scholarly journals A Devastating Plinian Eruption at Tungurahua Volcano Reveals Formative Occupation at ∼1100 cal BC in Central Ecuador

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 1199-1214 ◽  
Author(s):  
J-L Le Pennec ◽  
G de Saulieu ◽  
P Samaniego ◽  
D Jaya ◽  
L Gailler
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Explosive Eruption ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Plinian Eruption ◽  
Magma Intrusion ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Failure Event ◽  
Pottery Sherds ◽  
Tungurahua Volcano

Based on archaeological and radiometric constraints, previous studies have divided pre-Columbian times of Ecuador into a succession of cultural periods. The Paleoindian and Preceramic periods encompass the time from the first Amerindian occupation to about 4000 BC. The Formative period extends from ∼4000 to ∼300 BC, while the Regional Development (∼300 BC to ∼AD 700) and Integration periods predate the Columbian period, which starts in AD 1533 in Ecuador. The Formative cultural period is poorly known from earlier studies. Here, we bring the first documentation of Formative age occupation around Tungurahua Volcano, 120 km SW of Quito, and show that local settlements were devastated by a violent eruption around 1100 cal BC. Recent volcanological works combining lithostratigraphic, petrologic, and geochronologic analyses reveal that the steep-sloped Tungurahua edifice suffered a major Late Holocene flank failure. We show that the failure event resulted from a major explosive eruption triggered by massive magma intrusion inside the volcano. Decompression of the magma due to a flank collapse resulted in a violent, high-velocity directed blast explosion, which deposited charcoaland sherd-rich ash layers upon and near the volcano. Our 14C results range from 2225 ± 30 to 5195 ± 45 BP, but most cluster between 2640 ± 45 and 3195 ± 45 BP. A calibration analysis indicates that the event took place at ∼1100 cal BC, in the Formative period. We gathered 38 pottery sherds from 3 localities. The sherds show a diversity of size, shape, color, and ornamentation. Examination of pastes, surface finish, and firing indicates that our material shares many common features from site to site. The material from Tungurahua shares affinities with the Cotocollao tradition, which developed in the Quito region between 1500 and 500 BC, and with the Machalilla tradition (coastal region of Ecuador), with the occurrence of carinated bowls with punctuate decorations at 1500–1000 BC. Our study reveals that the ∼1100 cal BC Plinian eruption of Tungurahua Volcano is among the oldest known volcanic disasters in the Andes.

Correction to "Ascending seismic source during an explosive eruption at Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador”

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Kumagai ◽  
Pablo Placios ◽  
Mario Ruiz ◽  
Hugo Yepes ◽  
Tomofumi Kozono
Keyword(s):  
Explosive Eruption ◽  
Seismic Source ◽  
Tungurahua Volcano

scholarly journals Past and current sediment dispersion pattern estimates through numerical modeling of wave climate: an example of the Holocene delta of the Doce River, Espírito Santo, Brazil

2007 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abílio C.S.P. Bittencourt ◽  
José M.L. Dominguez ◽  
Louis Martin ◽  
Iracema R. Silva ◽  
Karla O.P. de-Medeiros
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Wave Climate ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Dispersion Pattern ◽  
Dispersion Patterns ◽  
Doce River

This paper presents a numerical modeling estimation of the sediment dispersion patterns caused by waves inciding through four distinct coastline contours of the delta plain of the Doce River during the Late Holocene. For this, a wave climate model based on the construction of wave refraction diagrams, as a function of current boundary conditions, was defined and was assumed to be valid for the four coastlines. The numerical modeling was carried out on basis of the refraction diagrams, taking into account the angle of approximation and the wave height along the coastline. The results are shown to be comparable with existing data regarding the directions of net longshore drift of sediments estimated from the integration of sediment cores, interpretation of aerial photographs and C14 datings. This fact apparently suggests that, on average, current boundary conditions appear to have remained with the same general characteristics since 5600 cal yr BP to the present. The used approach may prove useful to evaluate the sediment dispersion patterns during the Late Holocene in the Brazilian east-northeast coastal region.

scholarly journals El Pacífico: early architecture and landscape during the Formative period of the Central Andes

Antiquity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (357) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis A. Flores
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Models ◽  
Social Experiences ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Central Coast ◽  
Settlement Systems ◽  
Incomplete Knowledge ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Traditional Patterns ◽  
Public Architecture

Despite archaeological interest in the study of the origins of public architecture in the Andes, there remain a number of gaps in our knowledge, especially in the area between the Chancay and Lurin Valleys on the central coast of Peru. This situation may, in part, result from how we have approached the study of the Formative period. In particular, the lack of intensive studies in several types of sites and valleys means that we have incomplete knowledge of wider settlement systems. As a result, we know very little about the existence of smaller settlements, only the great public centres. Nor do we understand how the unique occupational histories of each site and valley developed. This is despite the fact that investigations of the period began with middens and sites with modest architecture such as Bellavista or Ancón (Uhle 1906; Rosas 2007). Yet this shortcoming has not been an obstacle to formulating explanatory models, which have focused on the origin of early public architecture. The current dominant explanatory model for the emergence of architectural monumentality focuses on the concept of the concentration of power (e.g. Haas 1982; Trigger 1990). Our project at El Pacífico takes a different perspective, seeing these mounds as a palimpsest of social experiences and socially constructed places to preserve community memory and traditional patterns of life (Dillehay 1990; Tilley 1994; Rosenswig & Burger 2012; Flores 2014).

scholarly journals Drumbeat LP “Aftershocks” to a Failed Explosive Eruption at Tungurahua Volcano, Ecuador

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Butcher ◽  
A. F. Bell ◽  
S. Hernandez ◽  
E. Calder ◽  
M. Ruiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Explosive Eruption ◽  
Tungurahua Volcano

scholarly journals Brooyar Rockshelter: a late Holocene seasonal hunting camp from southeast Queensland

1988 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 133-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian McNiven
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Subsistence Activities ◽  
Southeast Queensland ◽  
Comparative Information ◽  
Insight Into

This paper details the results of an excavation undertaken at Brooyar Rockshelter, southeast Queensland during August 1987. The Rockshelter was excavated as part of a larger research project focused upon the adjacent coastal region of Cooloola (McNiven 1985). The excavation had two main aims. The first was to establish a chronological framework for backed blades in the Gympie-Cooloola region, thus providing insight into the antiquity of non-stratified open sites with backed blades in the region (e.g. sandblow sites at Cooloola - McNiven 1895:15, 26, 28) (cf. Hiscock 1986). The second aim was to obtain comparative information on subsistence activities located in the hinterland region of Cooloola.

scholarly journals Meteorological Interpretation of Orographic Precipitation Gradients along an Andes West Slope Basin at 30°S (Elqui Valley, Chile)

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Scaff ◽  
Jose A. Rutllant ◽  
David Rahn ◽  
Simon Gascoin ◽  
Roberto Rondanelli
Keyword(s):  
Storm Track ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Orographic Precipitation ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
Zonal Winds ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Northern Edge ◽  
Cutoff Low

Abstract To better forecast streamflow and water resource availability, it is important to have an understanding of the meteorological drivers of the orographic precipitation gradient (OPG), especially critical in semiarid mountainous areas. Although forced ascent over topography typically results in precipitation increasing with altitude (positive OPGs), mean annual OPGs and especially OPGs associated with individual storms can change widely in magnitude and even sign. Precipitation measurements from the Elqui Valley in the semiarid Andes of Chile (30°S) reveal a mean annual OPG of 6.3 mm km−1 (millimeters of precipitation over kilometers in elevation) ranging from −42 to 52 mm km−1 for individual storms over the last 35 years (1979–2013). Reanalysis data and precipitation measurements are used to characterize the observed OPG in this region in relation with their synoptic-scale flow. It is found that the Froude number correlates positively with the OPG, reflecting stronger zonal winds and less static stability during storms that have positive OPGs. Altitude of the Andes barrier jet shows only a weak relationship with the OPG. Significant storms with positive OPGs are typically linked with an austral blocking of the westerlies and an equatorward migration of the midlatitude storm track. For negative OPGs, either a cutoff low or the northern edge of a surface migratory cyclone reaches the Elqui Valley in such a way that significant rainfall only occurs in the near-coastal region without major snowfall accumulation over the Andes.

Subsistence Continuity Linked to Consumption of Marine Protein in the Formative Period in the Interfluvic Coast of Northern Chile: Re-Assessing Contacts with Agropastoral Groups from Highlands

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Andrade ◽  
Ricardo Fernandes ◽  
Katia Codjambassis ◽  
Josefina Urrea ◽  
Laura Olguín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
Northern Chile ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Radiocarbon Data ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Bone Remains ◽  
Marine Protein

From material culture evidence dating as early as 7500 cal BC, it has been established that populations from the interfluvic coast in northern Chile adapted to a maritime economic livelihood. During the 2nd millennium BC, local populations began to experience major social changes arising mainly from an increase in contacts with agropastoral populations from the highlands of the Andes. New radiocarbon data and stable isotope (δ15Ncol, δ13Ccol, and δ13Cap) analyses of human bone remains from interfluvic coastal individuals were obtained. The data showed that these individuals, at the time of contact with highland populations, maintained a mode of subsistence relying principally on marine protein. This suggests that, although instances of social change may have arisen, the livelihoods linked to the consumption of marine resources would have remained constant, demonstrating a high degree of resistance in changing local lifestyles.

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