Reconstruction of the mid-Holocene paleoclimate of the Ecuadorian Andean páramo at Tres Lagunas, Ecuador

Abstract

Previous paleoclimate studies have suggested a warm/dry event during the mid-Holocene in páramo vegetation of the tropical Andes of South America. However, the timing of the mid- Holocene warm/dry event in Tres Lagunas, Ecuador, remains uncertain, since a previously reported bog core record characterized the warm/dry event during a hiatus in sediment deposition. In order to understand the timing of the warm/dry event in Tres Lagunas in relation to regional records, a lake sediment core was collected. Subsamples from the core were analyzed for radiocarbon dates, pollen, magnetic susceptibility, and charcoal to reconstruct the depositional, vegetational, and fire history of the area. A near-constant sedimentation rate in the lake core indicated that the lake did not dry, in contrast to the adjacent previously reported bog core. Increases in lower elevation pollen types suggest …