Climatic and Environmental History of Isla de los Estados, Argentina (SpringerBriefs in Earth System Sciences)

This book is the result of ten years’ of scientific research carried out by the authors on Isla de los Estados. The research includes their doctoral thesis and many published scientific papers related to the island. The book is divided into two principal parts. The first part covers different social and natural aspects of this remote island and includes chapters on the scientific and historical background, physiography with topographical and hydrographical descriptions, climate and oceanographic circulation, vegetation and geology (including stratigraphy, structural geology and geological history). The second part comprises a reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental, paleoclimatic and paleogeographic history of the island from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present, correlating with other paleoecological records from the southern part of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. This second part also includes a geomorphological chapter with a characterization of the principal erosive glacial landforms on Isla de los Estados constructed by means of morphometric analysis, inventories, maps, paleogeographic and glacial models, and a paleoecological chapter evaluating the palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimatic conditions that prevailed during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene times based on pollen and diatom analysis from three 14 C-dated peat bogs and lakes. Finally, the book concludes with a review of the island’s archaeology and the relationship between the palaeoenvironmental history and human occupation of this island. Front Matter....Pages i-xi History, Previous Works and Physiography....Pages 1-11 Climate....Pages 13-23 Vegetation....Pages 25-34 Geology....Pages 35-43 Glacial Geomorphology....Pages 45-67 Paleogeography....Pages 69-74 Palinology....Pages 75-86 Diatom Analysis....Pages 87-104 Reconstruction of Paleoenvironmental Conditions During Late Glacial and Holocene Times in Isla de los Estados and Their Correlation with the Beagle Channel and Southern Patagonia....Pages 105-116 Archaeology....Pages 117-128 Contains different historical, social and natural aspects of this remote island and includes chapters about: the scientific and historical background; physiographic data, with a topographical and hydrological description; climate and oceanographic circulation; vegetation; geology, including stratigraphy, structure and geological history.