Reconstructing past variations in environmental conditions and paleoproductivity over the last ~ 8000 years off Central Chile (30° S)

Abstract. This study aims at establishing past variations of the main oceanographic and climatic features in the Central Chilean coast, using recent sedimentary records of a transitional semi-arid ecosystem susceptible to environmental forcing conditions. Coquimbo (30° S) region is characterized by dry summers and short rainfall periods during winter. The relatively wet-winter climate results from the interactions between the southern westerly winds and the South Pacific Anticyclone (SPA); in summer, the SPA moves southwards while in winter it returns to the north, allowing the passage of storm fronts. This semi-arid zone is strongly affected by variations associated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), caused by seasonal latitudinal changes in the SPA that produce high variability and precipitation in Chilean mid-latitudes. Sediment cores were retrieved in two bays, Guanaqueros and Tongoy, for geochemical analyses including: sensitive redox trace elements, biogenic opal, total organic carbon (TOC), diatoms, stable isotopes of organic carbon and nitrogen. The results suggest a main dry phase of high primary productivity concomitant with high fluxes of organic compounds to the bottom and suboxic-anoxic conditions in the sediments. This period reached a maximum at cal BC ~ 4500, followed by a continuous increase in wet conditions, low primary productivity and a more oxygenated environment towards the present, being remarkably stronger in the last 2000 years. We suggest that this might be associated with greater El Niño frequencies or similar conditions that increase precipitation, concomitantly with the introduction of oxygenated waters to coastal zones by the propagation of equatorial origin waves.