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Science 4 December 1998:
Vol. 282. no. 5395, pp. 1858 - 1864
DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5395.1858
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Research Articles

A 25,000-Year Tropical Climate History from Bolivian Ice Cores

L. G. Thompson, M. E. Davis, E. Mosley-Thompson, T. A. Sowers, K. A. Henderson, V. S. Zagorodnov, P.-N. Lin, V. N. Mikhalenko, R. K. Campen, J. F. Bolzan, J. Cole-Dai, B. Francou

Ice cores that were recovered from the summit of Sajama mountain in Bolivia provide carbon-14-dated tropical records and extend to the Late Glacial Stage (LGS). Oxygen isotopic ratios of the ice decreased 5.4 per mil between the early Holocene and the Last Glacial Maximum, which is consistent with values from other ice cores. The abrupt onset and termination of a Younger Dryas-type event suggest atmospheric processes as the probable drivers. Regional accumulation increased during the LGS, during deglaciation, and over the past 3000 years, which is concurrent with higher water levels in regional paleolakes. Unlike polar cores, Sajama glacial ice contains eight times less dust than the Holocene ice, which reflects wetter conditions and extensive snow cover.

L. G. Thompson, M. E. Davis, K. A. Henderson, V. S. Zagorodnov, J. F. Bolzan, Byrd Polar Research Center, Department of Geological Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. E. Mosley-Thompson, Byrd Polar Research Center, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. T. A. Sowers and R. K. Campen, Geosciences Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. P.-N. Lin and J. Cole-Dai, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. V. N. Mikhalenko, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetny 29, Moscow, 109017, Russia. B. Francou, ORSTOM, Apartado Postal 17 12 857, Quito, Ecuador.

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