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Iriondo00qi pataDustAnta
Iriondo00qi pataDustAnta
Abstract
Recent advances in the knowledge of Antarctica have demonstrated that the atmospheric dust trapped in the West Antarctica
glaciers during IS2, 4 and 6 has a Patagonian origin. A climatic scenario is developed in this article in order to explain such a process.
Patagonia is unique, as it is the only sizable land mass located in the belt of Westerlies in the Southern Hemisphere. The Westerlies are
formed by cyclonic structures, which normally elevate the air masses and aerosols to the upper troposphere. There, the phenomena of
mass compensation occur with the Antarctic anticyclone, which (as any anticyclone) sinks air and aerosols to the surface. Large
quantities of loose sur"cial sediments and atmospheric dust are typical of Patagonia and can easily be picked up by the wind.
According to this scenario, which is based on the general atmospheric circulation, Australia and Southern Africa are hindered in
providing aerosols to Antarctica, because those territories are located in the subtropical high-pressure belt. 2000 Published by
Elsevier Science Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
1040-6182/00/$20.00 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 0 4 0 - 6 1 8 2 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 3 5 - 5
84 M. Iriondo / Quaternary International 68}71 (2000) 83}86
thousands of de#ation hollows develop in the landscape. composed of granitic-metamorphic rocks (Iriondo and
Another type of eolian feature is formed by large depres- Krohling, 1995).
sions with areas in the order of a hundred to a few The Patagonian glaciation was a `piedmont-typea
thousand square kilometers, which began to form prob- event, covering the Andes and neighboring valleys. The
ably during the Middle Pleistocene. main environmental characteristic of the region was the
The association of salts dissolved in the Andean rivers dryness of the air, which precluded the growing of arbo-
indicate a signi"cant contribution of solids from the real vegetation and the development of glaciers in the
meset, conveyed by eastern winds of cyclonic cells. Such Malvinas/Falkland archipelago (Clapperton, 1993). The
winds #ow during 30% of the time to the eastern slopes meset and platform remained free of ice.
of the Andes (Pizzolon, 1999). In short, the Patagonian
climate is an e$cient machine for pumping dust to the
high atmosphere (Coronato, 1993). 5. Australia and Southern Africa
6. Conclusions
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