Fossil pollen records indicate that Patagonian desertification was not solely a consequence of Andean uplift

L. Palazzesi (), V.D. Barreda, J.I. Cuitiño, M.V. Guler, M.C. Tellería and R. Ventura Santos
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L. Palazzesi: Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
V.D. Barreda: Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
J.I. Cuitiño: Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Intendente Güiraldes 2160 (C1428EHA)
M.V. Guler: Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670 (8000) Bahía Blanca
M.C. Tellería: Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiva (LASBE), Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n (1900) La Plata
R. Ventura Santos: Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Geociências. Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The Patagonian steppe—a massive rain-shadow on the lee side of the southern Andes—is assumed to have evolved ~15–12 Myr as a consequence of the southern Andean uplift. However, fossil evidence supporting this assumption is limited. Here we quantitatively estimate climatic conditions and plant richness for the interval ~10–6 Myr based on the study and bioclimatic analysis of terrestrially derived spore–pollen assemblages preserved in well-constrained Patagonian marine deposits. Our analyses indicate a mesothermal climate, with mean temperatures of the coldest quarter between 11.4 °C and 16.9 °C (presently ~3.5 °C) and annual precipitation rarely below 661 mm (presently ~200 mm). Rarefied richness reveals a significantly more diverse flora during the late Miocene than today at the same latitude but comparable with that approximately 2,000 km further northeast at mid-latitudes on the Brazilian coast. We infer that the Patagonian desertification was not solely a consequence of the Andean uplift as previously insinuated.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4558

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