Geoarchaeological Evidence from Peru for a 5000 Years B.P. Onset of El Niño

For the tropical west coast of South America, where El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is most pronounced, archaeological and associated paleontological deposits in northern Peru revealed a major climate change at about 5000 years before the present (yr B.P.). The data implied the presence of stabl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1996-09, Vol.273 (5281), p.1531-1533
Main Authors: Sandweiss, Daniel H., Richardson, James B., Reitz, Elizabeth J., Rollins, Harold B., Maasch, Kirk A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeology
Charcoal
Climate models
Coasts
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
El Nino
El Niño
Exact sciences and technology
Geology
Invertebrates
Marine
Marine and continental quaternary
Mollusks
Natural history
Oceans
Paleoclimatology
Paleontology
Paleontology: general
Surficial geology
Vertebrates
Weather
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Summary:For the tropical west coast of South America, where El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is most pronounced, archaeological and associated paleontological deposits in northern Peru revealed a major climate change at about 5000 years before the present (yr B.P.). The data implied the presence of stable, warm tropical water as far south as 10°S during the early mid-Holocene (about 8000 to 5000 yr B.P.). These data suggest that ENSO did not occur for some millennia preceding 5000 yr B.P., when global and regional climate was warmer than today.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.273.5281.1531