Holocene history of the El Nino phenomenon as recorded in flood sediments of northern coastal Peru

Journal Article · Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Geology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1990)018<1134:HHOTEN>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:5572646

Wells, L E ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley (USA)

Significant precipitation along the north-central coast of Peru (lat 5{degree}-10{degree}S) occurs exclusively during El Nino incursions of warm water into the Peruvian littoral. Flood deposits from this region therefore provide a proxy record of extreme El Nino events. The author presents a 3,500 yr chronology of the extreme events based on radiocarbon dating of overbank flood sediments from the Rio Casma (lat 9.2{degree}S). The flood-plain stratigraphy suggests that the El Nino phenomenon has occurred throughout the Holocene and that flood events much larger than that which occurred during 1982-1983 occur here at least once very 1,000 yr.

• OSTI ID: 5572646
• Journal Information: Geology; (USA), Vol. 18:11; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COASTAL REGIONS
WATER CURRENTS
PERU
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CARBON 14
CLIMATES
FLOODS
ISOTOPE DATING
OCEANOGRAPHY
QUATERNARY PERIOD
SEDIMENTS
STRATIGRAPHY
AGE ESTIMATION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON ISOTOPES
CENOZOIC ERA
CURRENTS
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DISASTERS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGY
ISOTOPES
LATIN AMERICA
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
SOUTH AMERICA
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
580000* - Geosciences
540310 - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-)