The quaternary glaciation of chile : a review

A review of literature on the Quaternary glaciations of Chile shows that repeated advances occurred in the central and southern Andes. However, radiocarbon dated sequences have been obtained only for the last glaciation in the Chilean Lakes Region and in the Paine and Magallanes regions of Patagonia. These suggest that glacier lobes from the icefields advanced at least five times during the last glaciation. Reconstruction of palaeo-snowlines indicates that the climatic belts during the glacial interval were basically similar to the modem, but that effective precipitation was greater in the north (arid) of Chile, and that the humid westerlies in temperate latitudes were displaced 5-6° to the north. Snow line descended 800-1 OOOm. While glaciers in the Lakes Region reached their maximum extension at ca.20-21,000 yr BP, those in the south and north of the country may have been more extensive at ca.27,000 yr BP, due to the greater humidity available. Some glacier lobes from the southemmost icefields of Chile were still expanded at ca.l2,000 yr BP and may have readvanced during the interval I 2,000-9000 yr BP.