DISENTANGLING HIGH FREQUENCY CLIMATE OSCILLATIONS IN A VOLCANIC SETTING LAGUNA LEJIA, CHILE

Our understanding of the tropics response to periods of rapid climate change such as CAPE I and the Younger Dryas is limited. Laguna Lejia (23°30'0" S 67°42'0" E ~4,300m asl), Chile is a small alkaline paleolake located in the central Altiplano. The volcanoes Lascar, Chiliques, Aguas Calientes and Acamarachi surround it. 1-3 mm laminations in autochthonous sediments deposited on the southern terrace of the lake record high-resolution chemical variability in the lake. Preliminary U-Th ages range from 19,567 +739/- 734 yr to 4208 +431/-429 yr, indicating that the Lejia terrace deposits span both CAPE I and Younger Dryas. Changes in the major and trace element composition, δ18O and δ13 C isotopic ratios, and the amount of Li, Mg, Ca, and Sr that can be readily leached from simultaneously deposited clays provide a direct proxy for hydrologic fluctuations. A climate signal can be detected through reoccurring trends in the chemical variability of these sediments; however, the detection of this signal is complicated by interaction with surrounding volcanic edifices. Statistical methods such as PCA analyses using R have been implemented to separate groupings of volcanic controlled elemental fluctuations (Fe, Zr, Nd, Ti, and Al) from ones under the influence of climate.