Abstract

MANCINI, María V.. Climate variability during the last 1000 years in Cabo V írgenes, Argentina. Ameghiniana [online]. 2007, vol.44, n.1, pp.173-182. ISSN 1851-8044.

This paper presents the pollen analysis from two sequences located in the southeast of Patagonia, Argentina, to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions during the last millennium. A mire ("mallín") located at 52º 19' 45''S, 68º 23' 01''W, as well as a road cut outcrop presenting a soil within Late Holocene eolian and colluvial deposits at 52º 19' 47''S, 68º 22' 22''W, were sampled. Before ca. 1000 yr BP, shrubland in the mire sides and a grass-shrub steppe allow to infer drier climatic conditions than at present. The increase in Poaceae and Juncaginaceae and later Cyperaceae preponderance in the mire sequence, as well as a grass steppe similar to the present-day steppe at regional scales according to soil pollen records, suggest moisture increase after ca. 700 yr BP. Pollen record data from the upper section of the soil profile, buried by recent eolian deposits, present the highest Rumex values and could probably be related to the impact produced by the introduction of sheep at the end of 19th Century.

Keywords : Pollen; Vegetation; Paleoenvironments; Last millennium; Cabo Vírgenes; Argentina.