Of Lake Titicaca (Bolivia)
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Horizon / Pleins textes Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 59 (1987): 315-323 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands Short Note LOW HOLOCENE LEVEL (7700 TO 3650 YEARS AGO) OF LAKE TITICACA (BOLIVIA) DENIS WIRRMANN’ and LUIZ FERNANDO DE OLIVEIRA ALMEIDA’ ‘Mission O.R.S.T.O.M., CP 8714, La Paz, 00095 (Bolivia) ’U.M.S.A. Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas, Pabellon,, 3 C. U. Cota-Cota, CP I2198, La, Paz, 00095 (Bolivia) @eceived March 14, 1986; revised and accepted September 9, 1986) Abstract Wirrmann, D. and De Oliveira Almeida, L. F., 1987. Low Holocene level (7700 to 3650 years ago) of Lake Titicaca (Bolivia). Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 59 315-323. Preliminary results of sedimentological and paleontological analysis of two cores taken in Lake Titicaca (Bolivia) indicate that between 7700 and 3650 yr B.P. the lake level ’was up to 50 m lower than at present. Evaporitic deposits occurred at the maximum low lake level. Introduction of the Altiplano. Each high water level is marked in the landscape by stromatolites. The Bolivian Altiplano is an endorheic basin Between 30,000 and 21,000 years ago, the which extends from 16 to 22”s latitude and Minchin phase produced a lake of 63,000 km’ from 65 to 69”W longitude, around 4000 m high over Poopo-Coipasa-Uyuni, when at its maxi- and covers 200.000 km’ between the Western mum development, between 12,500 and 11,000 and Eastern Cordilleras (which are 6500m years ago, Lake Tauca covered approximately high). 43,000 km2 (Servant and Fontes, 1978). They From north to south, three main lacustrine were reduced to their present size about 10,000 areas occur in the high plateau (Fig.1): years ago. This gave rise to the evaporitic - Lake Titicaca, at 3810 m above sea level, deposits at Coipasa and Uyuni and has turned covers 8200 km2 and is divided in two parts; the the Poopo into a very shallow lake. More northern “main lake” with a mean depth of recent oscillations of the levels of lakes in the 135m and the southern “small lake” with a Altiplano have not been studied previously. mean depth of 9 m. A study of the fluctuations of Lake Titicaca - Lake Poopo at 3686 m above sea level, a during the last 10,000 years was initiated in very shallow lake (less than 6 m deep). 1982 when a Ziillig corer was used. In 1983, - Coipasa and Uyuni, a group of dry salt coring was carried out with a Mackereth corer lakes covering 10,000km’ at 3653m high. and resulted in 18 cores of 4-6 m. Work is being During the late Pleistocene, two lacustrine developed through the GEOCIT program (Géo- transgressions occurred especially in the south dynamique du Climat Tropical) in collabora- 0031-0182/87/$03.50 0 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. ORSTOM Fonds Rocumentaire --,{oLNo : 2566% QFA 316 710" 6'9" 6'8" 616" W S 16"- 17"- 18"- 19"- 20"- 21 O- Fig.1. ?he Bolivian Altiplano showing Lake Titicaca and the location of the cores. Dots show the extension of Lake Tauca. 317 tion with the U.M.S.A. (Universidad Mayor de shallow, less than 2 m, and the water was fresh, Sán Andrés) of La Paz and the O.R.S.T.O.M. less than 1 g/1 of dissolved salts. (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Tech- - from 85 to 55 cm: the level was similar to nique Outre-Mer). the preceding stage but the water became more Based on previous results concerning super- and more saturated. In the interval 75-57 cm, ficial deposits in Lake Titicaca (Boulange the salt concentration rose to 40 g/l. et al., 1981) and the cores taken in 1982, three Two I4C ages, obtained from analysis of the transects, crossing the main parts of the small carbonates of the bulk sediment, are: 5325 & 395 lake and the bahias of Achacachi and Copaca- yr B.P. for the level 80-70 cm and 3650)330 yr bana in the main lake, were chosen for the B.P. for the level 70-60 cm. Makareth sampling. - from 55 to Ocm: water depth increases progressively to 10-15 meters with a salinity Preliminary results lower than 6 gll. Core C2 Core TDl This core, 95 cm long, taken at 13,50 m below A morphologic analysis of the 540 cm marl of water in the southern part of the small lake core TD1 (Fig.3), taken 19 m below water in the (Fig.l), shows three main lithologic sequences central part of the small lake (Fig.l), shows six (Fig.2): main lithologic units: - from 95 to 90cm: a white indurated - from 537.5 to 332.5cm: a very fine clay carbonate unit with a coarse texture, contain- sediment with small .black dots (color ing calcareous concretions ( < 0.5 cm), very few 10YR3,5/1). detrital grains and with few gastropods and - from 332.5 to 181 cm: a plastic clay (color ostracod shells at the top; N4). - from 90 to 68 cm: a brown deposit (10 YR - from 181 to 155cm: a compact homoge- 2.511) partly indurated very rich in macrophyte neous fine mud (color 5GY4/1 to N4). remains at the top and containing many shell - from 155 to 141.5 cm: a silty-argillaceous fragments between 90 and 75 cm; detrital sediment (color N5 to N4). grains (quartz, feldspar) and clays are abun- -from 141.5 to 87 cm: a gelatinous mud with dant. Diatoms are well represented in this unit. diffuse banding, poor in shells, very rich in The contact with the lower adjacent unit is gyrogonites and macrophytes remains very sharp; (medium color 5Y5/1). - from 68 to O cm: a gelatinous mud (from - from 87 to O cm: a gelatinous organic mud 12 to 5Ydt2.511) with diffuse banding very with diffuse banding and calcified macro- rich in gastropods and ostracod shells. Organic phytes, very rich in gastropods and ostracod laminations are abundant between 25 and shells (medium color 5Y311). 7 cm. These six lithologic units have been re- From the base to the top, core C2 shows a grouped in four major sedimentological se- transition from carbonate deposits (the lower quences, according to the vertical distribution unit) to an organic-carbonate upper unit with of the physical parameters of the bulk sediment an intermediate organic detrital level (the (Fig.4). Further, the observation of the silty brown deposits) very rich in diatoms. fraction (coarser than 63 ,um), separated by According to these sedimentary facies, the sieving under distillated water, allows us to paleontological results, based on the diatoms, precise the lake level for each sequence (Table provide paleobathymetrical and paleohydrolog- I and Fig.3): ical information for these sequences (Fig.2): -sequence IV (537.5-155 cm) corresponds to - from 95 to 85cm: the lake was .very very fine deposits in which the bulk of the 318 In-15 -10 -5 Actual Core C2 5Y312- 50- 60 - <- 3650 r330y.B.P. r_--_- I I 70- to I I Il I I l lI P 80- <- 5325 t395y.B.P 5 3 e 2 s I I l l 1 90- I l ! Fig.2. Core C2: Lithologic diagram and lake level fluctuation. 319 Core TO1 m -20 -15 -10 -5 Actual +5 t IO +I5 CmO- Lake level .$ P lOYR2/4 .$ + 7/1 a, IOYR4/4 3 $ II N4 I IOYR3.5f 1 Fig.3. Core TD1: lithologic diagram and lake level fluctuation. W NO Core TD1 'lo H20 '10 > 63pm 50 100 2W 300 LOO 5W 6W 700 800 900 956 o M eo IlIIIII Cm o. 50. 100 150. 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 537.5 - .. - Fig.4. Verticali distribution of the physical properties of core TD 1. i 321 TABLE I Distribution of the main components of the coarse fraction in Core TD-1 Sequences Level Ostracods Gastropods Calcified Gyrogonites Diatoms Sponge Others (4 macrophyte spicules remains I 0-84.5 + + ++t + .- t - - II 84.5-132 + + +t +++ t t - III 132-155 - - - - + + gypsum +++ IV 155 - - - - t+ +++ +++ from 250 cm from 170 cm pyrite greigite Vivianite detrital grains 537.5 t= trace; + =present; t + = abundant; + + + =very abundant. coarse fraction is composed of syngenetic followed and the sedimentation became more concretions, more abundant at the top of the and more biogenic; firstly macrophytes, and sequence-associated with detrital grains then, shells. The depth corresponding to se- (quartz, feldspar, etc). From the base to the top quence II never exceeded 10 m, because none of of this segment, the concretions are: Vivianite, the aquatic plants grew deeper ‘than 10m greigite and pyrite. From 250 cm, diatoms and (Collot, 1980). sponge spicules are very abundant and the spicules compose 99% of the coarse fraction Discussion between 170-160 cm; - sequence III (155-132 cm) is characterized Comparison between the two cores allows us by evaporitic grains in the shape of lenticular to give a first interpretation of the lake level gypsum (some of the basal ones are corroded) fluctuation during the Holocene for Lake and of small “roses des sables” more abundant Titicaca. between 155 and 148 cm; Prior to 7700 years ago, the lake basin was - the silty fractions of sequences II and I deeper than now and the deposits are charac- consist of a majority of biocarbonated remains terized by fine clays. Sequence IV of Core TD1 (shells and macrophytes).