Dust deposition tracks late-Holocene shifts in monsoon activity and the increasing role of human disturbance in the Puna-Altiplano, northwest Argentina

Abstract

The Puna-Altiplano plateau represents a regionally significant dust source, which is critically located at the nexus between the tropical and sub-polar synoptic systems that dominate the South American climate. Dust emissions in this region would therefore be expected to be sensitive to changes in these systems, in particular the strength and position of the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM). Here, we present a late-Holocene multi-proxy study where changes in dust flux, reconstructed from a high-altitude peat mire, are examined in light of climate variability and human impacts. Results show that for most the 4300 cal. yr BP record, dust flux sensitively tracked changes in SASM activity. P..