QUATERNARY RESEARCH 47, 13–28 (1997)

ARTICLE NO. QR961861

A Younger Dryas Icecap in the Equatorial Andes

CHALMERS M. CLAPPERTON
Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland, United Kingdom

MINARD HALL AND PATRICIA MOTHES

Instituto Geofisico, Escuela Politecnica Nacional, Apartado 2759, Quito, Ecuador

MALCOLM J. HOLE AND JOHN W. STILL

Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland, United Kingdom

KARIN F. HELMENS AND PETER KUHRY

Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland

AND
ALASTAIR M. D. GEMMELL
Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland, United Kingdom

Received June 20, 1996

such periodic changes possibly pervaded most of the North-

Morphologic and stratigraphic evidence shows that a late-glacial
ice cap existed on part of the Eastern Cordillera of Ecuador (Lat.
07 20* S) on ground with a mean elevation of 4200 m where none
exists now. An outlet glacier from an ca. 800 km2 ice cap termi-
nated at 3850 m altitude in the Papallacta valley on the eastern
side of the plateau. Radiocarbon dates show that moraines formed
by this advance were ice-free by 13,200 14C yr B.P. Tephras and
the age of organic deposits at the plateau edge indicate ice-free
conditions before 11,800 14C yr B.P. This interval was followed by
the expansion of an ca. 140 km2 ice cap that discharged glaciers
into adjacent valleys where terminal moraines were built at 3950
m altitude. AMS and conventional radiocarbon dates from macro-
fossils, peat, and gyttja above and below till of the readvance
indicate that the ice cap formed between ca. 11,000 and 10,000
14
C yr B.P. and was thus coeval with the European Younger Dryas
event. The ice cap developed in response to a surface temperature
cooling of at least 37C in the tropical Andes, a finding that is
consistent with a coupled equatorial/high latitude North Atlantic
climate system operating at the late-glacial/Holocene transition.
These results are further evidence that Younger Dryas cooling
may have been a global event. q 1997 University of Washington.
INTRODUCTION
Spectacular millennial-scale variability of glacial-age cli-
mate has been revealed by records from Greenland ice cores
(Johnsen et al., 1992; Dansgaard et al., 1993) and North
Atlantic sediments (Bond et al., 1993; Broecker, 1994; Bond
and Lotti, 1995). Analyses of Pacific sediments suggest that
ern Hemisphere (Kotilainen and Shackleton, 1995; Kennett
and Ingram, 1995; Keigwin, 1995) and even the tropical
Sulu Sea (Linsley, 1996). Younger Dryas (YD) cooling was
the last significant change prior to the global warming that
ushered in the present interglaciation. However, the global
distribution of YD cooling has remained somewhat of an
enigma. Whereas clear evidence of it abounds in the North-
ern Hemisphere (Alley et al., 1993a), data confirming that
it also affected the Southern Hemisphere have been elusive
and controversial (Heusser, 1984; Ashworth and Markgraf,
1989; Clapperton, 1993a, 1993b). For palaeoclimatologists
seeking the cause of climate variability during the last glacial
cycle, and at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition, it is cru-
cial to know if significant cooling events like the YD affected
the Earth’s atmosphere globally and if their effects were felt
synchronously worldwide.
In a review of palaeoecological data for the late-glacial
interval, Peteet (1995) produced a global map showing the
distribution of sites where YD cooling has been inferred. The
map indicates that there are no sites in the entire Southern
Hemisphere where pollen stratigraphy ‘‘probably’’ confirms
late-glacial cooling, thereby supporting the views of those
who have inferred continuous warmth for southern latitudes
since about 13,000 yr B.P. (Markgraf, 1991, 1993; McGlone,
1995). Peteet concluded that in South America, the only
‘‘probable’’ evidence for YD age cooling comes from sites
in Colombia (north of the Equator) and that areas where
existing data suggest that no palynological oscillation took

13 0033-5894/97 $25.00
Copyright q 1997 by the University of Washington.
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$1 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

14 CLAPPERTON ET AL.
place in late-glacial time include Ecuador and Peru. This
view was supported by a review of pollen data from these
countries by Hansen (1995).
Glacial-geological evidence believed to indicate a YD
event in the Andes (Clapperton, 1993b) has also been viewed
with scepticism (Heine, 1993), and it has been claimed that
a YD glacier advance did not occur in Ecuador (Heine,
1995). In fact, when John Mercer was unable to find evi-
dence of a YD glacier advance in the Patagonian Andes, he
suggested that the Alleröd–Younger Dryas oscillation had
been confined to northwestern Europe (Mercer, 1969). Al-
though moraines younger than those marking the maximum
extent of Andean glaciers during the last glaciation, and
older than those of Holocene advances, exist throughout
most of the Andes (Clapperton, 1983), most are poorly dated
and cannot yet be assigned with confidence to the YD chron
or to other late-glacial stades. Here, we describe morphologi-
cal, stratigraphical, and chronological evidence confirming
the development of a small ice cap in the Eastern Cordillera
of Ecuador during YD time.
STUDY AREA
The eastern range (Cordillera Real) of the Ecuadorian
Andes (Fig. 1) is characterized in many places by rugged
plateau terrain at 4000–4400 m altitude that is currently free
of glacier ice. Majestic ice-capped stratocones constructed
by Quaternary volcanism, like Cayambe (5790 m), Antisana
(5758 m), and Cotopaxi (5897 m), rise above this level and
dominate the landscape. Andesitic flows and tuffs of Quater-
nary age, erupted from vents and fissures along the crest of
the range, underlie much of the plateau in the north where
they cover older metamorphic rocks (Sauer, 1965; Hall,
1977). Although glaciers now exist only on stratocones ris-
ing above 5000 m, during the last glacial cycle highlands
above 4000 m in the eastern and western ranges supported
extensive icefields (Clapperton, 1987). The Potrerillos pla-
teau extends ca. 40 km northward from Antisana volcano
(Fig. 1) and locally its surface topography is rough and
dissected, with an average relief of 300 m. The plateau lies
mostly at 3900–4200 m altitude but a few ridge crests ex-
ceed 4400 m and the highest summit is at 4502 m. Much
of the local relief is due to flows of andesite, dacite, and
rhyolite, erupted from fissures associated with the elongate
Chacana caldera extending about 30–35 km north of Anti-
sana (Hall and Beate, 1991). Evidence that the Potrerillos
plateau supported extensive ice fields during glacial intervals
includes large moraines in valleys draining both westward
and eastward from the plateau margins. Also, the plateau
surface has been gouged by glacial erosion into multitudes
of closed basins, now lake-filled, around which many rock
surfaces bear striations and polish produced by sliding wet-
based glacier ice.
AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$2 12-27-96 02:48:38
Climate in this area is dominated by airflow associated
with easterly trade winds from the Atlantic. These cross the
Amazon basin and rise over the Cordillera Real where total
precipitation from the humid air commonly exceeds 5000
mm at 1000–1500 m altitude on the eastern flanks (Has-
tenrath, 1981). The nearest weather station is at Papallacta
village (3150 m) in the deeply incised Papallacta valley
draining east to the Amazon basin (Fig. 1). The station is
1000 m lower than the plateau surface but lies less than 10
km to the east. Climate statistics exist for each year since
1963 and indicate a mean annual temperature of 9.57C, with
a seasonal range of less than a degree (Table 1). Assuming
an atmospheric thermal gradient of 0.657C per 100 m, the
mean annual temperature at 4150 m on the plateau is proba-
bly at least 6.57C lower and may average about 37C. As mean
annual precipitation at the Papallacta station since 1963 was
1325 mm, we assume that at least this amount is representa-
tive for the plateau surface. Although the plateau is fre-
quently snow-covered in the cooler and wetter months from
May to September, the snow persists only above 4200 m for
any length of time and quickly melts at lower altitudes. The
plateau may have supported a perennial snow cover during
the Little Ice Age (Hastenrath, 1981).
Modern glaciers nearest to the Potrerillos plateau are nour-
ished by the summit icefields of Antisana volcano (Fig. 1).
Outlet valley glaciers descend to ca. 4600 m on the northern
and western sides of the volcano where the glacier equilib-
rium line altitude (ELA) appears to lie at about 4970 {
50 m (Clapperton, 1987). As the estimated altitude of the
atmospheric 07C isotherm over Ecuador is close to 4900 {
100 m (Hastenrath, 1981), glacier mass balance in this region
may be controlled primarily by atmospheric temperature.
However, because modern glaciers on the volcanic massifs
of Cayambe, Antisana, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo are all
larger on the wet windward (eastern) sides, precipitation
distribution clearly has an important local effect on glacier
extent.
GLACIAL LANDFORMS AND SEDIMENTS
The limits of glacial erosional and depositional features
in major valleys draining the Potrerillos plateau show that
when Quaternary glaciers were at their maximum extent,
they terminated at ca. 3000 m and ca. 2700 m in the west
and east, respectively. As the morainic deposits at these
altitudes are weathered and covered with thick overburdens
of volcanic, eolian, and colluvial deposits, they are believed
to pre-date the last glacial cycle (Clapperton, 1987). Younger
and fresher moraines of the last glaciation generally termi-
nate above 3600 m in the west and above 3000 m in the
east (Fig. 1). In the Papallacta valley, for example, the radio-
carbon age of organic material beneath two tills interbedded
qras AP: QR
 ANDEAN YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCE 15

FIG. 1. Map showing location of the Potrerillos plateau, general topography, and the extent of the Younger Dryas ice cap.

with a lava flow (at 3500 m) indicates that glaciers advanced
past this point at least twice after ca. 30,000 yr B.P. (M.
Hall, P. Mothes, and C. M. Clapperton, unpublished data).
Two moraine systems higher up the valley, at 3850 and 3950
m (Fig. 2), appear to be of late-glacial age, although Heine
(1995) assigned the lower to the last glacial maximum
(LGM) and the upper to the early Holocene. The stratigraphy
of sediments associated with these two young moraine sys-
tems (Figs. 3a and 3b) was exposed by recent road and
quarry cuts, and, together with geomorphological mapping,
has provided new information on the existence of icefields
on the Potrerillos plateau during the interval ú 13,000–
10,000 yr B.P.
The moraine limits close to Potrerillos plateau suggest
that plateau ice caps formerly discharged small outlet gla-
ciers into the heads of the major valleys, while small inde-
pendent glaciers were nourished in incipient cirques on some
of the flanking ridges (Fig. 2). Our study examined the two
sets of moraines situated in upper parts of the valley draining
southeastward from the pass followed by the Quito–Baeza
highway (Fig. 2). The lower set terminates at ca. 3850 m in
the vicinity of Sucus lake and defines the Sucus glacier

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$2 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

16 CLAPPERTON ET AL.

TABLE 1
Monthly and Annual Values for Temperature and Precipitation at Papallacta Station (3150 m alt.) for the Years 1963–1988

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ann

Temperature (07C)
Mean 9.9 9.7 9.7 9.9 9.8 9.2 8.7 8.9 9.3 9.8 10.1 9.5 9.5
Max 10.8 10.6 11.1 10.8 10.7 10.4 9.9 10.0 10.3 10.9 11.3 10.6 10.6
Min 8.8 8.7 8.9 9.4 9.0 8.2 7.9 8.0 8.4 8.9 9.1 8.8 8.8

Precipitation (mm)
Total
Mean 82.2 85.1 102.4 117.3 130.6 162.6 186.4 127.3 109.9 86.6 72.0 62.8 1325.2
Max 335.1 301.9 256.0 258.2 342.4 319.0 452.2 264.5 292.8 168.1 152.1 131.8 3274.1
Min 6.6 24.2 32.6 35.0 36.6 71.6 68.7 53.2 32.0 23.7 32.4 9.9 426.5

Source. Proyecto Hidrolectrico Quijos.

advance, when the ice cap covered an estimated area of ca.
800 km2. The higher moraines terminate at 3900–3950 m
near Papallacta pass, and mark limits of the Potrerillos gla-
cier advance. As the distribution of moraines and the litho-
logical character of the younger deposits indicate that the
ice originated on the plateau, rather than in local hollows
near the edge of the plateau, we infer that an icefield ca.
140 km2 in extent existed during the Potrerillos advance
(Fig. 2).
The Sucus Glacier Advance
The Sucus moraines are covered by up to 4 m of tephras
and andosols (Fig. 3a). In a hollow between two lateral
moraines from adjacent glaciers, a 215-cm sequence of in-
terbedded colluvium, peats, and tephras document sedimen-
tation at the site after deglaciation and prior to the accumula-
tion of ca. 2 m of sediment that includes andosols and teph-
ras. The first 70 cm consist mainly of colluvial and pond
clay, silt, and sand, much of which includes reworked tephra.
Thin coherent mats of flattened grassy plants are interbedded
with the clayey sediments in places, while fossil plant stems
in the lower clays appear to be in growth position. Layers
of fibrous peat interbedded with airfall tephra units and rede-
posited tephra dominate the next 145 cm of the profile; above
these lie the ca. 200 cm of tephras and interstratified ando-
sols.
AMS dating of plant fragments in bluish-grey clay directly
overlying the Sucus till yielded an uncalibrated 14C age of
13,190 { 70 yr B.P., while a layer of fibrous peat 65 cm
above gave a 14C ages of 13,160 { 115 and 13,220 { 90
yr B.P. (Table 2). Although these provide only a minimum
age for ice recession from the Sucus moraines, they confirm
that the glacier advance culminated before ca. 13,220 14C yr
B.P. (15,770 cal yr ago). We believe that vegetation was
probably quick to colonize freshly exposed ground in this
humid region, particularly as a continuous plant cover ex-
isted only a few kilometers farther downvalley, and that the
Sucus advance possibly occurred shortly before ca. 13,220
14
C yr B.P. If so, it may have corresponded closely in time
to glacier advances in the eastern Andes of Colombia and
Bolivia dated to the interval ca. 13,500–12,500 14C yr B.P.
(Helmens and Kuhry, 1995; Clapperton et al., in press).
The Potrerillos Glacier Advance
The Potrerillos moraines terminate about 1.8 km farther
upvalley, at an altitude of 3950 m. Three sections near Pa-
pallacta pass (Fig. 2) expose morainal debris interbedded
with organic, volcanic, and colluvial deposits (Fig. 3b). Site
1 is at a rock quarry cut into the south-facing side of a
shallow (20–50 m) but glacially modified valley that heads
on the plateau about 2 km to the northeast. Sites 2 and 3
are exposed in roadcuts on the south-facing side of a valley
head that drains southeastward to the Rio Papallacta; the
deposits at these sites lie in a shallow (15–25 m) hollow on
the south side of a narrow ridge separating it from the valley
in which site 1 is located. About 100 m higher up on the
plateau edge, another rock quarry exposes a sequence of
tephras and andosols resting directly on bedrock; we refer
to this as the Potrerillos quarry site.
At sites 1–3 a layer of till 2–6 m thick rests on organic
material overlying soliflucted sediments that include tephra
and local bedrock detritus. The till can be traced to the lateral
and terminal limits of a former outlet glacier that descended
from plateau icefields and discharged separate lobes into the
valley heads draining into Carihuaycu valley (west) and to
Papallacta valley (southeast). The till unit at all three sites
is a clast-rich diamict with a matrix of sand (35%) and silt
(29%). Where the unit is 4–6 m thick (sites 2 and 3), at

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$2 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

 ANDEAN YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCE 17

FIG. 2. Detailed map showing the Sucus and Potrerillos moraine limits and inferred margin of the former ice cap at the eastern side of Potrerillos
plateau.

least six different lithologies are common clast constituents,
and all are extrusive lavas. Some can be traced to outcrops
of lava erupted from the Potrerillos vent system 2–3 km
upslope to the northeast (Fig. 2). Although few clasts are
well striated, many have the abraded facets typical of basal
till deposited by sliding glacier ice. The glacially polished
and striated whaleback forms developed on the margin of a
rhyolitic lava flow 1–2 km upslope from the sites confirm
the former passage of wet-based ice draining from the pla-
teau. The nature and sequence of environmental events be-
fore and after deposition of this till can be interpreted from
sediments below and above the deposit (Fig. 3b).
At site 3, a clay-rich till overlying striated bedrock was
probably deposited by the Sucus advance which terminated
ca. 2 km farther downvalley at 3850 m. This basal till is
absent from sites 1 and 2 where a 15-cm-thick layer of
soliflucted debris containing angular clasts of local bedrock
is the lowest sedimentary unit. Between these basal sedi-
ments and the Potrerillos till, layers of gyttja, reworked
tephra and gyttja, peat, and plant remains document an inter-
val of ice-free conditions between the Sucus and Potrerillos
glacier advances. Outside the limits of the Potrerillos mo-
raines, five tephras are seen that are absent from the sequence
inside the moraines and represent ashfalls from eruptions
that occurred prior to the Potrerillos advance (Fig. 3). At all
three sites, peaty gyttja, peat, and compressed plant remains

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$2 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

AID QR 1861 / a606$$1861 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR
 ANDEAN YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCE 19

FIG. 3. (a) Sucus glacier advance site showing location and stratigraphy of the section exposed between two lateral moraines. (b) Location of three
sites where the Potrerillos glacier advance has been documented in dated stratigraphic sections. (c) Details of the stratigraphy and position of radiocarbon
dated samples at the three sites documenting the Potrerillos glacier advance.

lie directly beneath the 2–6 m unit of Potrerillos till. At
site 2, minor erosion removed the surface vegetation and
incorporated small peat clasts into basal parts of the till, but
much of the peat bed and the underlying peaty gyttja remain
intact. We assume that the organic material survived the
passage of glacier ice because it lies in the lee of bedrock
ridges aligned across the direction of former ice flow, where
the release of basal till rather than debris entrainment was
the dominant subglacial process.
The most complete stratigraphy of sedimentation follow-
ing deglaciation of the Potrerillos ice cap exists at site 2
(Fig. 3b). The first unit is a 15-cm-thick layer of soliflucted
till rich in plant fragments, suggesting early colonization of
unstable slopes in the shallow hollow where site 2 is situated.
The solifluction layer grades upward into a layer of slabby
clasts of local bedrock; above this is the first of two fibrous
peat beds which imply that a mire had developed in the
hollow. Peat beds 15- and 4-cm thick are separated by a 4-
cm thick layer of yellowish tephra (Pap 2/1; Fig. 4a) which
does not obviously correlate with units in the Sucus sections
or in the Potrerillos quarry section on the basis of its amphi-
bole and whole-rock geochemistry. Overlying this tephra is
a sequence of 14 tephras and 13 andosols with local thin
peaty interbeds. The significance of ‘‘marker’’ tephras for
interpreting the deglaciation history of the plateau following
the Potrerillos advance is discussed in the section on
tephrochronology.
POLLEN AND MACROFOSSIL ANALYSES
The organic sediments above and below the Potrerillos
till were sampled at 5-cm intervals for microfossil and

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$2 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

20 CLAPPERTON ET AL.

TABLE 2
Radiocarbon Dates Constraining the Ages of the Sucus and Potrerillos Glacier Advancesa
14
Site Material C age (yr B.P.) Cal age (cal yr B.P.) Lab. No. Type

Minimum age for the Sucus glacier advance

Sucus Main peat 12,940 { 60 15,340 Beta 84902 ams
Sucus Main peat 13,010 { 50 15,452 SRR 5680 rad
Sucus Main peat 13,070 { 120 15,550 A-8581 rad
Sucus Lowest peat 13,095 { 50 15,585 SRR 5679 rad
Sucus Lowest peat 13,160 { 115 15,680 A-8580 rad
Sucus Lowest peat 13,220 { 90 15,770 Beta 68552 rad
Sucus Basal plants 13,190 { 70 15,730 Beta 84901 ams
Weighted mean age Å 13,070

Minimum age for deglaciation of the Potrerillos plateau after the Sucus advance
Pa 1 Gyttja 11,515 { 155 13,430 SRR 5672 rad
Pa 1 Gyttja 11,550 { 110 13,470 Beta 85015 rad
Pa 2a Gyttja 11,750 { 55 13,700 SRR 5673 rad
Pa 2a Gyttja 11,605 { 105 13,530 A-8146 rad
Pa 2a Gyttja 11,850 { 70 13,810 Beta 84896 ams
Pa 3b Gyttja 11,710 { 100 13,650 Beta 86803 rad
Weighted mean age Å 11,720

Maximum age of the Potrerillos glacial advance

Pa 1 Plant macro 10,950 { 45 12,870 SRR 5671 rad
Pa 1 Plant macro 11,050 { 60 12,960 Beta 83900 rad
Pa 1 Plant macro 11,265 { 100 13,170 A-8584 rad
Pa 2a Peat clast in till 10,650 { 60 12,580 Beta 84895 ams
Pa 2a Peat 10,780 { 70 12,710 Beta 84898 ams
Pa 2a Peat 10,900 { 110 12,820 A-8150 rad
Pa 2a Peat 10,900 { 50 12,820 SRR 5674 rad
Pa 3b Plant macro 10,560 { 90 12,490 Beta 85014 rad
Pa 3b Plant macro 10,730 { 60 12,660 Beta 84899 ams
Pa 3b Plant macro 10,785 { 45 12,710 SRR 5678 rad
Pa 3b Plant macro 11,250 { 200 13,160 A-8577 rad
Weighted mean age Å 10,855

Minimum age for deglaciation after the Potrerillos advance

Pa 2b Plant macro 9770 { 60 10,980 Beta 84897 ams
Pa 2b Plant macro 9995 { 125 11,100/11,200 SRR 5675 rad
Pa 2b Peat 10,075 { 50 11,580/11,545 SRR 5677 rad
Pa 2b Peat 10,080 { 95 11,600/11,350 A-8582 rad
Pa 2b Peat 10,170 { 50 11,890 SRR 5676 rad
Weighted mean age Å 10,035

a
Most dates were obtained from repeat samples submitted to three different laboratories: Beta Analytic (Beta), the Scottish Radiocarbon Laboratory
(SRR) at East Kilbride, and the University of Arizona (A). Conversion to calendar years (cal yr) follows the method of Stuiver and Reimer (1993).

macrofossil analyses in order to estimate the nature of
environmental change before and after the ice cap ad-
vance. For preparation of the macrofossil samples, 5 cm3
of material was treated with a KOH solution, followed by
sieving. Samples for microfossil analysis were prepared
by treating 1 cm3 of sediment with KOH and HF solutions,
followed by acetolysis. Tablets containing a calibrated
suspension of exotic pollen grains of Eucalyptus were
added to the microfossil samples to determine pollen con-
centrations in the sediment. Pollen counts were continued
until the pollen sum (trees, shrubs, and grasses) reached
ca. 250; in samples with low pollen concentrations, a
count of ca. 100 grains was made. The frequency of pollen
and other microfossil taxa are calculated as percentages

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$2 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

 ANDEAN YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCE 21

FIG. 4. (a) Stratigraphic sections of sediments exposed in the Potrerillos quarry, Potrerillos sites 2 and 3, and the Sucus cuts, showing the distribution
of tephras, peats, andosols, and solifluction and glacial deposits. Thick lines linking sections are inferred correlations based on amphibole and/or whole-
rock geochemical characteristics. (b) Plots of Si formula units versus Na / K formula units (see Appendix 3 of Deer et al., 1992) in the A site of calcic
amphiboles. In most cases, in preference to analyses of glass or whole rocks, the chemistry of amphiboles was used for correlation purposes because of
the greater geochemical variability and lack of sensitivity to reworking. In the upper diagram, samples Pap 2/7 and Sucus A2 and B9 show an identical
bimodal distribution of hornblende and pargasite-edenite which is shared by no other analyzed samples. Similarly, Pap 1/5 and 2/5 are clearly correlatives.
In the lower diagram, we show a plot of amphiboles in Pap 2/1, 1/4, and Sucus B5 which have no obvious correlatives. Shaded fields for data plotted
in the upper diagram are shown for comparison. While sample Sucus B5 has a bimodal distribution of amphibole compositions, it differs from Sucus
A2, B9, and Pap 2/7 by virtue of the considerably higher pargasite content of one of the amphibole populations. Pa, Pargasite; Ed, Edenite; Hb,
Hornblende (s.s.); Ts, Tschermakite. Fe2/ and Fe3/ were calculated according to the scheme of Droop (1987). Nomenclature and site occupancy allocation
follows the scheme of the Commission of the International Mineralogical Association (Leake, 1978).

of the pollen sum. Pollen concentrations in the silty tephra
were too low to obtain a reliable palynological analysis.
Pollen analytical results are expressed in a regional dia-
gram with selected taxa representing the major zonal vege-
tation elements, and in a local diagram with the principal
wetland taxa (Fig. 5). The regional diagram includes a
general (‘‘summary’’) diagram in which all pollen sum
taxa have been grouped in ecological units that reflect the
main composition of the regional vegetation in terms of
altitudinal belts (Van der Hammen et al., 1973; Helmens
and Kuhry, 1986).
Interpretation of the pollen record is based on quantitative
relationships of modern vegetation cover and pollen rain
(Grabant, 1980, 1985; Melief, 1984, 1985). Values of ú30%
arboreal pollen in the pollen sum imply forests near the
study site, and values of ú35% grass pollen represent open,
treeless, tropical alpine vegetation known as ‘‘páramo’’ in
the northern Andes. Furthermore, the proportion of Wein-
mannia, which is a low pollen producing tree with a poor
dispersal capacity, does not exceed 3% of the modern pollen
rain in open páramo sites. Hence, even a low percentage of
this arboreal taxon is a good indication of the proximity of
forests to the study site. On the other hand, anemophylous
arboreal taxa with good dispersal capacity, although best

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$2 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

22 CLAPPERTON ET AL.

AID QR 1861 / a606$$1861 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

 ANDEAN YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCE
represented in those vegetation belts where they grow, can
contribute substantially (ú5%) to the pollen rain in the open
páramo. These taxa include Acalypha, Alnus, and Hedyos-
mum. At present, the upper forest limit in the Papallacta
valley lies at an altitude of ca. 3700 m, approximately 350
m below the Potrerillos sample sites. Studies of modern
páramo wetland vegetation by Cleef (1980, 1981) were used
to interpret the development of the local vegetation in the
Potrerillos hollow containing the organic sediments.
Three zones are distinguished in the pollen diagram (Fig.
5). Zone I lies beneath till of the Potrerillos advance, while
zones II and III are immediately above it. In zone I, the
overall higher representation of Gramineae and Compositae
pollen, and the low percentage of arboreal pollen, which are
mostly of the anemophylous taxa Alnus and Hedyosmum,
are representative of open páramo vegetation. During the
time represented by zone I, mostly gyttja was deposited in
the Potrerillos hollow in an open-water environment sur-
rounded by a Plantago rigida cushion bog with Valeriana,
Lycopodium, and Lysipomia. Gentianaceae, Geranium, and
Fungi were also present. This vegetation is considered to be
a high condensation zone variant of the Plantago rigida
cushion bog community found on the Amazonian slope of
the northern Andes between 4100 and 4300 m altitude
(Cleef, 1981).
Zone II represents the clay and gravel layer found di-
rectly on top of the Potrerillos till. The regional pollen
assemblage is similar to that in zone I and Plantago rigida
cushions again formed an important element at the study
site. High páramo conditions prevailed at the time of re-
colonization by vegetation. In zone III, the representation
of grass pollen is still high but shows declining values.
Treeline elements Melastomataceae and Hypericum are
well represented at the start of the zone. Arboreal pollen
reaches values of 30%, with Weinmannia attaining values
of up to 6% near the top. In the upper part of zone III,
the upper forest limit shifted close to the study site. During
the time represented by zone III, a wet páramo mire devel-
oped in the hollow. At first, limnic peat was deposited
with aquatic taxa such as Ranunculus, Equisetum, Fissi-
dens, and Botryoccocus. The hollow gradually filled in
and was encroached upon by the surrounding mire with
Plantago australis, Caryophyllaceae, Montia, Cruciferae,
Lysipomia, Breutelia, and Fungi. An andosol then devel-
oped in situ on top of zone III.
Summarizing the palaeoenvironmental conditions inter-
preted for the study site: zone I, prior to the Potrerillos
FIG. 5. Simplified regional (A) and local (B) pollen diagrams of the organic sediments at site 2. The local diagram includes a curve for charcoal
particles (ú20 mm) counted in the Potrerillos microfossil samples. The curve of Plantago spp. mostly represents pollen of Plantago rigida, except for
the uppermost sample where the fossil pollen was identified as Plantago australis (Hooghiemstra, 1983). Important macrobotanical remains encountered
in the section are indicated along the lithologic column.
AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$3 12-27-96 02:48:38
23
glacial advance, is indicative of cold and humid conditions;
temperature is inferred to have been 17 –27C lower than at
present. After deposition of the Potrerillos till, zones II and
III record gradual warming to temperatures about 27C higher
than the estimated modern values at the site. Charcoal counts
throughout the sequence are very low compared to values
recorded in the Peruvian Puna (Hansen and Rodbell, 1995)
and in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (Markgraf, 1993) for a
similar time interval. Under the wet conditions of the tropical
páramo in the northern Andes, fire probably played a limited
role in dictating vegetation change.
TEPHROCHRONOLOGY
Because tephras from frequent eruptions of Ecuadorian
volcanoes during the late-glacial interval fell in the Pa-
pallacta area, their use as tephrochronological marker beds
was explored in this study. Our investigation first focused
on beds that are visually obvious due to their thickness,
color, and texture. Those with key stratigraphic significance
were geochemically analyzed for correlation in sections at
and between the Sucus and Potrerillos sites (Fig. 4a). Of
particular importance is a 10-cm-thick yellowish tephra orig-
inating from Cotopaxi volcano (Hall and Mothes, 1994)
which lies between beds of fibrous peat in the hollow be-
tween the Sucus moraines (Sucus B9, Figs. 3 and 4a). This
tephra can be traced a few kilometers downvalley and also
upvalley to the lateral limits of the Potrerillos advance where
it ends. This Cotopaxi tephra contains a unique bimodal
population of amphiboles (Fig. 4b) which distinguishes it
clearly from other tephras in the stratigraphy. As a tephra
underlying the Potrerillos glacial deposits near Papallacta
pass at the head of the valley (Pap 2/7, Fig. 4a) is the only
other tephra analyzed that contains an identical bimodal dis-
tribution of amphiboles (Fig. 4b), we believe it is the same
marker layer. Its presence beneath the Potrerillos morainic
deposits suggests that the plateau had become ice-free and
tephra-covered prior to the Potrerillos advance. The yellow-
ish marker tephra is not closely dated, but as it lies on 70
cm of peat with a basal 14C age of ca. 12,940 yr B.P. (Fig.
3), it may have been erupted several hundred years later
than this date, suggesting that Potrerillos plateau may have
become ice-free before ca. 12,000 yr B.P.
Tephrochronology has also been useful in estimating the
minimum age for deglaciation of the plateau following the
Potrerillos glacier advance. For example, at sites 3a and 3b
at Papallacta pass (Fig. 2, Fig. 3b), a tephra bed 8-cm thick
qras AP: QR
24 CLAPPERTON ET AL.

FIG. 6. (a) Plot of calendar ages constraining Sucus advance deglaciation and the Potrerillos glacial advance. The plot confirms that the ages are
grouped in dicreet populations. (b) Plot of radiocarbon ages constraining the Sucus advance deglaciation and the Potrerillos advance. The data show that
at one standard deviation, overlap occurs only between the oldest minimum age for Sucus deglaciation and the youngest maximum age for the Potrerillos
advance. The three different laboratories that provided the ages are indicated as A (Arizona), B (Beta Analytic), and S (Scottish Radiocarbon Laboratory).

lies about 280 cm above the contact between Potrerillos till
and the postglacial deposits (Pap 2/5, Fig. 4a). It contains
distinctive tschermakitic amphiboles, and these are found
also in a similar tephra at the Potrerillos quarry site which
lies more than a kilometer away and closer to the plateau
surface (Fig. 2). As the amphibole chemistry is unique to
these particular tephras in the area, they are considered to
be correlatives. In addition, whole-rock and mineral geo-
chemical data show that the basal tephra at the quarry site
(Pap 1/1, Fig. 4a) correlates with the tephra resting directly
on Potrerillos till (Pap 2/6, Fig. 4a) on the side of the hollow
at site 2 (Fig. 2, Fig. 3b). These relationships suggest that
at least lower parts of the plateau had become ice-free soon
after ca. 10,035 yr B.P., the weighted mean radiocarbon age
of plant material lying directly above the Potrerillos morainic
deposits and beneath the tephras containing tschermakitic
amphiboles.
RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY
The age of the Potrerillos glacier advance is tightly bracketed
by radiometric and AMS 14C dates (Table 2). The dates were
obtained from repeat samples submitted to three different labo-
ratories for cross-check control (Beta Analytic, Arizona, and
the Scottish Radiocarbon Laboratory). Radiocarbon ages on the
repeat samples are statistically indistinguishable at one standard
deviation (Fig. 6). They show that environmental conditions
suitable for plant growth at 4000 m altitude may have occurred
by ca. 11,850 yr B.P. and that ice advanced over páramo grass-
land and shrubs ca. 10,855 yr B.P. The site was ice-free again
by ca. 10,000 yr B.P. Although a peat clast in the till, just
above its base at site 2, gave an AMS 14C age of 10,650 { 60
yr B.P. (possibly affected by modern rootlets), we consider that
the weighted mean radiocarbon age of 10,855 14C yr B.P. for
the maximum limiting dates (Table 2) is a reasonable estimate
for the advance of ice over the three sites. Assuming it took
some time for ice to build up on the plateau and discharge
outlet glaciers over the plateau edge, it is likely that permanent
snow had begun to form before ca. 11,000 yr B.P. Because
plants were growing in the colluvium covering the till by 9770
{ 60 yr B.P., it is clear the area had become ice-free within
ca. 980 14C yr after the culmination of the glacier advance.
As the radiocarbon dates bracket the formation and disap-
pearance of a small icecap on the Potrerillos plateau during
the interval ca. 11,000–10,000 14C yr B.P., we believe the
event was forced by a climatic change that was coeval with
Younger Dryas cooling in the Northern Hemisphere. This is
confirmed by calibration of the radiocarbon dates (Stuiver
and Reimer, 1993) and comparison with results from the
Greenland GISP 2 ice core (Alley et al., 1993b). The dra-
matic decrease in the snow accumulation rate on the summit
of the Greenland Ice Sheet between 12,860 and 11,690 cal
yr ago is believed to date closely the YD cooling event.
The calibrated radiocarbon dates bracketing the Potrerillos

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$3 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

 ANDEAN YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCE
glacier advance are compatible with this calendar age range
for the YD interval. For example, they show that the páramo
vegetation was buried by till deposited by the ice cap ad-
vance at about 12,710–12,660 cal yr ago (the AMS-derived
ages of plant macrofossils; Table 2), some 150–200 cal yr
after the inferred cooling had begun. This does not necessar-
ily mean that the ice cap took only 200 yr to develop, for
climatic conditions prior to YD time had been gradually
cooling, as indicated by the stepped, but steady decline in
snow accumulation at the GISP 2 site (Alley et al., 1993b);
moreover, an incipient ice cap may have already existed on
the plateau before the onset of the YD interval, as implied
by the low temperatures inferred from the pollen data.
The calibrated age of plant material that grew on top of
the Potrerillos till shows that the area was deglaciated by
ca. 10,980 cal yr ago (the AMS age of plant macrofossils),
some 710 cal yr after the abrupt warming that terminated
the YD interval. We do not believe that the increase in
atmospheric 14C at the start of the YD, due to reduced ocean
ventilation (Zbinden et al., 1989), seriously affects interpre-
tation of the radiocarbon dates. For example, increased 14C
(atm) means that the radiocarbon ‘‘clock’’ runs too fast, so
that age differences between samples are overestimated. This
means that in reality, there is less age difference between
samples dated to, e.g., 11,050 { 60 and 10,730 { 60 than
320 14C yr. Recent modeling of changes in atmospheric 14C at
the YD–Holocene transition (Stocker and Wright, in press)
suggests that the opposite happened at the end of the cold
interval, so that age differences between radiocarbon-dated
samples are underestimated. Moreover, the so-called ‘‘car-
bon plateau’’ effect, which lasted for approximately 200 yr
into the early Holocene (Preboreal interval) means that the
14
C age differences between samples truly of different age
were reduced to zero. This may explain why the radiocarbon
ages of organic material overlying till of the Potrerillos ad-
vance range between 10,170 { 50 and 9770 { 60 14C yr
B.P. (Table 2).
PALAEOCLIMATIC RECONSTRUCTION
It is not practical to estimate a palaeo-ELA for the YD
ice cap on the Potrerillos plateau from the limits of only a
few small outlet glaciers, but it must have lain close to 4000–
4100 m in order to generate glacier ice. This implies that
the atmospheric mean annual 07C isotherm descended to at
least the 4150 m level to enable glacier ice to build up and
discharge outlet glaciers as low as 3950 m. As the modern
mean annual temperature at the mean plateau altitude is
about 37C, we infer that the YD ice cap developed as the
atmospheric temperature lowered by at least 37C.
This estimate of palaeotemperature assumes no change in
mean annual precipitation that might have influenced the
AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$3 12-27-96 02:48:38
25
altitude of the glacier equilibrium line. As the late-glacial
pollen profile at the Potrerillos site is interrupted by the ice
cap till, we do not have palaeoecological proxy data from
which to infer temperature and precipitation during the YD
advance. However, it is significant that cool, humid condi-
tions are suggested by the vegetation assemblage immedi-
ately before the advance. Moreover, it has been inferred
from pollen studies in Colombia and Brazil that cold and
dry conditions occurred at ca. 11,000–10,000 yr B.P. (Van
Geel and Van der Hammen, 1973; Van der Hammen et al.,
1981; Van der Hammen and Hooghiemstra, 1995; Ledru,
1993). Also, pollen studies at 3575 m altitude in the eastern
cordillera of central Peru have revealed that between 11,600
and 10,000 14C yr B.P. there was an abrupt expansion of
páramo grassland (Poaceae) at the expense of wet montane
forest that had previously flourished at the site investigated
(Hansen and Rodbell, 1995), and that the increased charcoal
presence in the sample cores is typical of arid conditions.
Because the eastern cordillera of Ecuador is dominated
by easterly airflow from sources similar to those controlling
climate in eastern Colombia and Peru, it is unlikely that
precipitation would have increased on the Potrerillos plateau
during the interval ca. 11,000–10,000 14C yr B.P. when it
decreased in regions immediately to the north and south. We
therefore argue that a decrease of at least 37C in atmospheric
temperature alone led to the growth of an icecap on the
Potrerillos plateau during the Younger Dryas stade. This
finding is consistent with an estimated 47C lowering of tem-
perature in the Bogota basin of Colombia based on the de-
scent of the Andean treeline during the El Abra (YD) stade
(Kuhry et al., 1994), and with the 27 –37C drop in tempera-
ture inferred for the YD interval from pollen data in tropical
Costa Rica (Islebe et al., 1995)
DISCUSSION
The estimated temperature lowering at Potrerillos agrees
with the d 18O record from the Huascaran ice core (6084 m
altitude) in northern Peru, which implies a distinct climatic
reversal at 11,000–10,000 14C yr B.P. followed by rapid
warming in the Holocene (Thompson et al., 1995). In that
study, Thompson and co-workers stressed the link between
airflow from the southern part of the North Atlantic and
glaciers in the Peruvian Andes because the d 18O curve com-
piled from planktonic foraminifera (Globigerina bulloides)
sampled from a sediment core taken off southern Portugal
(Bard et al., 1987) closely mirrors the d 18O record from
Huascaran ice. If the Atlantic ocean is the primary moisture
source for glaciers in eastern cordilleras of the northern An-
des, it is clear that surface temperature of that ocean will
influence atmospheric temperature over the region. The
study by Bard and co-workers derived climatic records for
qras AP: QR
26 CLAPPERTON ET AL.

FIG. 7. Composite diagram showing oxygen isotope data from core SU81-18 (N. Atlantic off south Portugal) and the Huascaran ice core (Bard et
al., 1987; Thompson et al., 1995). Also shown are AMS 14C ages obtained from G. bulloides and February sea-surface temperatures based on palaeontologi-
cal transfer function. Mean atmospheric temperature for the YD interval, estimated for the Potrerillos plateau from palaeoecological and glacial records,
is indicated at the base of the diagram.

an AMS 14C-dated YD interval from core SU81-18 taken 14

in the North Atlantic at latitude 377N. Palaeo-sea surface
temperatures (SST) for February, based on micropalaeonto-
logical transfer functions (using G. bulloides), show a ther-
mal decline from 147C at ca. 11,500 14C yr B.P. to 77C at
ca. 10,400 14C yr B.P., when the SST reached its lowest
value. This cooling was apparently caused by southward
advance (557N to 357N) of the North Atlantic polar front in
less than 400 yr. While we cannot be certain that all of the
atmospheric cooling over the Northern Andes during the
Younger Dryas was caused by lowered SSTs in the southern
North Atlantic, it is evident that both regions were chilled
simultaneously between ca. 11,000 and 10,000 14C yr B.P.
(Fig. 7). This view is supported by recent data from the
Cariaco Basin (107 40* N) close to the northern coast of
Venezuela, where a clear YD signal identified from lami-
nated sediments is dated to the interval ca. 11,030–10,000
C yr B.P. (Hughen et al., 1996). Analysis of fossil pollen
in this core shows a marked expansion of grassland and a
decrease in forest during this interval (M. Rinaldi, personal
communication, 1996).
As there is growing evidence that glaciers in higher lati-
tudes of the Southern Hemisphere may have advanced during
the Younger Dryas cooling, e.g., in New Zealand (Denton
and Hendy, 1994) and Patagonia (Marden and Clapperton,
1995), it is becoming increasingly apparent that this climatic
event was felt worldwide and may not have been directly
related to conditions in the North Atlantic, such as the last
Heinrich ice-rafting event. However, the nature and intensity
of the glacial signal apparently varied from place to place,
in the sense that where precipitation decreased significantly
in high mountains where mean annual totals are relatively
low, glaciers did not expand very far, as in some North
American ranges (Clark and Gillespie, in press; Osborn and

AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$3 12-27-96 02:48:38 qras AP: QR

 ANDEAN YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCE
Gerloff, in press). On the other hand, in tropical mountains
with high precipitation like the eastern cordillera of the
northern Andes, thermal decline was dominant and glaciers
advanced despite a decrease in atmospheric humidity. A
combination of palynological, glacial-geologic, and ice-core
evidence in the northern Andes clearly shows that YD cool-
ing affected the tropical latitudes of South America. It ap-
pears that YD temperature in the mountains of Costa Rica,
Colombia, and Ecuador fell 27 –47C below that of the preced-
ing warmer interval (estimated at ca. 27C lower than modern
temperature), according to the amount of treeline and snow-
line lowering. This amount is virtually half-way to full-gla-
cial conditions, as indicated by the Waiho Loop glacier ad-
vance in the New Zealand Southern Alps (Denton and
Hendy, 1994), and demonstrates a globally significant
change in the Earth’s atmosphere between 11,000 and 10,000
14
C yr B.P. Because the cooling apparently did not evoke a
strong response from vegetation in some temperate regions
of the Southern Hemisphere (Markgraf, 1991; McGlone,
1995), other influences (such as precipitation or vegetation
dynamics) may have been more dominant in such regions
during this interval.
While changes in North Atlantic thermohaline circulation
during late-glacial time may have forced glacier advances
and treeline depression in the tropical Andes, due to linkage
of these two regions through the atmosphere, it is not yet
clear why glaciers in southernmost South America and New
Zealand should have advanced also at this time. These re-
gions are dominated by the Pacific circum-polar westerlies.
Identification of a mechanism that rapidly changed the atmo-
sphere worldwide is still an elusive goal (Broecker, 1994)
and begs the question of whether the answer lies in systems
internal to the planet (Broecker and Denton, 1990), in varia-
tions of the solar flux, or in a combination of both.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project was funded by NERC Research Grant GR3/9334. We thank
Maureen Lamb for preparing the pollen slides for palynological analysis,
Andrew Dow for assisting with geochemical analyses, Ramon Vera for
field support, and S. C. Porter, G. H. Denton, and H. Hooghiemstra for
helpful comments on a draft of the paper. We also acknowledge the NERC
Radiocarbon Laboratory at East Kilbride, Scotland, for dating some of the
samples.
REFERENCES
Alley, R. B., Bond, G., Chappelaz, J., Clapperton, C. M., Del Genio, A.,
Keigwin, L., and Peteet, D. H. (1993a). Global Younger Dryas? Eos 74,
587–589.
Alley, R. B., Meese, D. A., Shuman, C. A., Gow, A. J., Taylor, K. C.,
Grootes, P. M., White, J. C., Ram, M., Waddington, E. D., Mayewski,
P. A., and Zielinski, G. A. (1993b). Abrupt increase in Greenland snow
accumulation at the end of the Younger Dryas event. Nature 362, 527–
529.
AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$3 12-27-96 02:48:38
27
Ashworth, A. C., and Markgraf, V. (1989). Climate of the Chilean Channels
between 11–10,000 yr B.P. based on fossil beetles and pollen analysis.
Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 62, 61–74.
Bard, E., Arnold, M., Maurice, P., Duprat, J., Moyes, J., and Duplessy,
J.-C. (1987). Retreat velocity of the North Atlantic polar front during the
last deglaciation determined by 14C accelerator mass spectrometry. Nature
328, 791–794.
Bond, G. C., and Lotti, R. (1995). Iceberg discharges into the North Atlantic
on millenial timescales during the last glaciation. Science 267, 1005–
1010.
Bond, G. C., Broecker, W. S., Johsen, S., McManus, J., Labeyrie, L., Jouzel,
J., and Bonani, G. (1993). Correlations between climate records from
North Atlantic sediments and Greenland ice. Nature 365, 143–147.
Broecker, W. S. (1994). Massive iceberg discharges as triggers for global
climate change. Nature 372, 421–424.
Broecker, W. S., and Denton, G. H. (1990). The role of ocean–atmosphere
reorganisations in glacial cycles. Quaternary Science Reviews 9, 305–
341.
Clapperton, C. M. (1983). The glaciation of the Andes. Quaternary Science
Reviews 2, 83–155.
Clapperton, C. M. (1987). Glacial geomorphology, Quaternary glacial se-
quence and palaeoclimatic inferences in the Ecuadorian Andes. In ‘‘Inter-
national Geomorphology Part II’’ (V. Gardiner, Ed.), pp. 843–870.
Clapperton, C. M. (1993a). ‘‘Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of
South America.’’ Elsevier Science, Amsterdam.
Clapperton, C. M. (1993b). Glacier readvances in the Andes at 12 500–10
000 yr BP; implications for mechanism of Late-glacial climatic change.
Journal of Quaternary Science 8, 197–215.
Clapperton, C. M., Clayton, J. D., Benn, D. I., and Marden, C. J. (in press).
Late Quaternary glacier advances and palaeolake highstands in the Boliv-
ian altiplano. Quaternary International.
Clark, D. H., and Gillespie, A. R. (in press). Timing and significance of
Late-glacial and Holocene glaciation in the Sierra Nevada, California.
Quaternary International.
Cleef, A. M. (1980). Vegetación del páramos eotropical y sus lazos australo-
antárcticos. Colombia Geográfica 7, 7–49.
Cleef, A. M. (1981). The vegetation of the páramos of the Colombian
Cordillera Oriental. Dissertationes Botanicae 61, J. Cramer, Vaduz.
Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S. J., Clausen, H. B., Dahl-Jensen, D. S., Gun-
destrup, N., Hammer, C. U., Hvidberg, C. S., Steffensen, J. R., Sveins-
bjornsdottir, A. E., Jouzel, J., and Bond, G. (1993). Evidence for general
instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core record. Nature 364,
218–220.
Deer, W. A., Howie, R. A., and Zussman, J. (1992). ‘‘An Introduction to
the Rock Forming Minerals.’’ Appendix 3, p. 683. Longman, London.
Denton, G. H., and Hendy, C. (1994). Younger Dryas age advance of Franz
Josef glacier in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Science 264, 1434–
1437.
Droop, G. T. R. (1987). A general equation for estimating Fe3/ concentra-
tions in ferromagnesian silicates and oxides from microprobe analyses
using stoichiometric criteria. Mineralogical Magazine 51, 431–435.
Grabant, R. A. J. (1980). Pollen rain in relation to arboreal vegetation in
the Colombian Cordillera Oriental. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynol-
ogy 29, 65–147.
Grabant, R. A. J. (1985). ‘‘Pollen rain in relation to vegetation in the Colom-
bian Cordillera Oriental.’’ Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of
Amsterdam.
Hall, M. L. (1977). ‘‘El Volcanismo en El Ecuador.’’ Instituto Panameri-
cana de GeografıB a e Historia, Quito.
qras AP: QR
28 CLAPPERTON ET AL.
Hall, M. L., and Beate, B. (1991). El vocanismo Plio-Cuaternario en los
Andes del Ecuador. Estudios de GeografıB a 4, 5–38.
Hall, M., and Mothes, P. A. (1994). Tefrostratigrafia holocenica de los
volcanes principales del valle interandino, Ecuador. Estudios de
GeografıB a 6, 47–67.
Hansen, B. C. S. (1995). A review of Lateglacial Pollen Records from
Ecuador and Peru with Reference to the Younger Dryas Event. Quater-
nary Science Reviews 14, 853–866.
Hansen, B. C. S., and Rodbell, D. T. (1995). A Late-glacial/Holocene pollen
record from the eastern Andes of northern Peru. Quaternary Research
44, 216–227.
Hastenrath, S. (1981). ‘‘The Glaciation of the Ecuadorian Andes.’’ Bal-
kema, Rotterdam.
Helmens, K. F., and Kuhry, P. (1986). Middle and late Quaternary vegeta-
tional and climatic history of the Páramo de Agua Blanca (Eastern Cordil-
lera, Colombia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
56, 291–335.
Helmens, K. F., and Kuhry, P. (1995). Glacier fluctuations and vegetation
change associated with Late Quaternary climatic oscillations in the An-
des. In ‘‘Quaternary of South America and Antarctic Peninsula’’ (J.
Rabassa and M. Salemme, Eds.), Vol. 9, pp. 117–140. Balkema, Rotter-
dam.
Heine, J. T. (1993). A reevaluation of the evidence for a Younger Dryas
climatic reversal in the tropical Andes. Quaternary Science Reviews 12,
769–779.
Heine, K. (1995). Late Quaternary glacier advances in the Ecuadorian An-
des: a preliminary report. In ‘‘Quaternary of South America and Antarctic
Peninsula’’ (J. Rabassa and M. Salemme, Eds.), Vol. 9, pp. 1–22. Bal-
kema, Rotterdam.
Heusser, C. J. (1984). Late-glacial-Holocene climate of the Lake District
of Chile. Quaternary Research 22, 77–90.
Hooghiemstra, H. (1983). Pollen morphology of the Plantago species of
the Colombian Andes and its application to fossil material. Revista de la
Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, FıB sicas y Naturales 15, 41–
66.
Hughen, K. A., Overpeck, J. T., Petersen, L. C., and Trumbore, S. (1996).
Rapid climate changes in the tropical Atlantic region during the last
deglaciation. Nature 380, 51–54.
Islebe, G. A., Hooghiemstra, H., and van der Borg, K. (1995). A cooling
event during the Younger Dryas Chron in Costa Rica. Palaeogeography,
Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 117, 73–80.
Johnsen, J. J., Clausen, H. B., Dansgaard, W., Fuhrer, K., Gundestrup, N.,
Hammer, C. U., Iversen, P., Jouzel, J., Stauffer, B., and Steffensen, J. P.
(1992). Irregular glacial interstadials in a new Greenland ice core. Nature
359, 311–313.
Keigwin, L. (1995). The North Pacific through the millenia. Nature 377,
485–486.
Kennett, J. P., and Ingram, B. L. (1995). A 20,000-year record of ocean
circulation and climate change from the Santa Barbara basin. Nature 377,
510–514.
Kotilainen, A. T., and Shackleton, N. J. (1995). Rapid climate variability
in the North Pacific Ocean during the past 95,000 years. Nature 377,
323–326.
Kuhry, P., Hooghiemstra, H., van Geel, B., and van der Hammen, T. (1994).
The El Abra Stadial in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (South
America). Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 333–344.
Leake, B. E. (1978). Nomenclature of amphiboles. Mineralogical Magazine
42, 533–565.
AID QR 1861 / a606$$$$$4 12-27-96 02:48:38
Ledru, M. P. (1993). Late Quaternary environmental and climatic changes
in central Brazil. Quaternary Research 39, 90–98.
Linsley, B. K. (1996). Oxygen-isotope record of sea level and climate varia-
tions in the Sulu Sea over the past 150,000 years. Nature 380, 234–237.
Marden, C. J., and Clapperton, C. M. (1995). Fluctuations of the South
Patagonian Ice-field during the last glaciation and the Holocene. Journal
of Quaternary Science 10, 197–210.
Markgraf, V. (1991). Younger Dryas in southern South America? Boreas
20, 63–69.
Markgraf, V. (1993). Younger Dryas in southernmost South America—an
update. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 351–355.
McGlone, M. S. (1995). Lateglacial Landscape and Vegetation Change and
the Younger Dryas Oscillation in New Zealand. Quaternary Science
Reviews 14, 867–882.
Melief, A. B. M. (1984). Comparison of vegetation and pollen rain on the
Buritaca-La Cumbre transect. In ‘‘Studies on Tropical Andean Ecosys-
tems’’ (T. van der Hammen and P. M. Ruiz, Eds.), Vol. 2, pp. 547–559.
J. Cramer, Vaduz.
Melief, A. B. M. (1985). ‘‘Late Quaternary palaeoecology of the Parque
Nacional Natural de los Nevados (Cordillera Central), and Sumapaz (Cor-
dillera Oriental) areas, Colombia.’’ Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Uni-
versity of Amsterdam.
Mercer, J. H. (1969). The Allerød oscillation: a European climatic anomaly?
Arctic and Alpine Research 1, 85–104.
Osborn, G., and Gerloff, L. (in press). Latest Pleistocene and Early Holocene
fluctuations of glaciers in the Canadian and Northern American Rockies.
Quaternary International.
Peteet, D. H. (1995). Global Younger Dryas? Quaternary International 28,
93–104.
Sauer, W. (1965). ‘‘GeologıB a del Ecuador.’’ Editorial de Ministerio de
Educación, Quito.
Stocker, T. F., and Wright, D. G. (in press). Rapid changes in ocean circula-
tion and atmospheric carbon. Palaeoceanography.
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. (1993). Extended 14C data base and revised
CALIB 3.0 14C age calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, 215–230.
Thompson, L. G., Mosley-Thompson, E., Davis, M. E., Lin, P-N., Hender-
son, K. A., Cole-Dai, J., Bolzan, J. F., and Liu, K-b. (1995). Late Glacial
Stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascaran, Peru.
Science 269, 46–50.
Van der Hammen, T., Weiner, J. H., and Van Dommelen, H. (1973). Palyno-
logical record of the upheaval of the Northern Andes: a study of the
Pliocene and lower Quaternary of the Colombian Eastern Cordillera and
the early evolution of its High-Andean biota. Review of Palaeobotany
and Palynology 1b, 1–122.
Van der Hammen, T., Barelds, J., de Jong, H., and de Veer, A. A. (1981).
Glacial sequence and environmental history in the Sierra Nevada del
Cocuy (Colombia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
32, 247–340.
Van der Hammen, T., and Hooghiemstra, H. (1995). The El Abra Stadial,
a Younger Dryas equivalent in Colombia. Quaternary Science Reviews
14, 841–852.
Van Geel, B., and Van der Hammen, T. (1973). Upper Quaternary vegeta-
tional and climatic sequence of the Fuquene area (Eastern Cordillera,
Colombia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 14, 9–
92.
Zbinden, H., Andree, M., Oeschger, H., Ammann, B., Lotter, A., Bonani,
G., and Wolfli, W. (1989). Atmospheric radiocarbon at the end of the
last glacial: An estimate based on AMS radiocarbon dates on terrestrial
macrofossils from lake sediments. Radiocarbon 31, 795–804.
qras AP: QR