engleski

Use of isotopes in paleotemperature determination of Beagle Channel sea surface water

Paleoclimatic information based on stable oxygen isotopic analyses of mollusk shells Mytilus edulis from Holocene period from archaeological deposits located in Beagle channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, is presented. The accumulation of these shells is the result of the exploitation of marine resources by aborigine people in the Fuegian archipelago. The age of archaeological shells was determined by radiocarbon measurement of associated charcoal remains, mostly of Nothofagus origin. The isotopic composition of present-day shells, collected in the period 1988-1993 from the water near shell middens, was also determined. The results obtained do not indicate significant changes of temperature during the studied period, although some slight minimums and maximums coincide with recorded temperature fluctuation. However, there was observed a slightly lower temperature (0.6°C) of superficial sea water compared with the present temperatures, which is in accordance with the recent knowledge of global warming.

Isotopes; paleotemperature; Beagle Channel

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