YOUNGER DRYAS IN SOUTHERNMOST SOUTH-AMERICA - AN UPDATE

High resolution pollen data from a peat section in southern Tierra del Fuego documents high paleoenvironmental variability between 11 ka and 9 ka. Detailed analysis of plant macro remains in die same section showed that the repeated high-amplitude changes in pollen taxa were related to repeated fire disturbance burning at least once even the surface of die mire. In many peat sections from southernmost Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego charcoal particles have been found intermittently since about 13 ka and in great abundance especially after 11 ka. This suggests that the environmental changes previously interpreted to imply a return to colder climates comparable to the North Atlantic Younger Dryas event instead are in response to local and regional disturbances by fires.