What is it about?
In order to understand what mechanisms produce topography in subduction zones, it is important to know how fast topography has been produced. We show that at least 50% of northern Chile's Atacama Desert's current elevation was accrued before the early Pliocene. We used the Sr isotopic signature of calcium sulfate-rich paleosols as an indicator of paleo-elevations.
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Why is it important?
Previous paleoelevation studies in the Central Andes were mostly dedicated to the main Andean cordillera, high-elevation plateaus, and Western Precordillera. Here, we focus our efforts on the western forearc, an area that has been poorly constrained in the past in terms of paleoelevations. These constraints can be much more readily used to infer plate interface mechanisms in the Andes.
Perspectives
The Atacama Desert is a fascinating study area that delivers many opportunities to look at surface landscape evolution. I hope it also serves as a building block to studying plate interface mechanisms and the role of subucted sediments on forearc topography production.
Nicolas Cosentino
Cornell University
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This page is a summary of: 87Sr/86Sr of calcium sulfate in ancient soils of hyperarid settings as a paleoaltitude proxy: Pliocene to Quaternary constraints for northern Chile (19.5-21.7°S), Tectonics, January 2017, American Geophysical Union (AGU),
DOI: 10.1002/2016tc004185.
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