Late Quaternary paleosol-sediment-sequences and landscape evolution along the Andean piedmont, Bolivian Chaco

Abstract

As part of the Bolivian Chaco, the Andean piedmont is situated in the transitional zone between the tropical-humid climate regime to the north (Amazonia) and the subtropical-semiarid regime to the south (Gran Chaco). In this zone, which is sensitive to climatic changes, late Quaternary landscape and climate history was reconstructed based on detailed sedimentological, pedological and geochemical analyses of paleosol-sediment-sequences along the Andean piedmont. The determination of characteristic lithofacies allowed correlation between the investigated profiles and their interpretation in terms of paleoenvironmental conditions, i.e. geomorphic stability (soil formation) or geomorphic activit..