ferry
dc.contributor.authorSteier, Peter
dc.contributor.authorStoll, Alexandra
dc.contributor.authorStruck, Ulrich
dc.contributor.authorValenzuela, Bernardita
dc.contributor.authorvon Blanckenburg, Friedhelm
dc.contributor.authorWittmann, Hella
dc.contributor.authorWacker, Lukas
dc.contributor.authorWagner, Dirk
dc.contributor.authorZamorano, Pedro
dc.contributor.authorSchulze Makuch, Dirk
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-26T14:13:33Z
dc.date.available2026-01-26T14:13:33Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractThe hyperarid Atacama Desert is one of the driest and oldest deserts on Earth, rendering it a valuable climate archive. However, unraveling its past climate is particularly challenging and the few studied paleoclimate records of the region reveal strong temporal and spatial variabilities. To enhance our understanding of these dynamics we investigated a sedimentary record in the Yungay valley located in the southern hyperarid Atacama Desert. We employed paleomagnetic and radiocarbon dating, and for the first time for Atacama Desert sediments, a meteoric 10Be/9Be based method for determining the depositional age. The respective 4.20 m deep profile comprises a lower alluvial fan deposit with a maximum age of 3.8 ± 0.8 Ma, and an upper 1.84 m thick clay pan deposit that has accumulated over the last 19 ka. Different proxies including grain size, salt concentration, and elemental composition indicate an aridity increase around 2.3 Ma ago and repeated dry and wet phases during the late Pleistocene and the Holocene. The latter climatic shifts can be assigned to variabilities of the South American Summer Monsoon and El Niño Southern Oscillation with moisture sources from the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, respectively. This study provides deeper insights into the heterogeneous climate of the hyperarid Atacama Desert and underlines the importance of interdisciplinary investigations to decipher climate systems and their effect on potential habitable regions in such an extreme environment.
dc.description.sponsorshipEuropean Union (ERC,NoSHADE,101077668) European Research Council Advanced Grant Habitability of Martian Environments (#339231) BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, project 05K16KTB) RADIATE project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 824096 (Radiate Proposal 19001796-ST) MINEDUC-UA Project code ANT1856.
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.gloplacha.2024.104576
dc.identifier.issn0921-8181
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorioabierto.uantof.cl/handle/uantof/629
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherELSEVIER Inc.
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.sourceGlobal and Planetary Change
dc.subjectHyperaridity
dc.subject10Be
dc.subjectSedimentology
dc.subjectPedogenic processes
dc.subjectPaleoclimate
dc.subjectAtacama Desert
dc.titleClimate variability in a 3.8 Ma old sedimentary record from the hyperarid Atacama Desert
dc.typeArticle
oaire.citation.volume242
organization.identifier.rorhttps://ror.org/04eyc6d95
organization.legalNameUniversidad de Antofagasta
uantof.identificator.departmentDepartamento Biomédico
uantof.identificator.facultyFacultad de Ciencias de la Salud
uantof.identificator.instituteInstituto Antofagasta
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