Abstract

Subtropical zones are crucial for understanding climate dynamics, as they strongly control the subtropical anticyclone system and serve as a bridge between the tropical and temperate regions of the planet. Therefore, understanding the long-term dynamics of these areas is vital on a hemispheric scale. A continuous late Pleistocene climate record based on sedimentological proxies was reconstructed using a lacustrine core from the Chilean Subtropical Andes (similar to 33 degrees S). Since the late Pleistocene, high lake levels subjected to cold and wet conditions prevailed between similar to 15.4 and 14k cal a bp, followed by glacier retreat between 14 and 13.7k cal a bp. The Pleistocene-Holocene transition is marked by increasing sedimentological parameter values and organic matter content, recording a significant shift in the environmental conditions. Decreased lake levels and high-energy events predominated until similar to 8.5k cal a bp, followed by warm and arid conditions with high-energy/runoff events from 8.5 to 5.2k cal a bp, with the driest period occurring similar to 6.4k cal a bp. Turbiditic flows appear between 5.2 and 2.6k cal a bp, and cold conditions between 2.6 and 2.3k cal a bp. From 1720 to 960 cal a bp, cold and wet conditions predominated. Warm and wet conditions prevailed to the present, with a brief return to cold and dry conditions at 720 cal a bp. Important widely represented events such as the Last Glacial termination, early to mid-Holocene Transition and Little Ice Age are present in the core record.