....................
....................
...................
....................
....................
....................
....................
|
RESEARCH
AREAS
|
|||
  |
|||
| LIMNOGEOLOGY AND CLIMATIC CHANGE | |||
| PALEOPAMPAS Program, "Limnogeological reconstructions in the Región Pampeana" | |||
|
The reconstruction of the hydrologic variations through climatic archives at different latitudes in the central region of Argentina is fundamental to spatially and temporally analyze the variation of the South America Monsoon System and its hydroclimatic responses. In this sense, the pampean region is a key area to identify the nature and the causes of changes observed during the 20th Century and previous periods. |
|||
 |
The
great hydroclimatic shift, which has been observed since the decade
of 1970, arises the following questions: a)Is the hydrologic situation
affecting today the SE of South-America exceptional?; b) did similar
situations take place in the past, when the antropic influence was
low or null?; c) If changes took place, which were their signs and
frequency during the Holocene?
This and other questions can be answered through
the study of limnogeological climatic archives (lacustrine sediments)
along a transect in the pampean region (see picture). Our objective
is
to analyze
the hydroclimatic
variations
in the last 40 years, within a larger
temporal context (ca. last 2000 years as a minimum) to fully understand
the mechanisms of the climatic variability
in different scales (eg., interannual, decadal).
|
||
|
Our proposal considers the reconstruction of the hydrologic variations through the study of sedimentary cores obtained in lacustrine systems with a multi-proxy approach making up sedimentological and bio-remains analysis as well as sedimentary geochemistry. The record calibration is fundamental to make quantitative reconstructions (e.g., salinity, elevations, water temperature), which are interpreted in terms of temporal hydroclimatic variations (last 2000 years, Holocene, LGM), in different periods of time (LGM/Holocene, First Millennium, Medieval Climatic Anomaly, Low Ice Age, XX Century) . Our results, considering the regional variability (transect 30-36ºS) show that paleolimnological studies along with the subtropical plains of South America are critical for obtaining more realistic regional reconstructions of past climate variability. The initiative followed by the PALEO-PAMPAS programme will help disentangle the role of the subtropics as forcing factors of changes in the atmospheric circulation in South America.
|
|||
|
|
|||
