Archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence for a late Pleistocene human settlement in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert (21°S)

2012 ◽  
Vol 279-280 ◽  
pp. 268
Author(s):  
Claudio Latorre
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Human Settlement

Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene human settlement and environmental dynamics in the southern Atacama Desert highlands (24.0°S–24.5°S, Northern Chile)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricio Souza ◽  
Isabel Cartajena ◽  
Rodrigo Riquelme ◽  
Antonio Maldonado ◽  
María E. Porras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Northern Chile ◽  
Human Settlement

Geomorphic processes and the stability of surfaces in the central Atacama Desert (Chile) – comparing Sentinel-1 InSAR coherence time series and field evidence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Matthias May ◽  
Dirk Hoffmeister ◽  
Tobias Ullmann ◽  
Olaf Bubenzer
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Overland Flow ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Recent Analysis ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Late Pleistocene To Holocene ◽  
Geomorphic Processes

<p>Recent analysis of spatio-temporal variations of Sentinel-1 InSAR coherences for the entire Atacama Desert have revealed that about 70% of the area show hardly any detectable surface change in an ENSO-affected time series between 2015 and 2018. This validates that geomorphic processes in the central Atacama are of remarkable slowness or even stagnant, as also suggested by the age of surfaces and landforms, i.e. the age of the landscape in general. Most of these surfaces in the central desert are characterized by rather smooth morphologies, which is a result of thick atmospherically derived salt and dust deposits masking the desert surface, supported by the presence of gypsum crusts and/or Biological Soil Crusts (BSCs). In contrast, geomorphic activity on recent time scales is typically linked to episodic Andean discharge or severe precipitation events, which can cause overland flow or flash flood activity even in the hyperarid core of the Atacama as recently shown by the 2015 rainfall event. Likewise, fog-related atmospheric moisture is assumed to provoke salt-driven shrink-swell processes, and episodic activity by slumping and/or seismicity may successively alter landforms in the central desert over longer time scales as well.</p><p>Based on Sentinel-1 InSAR coherence data, this contribution presents the spatial pattern of morphodynamic activity in the central Atacama Desert, which is paired with further independent variables achieved by remote sensing such as soil surface indices and geomorphometric parameters (e.g., using TanDEM-X WorldDEM<sup>TM</sup>, DLR science grant), ultimately characterising the different types of desert surfaces. The satellite-based regional morphodynamic pattern is compared to on-site field evidence collected between 2016 and 2019, which suggests (limited) geomorphic activity rather than stability on late Pleistocene time scales at a variety of locations. Among these locations are flood-affected channel systems and alluvial fans, but also patterned ground structures, zebra stripes, slump- or creep-related slope deposits, or BSC-covered surfaces, which are assumed to support aeolian deposition. Except for the flooding activity, field sites with inferred late Pleistocene to Holocene activity seem to be located in the fog-affected zones of the Coastal Cordillera. Our study shows that the combination of field and remote sensing data may contribute to a better understanding of past and present – particularly rainfall-independent – geomorphic processes in the hyperarid Atacama.</p>

scholarly journals Supplemental Material: Widespread glasses generated by cometary fireballs during the late Pleistocene in the Atacama Desert, Chile

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Schultz ◽  
et al.
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Atacama Desert

Further examples and discussion of the glasses, meteoritic components, possibly related distal material, and previous interpretations as products of grass fires.<br>

scholarly journals Plant pathogen responses to Late Pleistocene and Holocene climate change in the central Atacama Desert, Chile

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie R. Wood ◽  
Francisca P. Díaz ◽  
Claudio Latorre ◽  
Janet M. Wilmshurst ◽  
Olivia R. Burge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Plant Pathogen ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Holocene Climate ◽  
Holocene Climate Change

scholarly journals Widespread glasses generated by cometary fireballs during the late Pleistocene in the Atacama Desert, Chile

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Schultz ◽  
R. Scott Harris ◽  
Sebastián Perroud ◽  
Nicolas Blanco ◽  
Andrew J. Tomlinson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Silicate Glasses ◽  
Northern Chile ◽  
Broad Distribution ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Rapid Climate Change ◽  
Low Altitude

Twisted and folded silicate glasses (up to 50 cm across) concentrated in certain areas across the Atacama Desert near Pica (northern Chile) indicate nearly simultaneous (seconds to minutes) intense airbursts close to Earth’s surface near the end of the Pleistocene. The evidence includes mineral decompositions that require ultrahigh temperatures, dynamic modes of emplacement for the glasses, and entrained meteoritic dust. Thousands of identical meteoritic grains trapped in these glasses show compositions and assemblages that resemble those found exclusively in comets and CI group primitive chondrites. Combined with the broad distribution of the glasses, the Pica glasses provide the first clear evidence for a cometary body (or bodies) exploding at a low altitude. This occurred soon after the arrival of proto-Archaic hunter-gatherers and around the time of rapid climate change in the Southern Hemisphere.

scholarly journals The first evidence for Late Pleistocene hominin populations on the southern Caspian Sea coast

Antiquity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (355) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed Vahdati Nasab ◽  
Kourosh Roustaei ◽  
Mohammad Ghamari Fatideh ◽  
Fatemeh Shojaeefar ◽  
Milad Hashemi Sarvandi
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Caspian Sea ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
The Caspian Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
Dispersal Corridors ◽  
Sea Coast ◽  
Southern Caspian Sea

The southern shore of the Caspian Sea is well known for its great potential in relation to sites of Mesolithic date (e.g. Coon 1951; Jayez & Vahdati Nasab 2016). Situated between two major geographic barriers—the Alborz Mountains to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the north—this area has been considered one of the major hominin dispersal corridors during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition (Vahdati Nasab et al. 2013). Furthermore, the relatively stable and mild climatic conditions, vast and lush temperate forests, and abundance of fauna and water resources have all made this region an attractive niche for human settlement.

scholarly journals Late Pleistocene human occupation of the hyperarid core in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile

2013 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Latorre ◽  
Calogero M. Santoro ◽  
Paula C. Ugalde ◽  
Eugenia M. Gayo ◽  
Daniela Osorio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Northern Chile ◽  
Human Occupation

Palaeo-ecology and Pleistocene human occupation in south central Tasmania

Antiquity ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (242) ◽  
pp. 59-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Cosgrove ◽  
Jim Allen ◽  
Brendan Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
South Central

Evidence for the late-Pleistocene and early-Holocene settlement of Tasmania is now offered by a growing number of sites in a variety of landscapes; among the more remarkable finds are cave-sites with evidence for human settlement of periglacial uplands before 30,000 BP. Good faunal assemblages and environmental records allow the reconstruction of a subsistence system different in character from those modelled on a European Pleistocene prototype.

scholarly journals Supplemental Material: Widespread glasses generated by cometary fireballs during the late Pleistocene in the Atacama Desert, Chile

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Schultz ◽  
et al.
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Atacama Desert

Further examples and discussion of the glasses, meteoritic components, possibly related distal material, and previous interpretations as products of grass fires.<br>

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