Late Pleistocene to modern precipitation changes at the Paranal clay pan, central Atacama Desert

Wennrich, Volker; Böhm, Christoph; Brill, Dominik; Carballeira, Rafael; Hoffmeister, Dirk; Jaeschke, Andrea; Kerber, Florian; Maldonado, Antonio; May, Simon Matthias; Olivares, Lester; Opitz, Stephan; Rethemeyer, Janet; Reyers, Mark; Ritter, Benedikt; Schween, Jan H.; Sevinç, Fatma; Steiner, Johanna; Walber-Hellmann, Katharina; Melles, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104349

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…However, hyperaridity in the Atacama Desert is repeatedly interrupted by wetter but still (hyper-)arid conditions (e.g. Dunai et al 2005;Jordan et al 2014;Evenstar et al 2017;Ritter et al, 2018, 2019, Diederich et al 2020Medialdea et al 2020;Ritter et al 2022, Wennrich et al, 2024, which appear to provide sufficient moisture to 'activate' salt dynamics in evaporite-bearing deposits (e.g. Buck et al, 2006;Howell et al, 2006;Howell, 2009;Wang et al, 2015;Rech et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'camanchaca'; see Cereceda et al 2008) and sporadic rain events (recent precipitation events e.g. described in Bozkurt et al 2016, Vicencio Veloso 2022, Cabré et al 2022, Wennrich et al, 2024. Coastal fog is generated along the coastal cliff (Cereceda et al 2008;Schween et al 2020) by a persistent atmospheric inversion layer trapping moist Pacific air below ~1000 m a.s.l.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Haloturbation in the northern Atacama Desert revealed by a hidden subsurface network of calcium sulphate wedges

Zinelabedin,

Mohren,

Wierzbicka-Wieczorek

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Abstract. While the formation of periglacial wedges and polygonal patterned grounds has been extensively studied and many of the processes involved have been understood, knowledge on the formation of similar post-sedimentary features found in arid to hyperarid environments remains largely rudimentary. Our contribution to fill this gap is the investigation of a network of vertically laminated calcium sulphate-rich wedges in the subsurface of the Aroma fan in the northern Atacama Desert. The subsurface wedges are characterised by high anhydrite contents and hence differ from the wedge and polygon structures of other study sites in the Atacama Desert, which appear to have been predominantly formed by thermal contraction or desiccation processes. By contrast, haloturbation mechanisms are thought to be a main driver of wedge formation at the Aroma fan site. Haloturbation requires moisture input, and hence Aroma fan wedge formation is likely to be associated with meteoric water received from sporadic rain events and episodes of arid climate characterised by slightly wetter conditions than prevailing at present. The polygonal patterned ground is covered by a stratigraphically younger gypsum-dominated surface crust cover. The presence of the surface crust could indicate an environmental change towards drier conditions, which favoured surface accumulation of calcium sulphate and other salts by means of atmospheric deposition. Such a climatic shift could have caused a deceleration of haloturbation and other wedge formation processes in the subsurface, although modern sediment conveyance from the surface towards its interior still appears to occur along cracks within the crust. In order to gain comprehensive insights into the complex mechanisms involved in wedge formation and formation rates, the establishment of a geochronological framework directly obtained from wedge and crust material remains indispensable. The temporal resolution of wedge growth stored within the succession of vertical laminae promises a high potential for the calcium sulphate wedges to be used as palaeoclimate archives, potentially helping to unravel wedge and polygonal patterned ground formation in other water-limited environments, such as Mars.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Haloturbation in the northern Atacama Desert revealed by a hidden subsurface network of calcium sulphate wedges

Zinelabedin,

Mohren,

Wierzbicka-Wieczorek

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Climate variability in a 3.8 Ma old sedimentary record from the hyperarid Atacama Desert

Arens,

Feige,

Airo

et al. 2024

Global and Planetary Change

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The Overlooked Role of Moist Northerlies as a Source of Summer Rainfall in the Hyperarid Atacama Desert

Vicencio Veloso,

Böhm,

Schween

et al. 2024

JGR Atmospheres

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In the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, the persistent absence of water preserves the record of environmental change, making it an invaluable proxy for studying the evolution of life on Earth. Due to the scarcity of in situ measurements and difficulties in satellite remote sensing, information on precipitation characteristics is limited even for the present climate. Guided by a case study of extreme precipitation in late January 2019, we derive a conceptual framework to explain how moisture transport combined with the diurnal circulation produces rainfall. We found a synoptic‐scale weather pattern that we named “moist northerlies” (MNs) based on surface observations, reanalysis, and high‐resolution simulation. During an MN event, moisture transport from the tropical Pacific is observed in the lower free‐troposphere in the forefront of an 850 hPa low‐pressure offshore Atacama. The diurnal circulation along the western Andean slope transports the moist free tropospheric air above the marine boundary layer inland, triggering clouds and storms. A trough over the southeast Pacific and a southward displaced Bolivian High seem to drive the MNs dynamically. Long‐term observations (1960–2020) show that most of the rainy days in the hyperarid core (75%) are triggered by MNs, occurring more frequently during neutral/La Niña conditions and phases 7‐8‐1 of the Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO). A trend analysis (1991–2020) reveals that summer water vapor along the west coast of South America has increased rapidly due to the MNs, enhancing summer rainfall in Atacama. The implications of climate change and other climate variability modes are discussed.

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Late Pleistocene to modern precipitation changes at the Paranal clay pan, central Atacama Desert

Cited by 4 publications

References 129 publications

Haloturbation in the northern Atacama Desert revealed by a hidden subsurface network of calcium sulphate wedges

Haloturbation in the northern Atacama Desert revealed by a hidden subsurface network of calcium sulphate wedges

Climate variability in a 3.8 Ma old sedimentary record from the hyperarid Atacama Desert

The Overlooked Role of Moist Northerlies as a Source of Summer Rainfall in the Hyperarid Atacama Desert

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