Late Pleistocene Fans and Terraces in the Majes Valley, Southern Peru, and Their Relation to Climatic Variations

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) (2010) 99:1975–1989 DOI 10.1007/s00531-009-0489-2

ORIGINAL PAPER

Late Pleistocene fans and terraces in the Majes valley, southern Peru, and their relation to climatic variations
Damian Steffen • Fritz Schlunegger Frank Preusser
•

Received: 19 November 2008 / Accepted: 10 October 2009 / Published online: 15 November 2009 Ó Springer-Verlag 2009

Abstract This study investigates the connection between sediment aggradation, erosion and climate in a desert environment of the Majes valley, southern Peru. Luminescence dating of terraces and fans shows that sediment aggradation correlates with wet time intervals on the Altiplano, suggesting a climatic influence on the aggradation–degradation cycles. Major periods of aggradation occurred between *110–100, *60–50 and 12–8 ka. More precipitation in the Majes catchment resulted in increased erosion and transportation of sediment from the hillslopes into the trunk river. As a result, the sediment loads exceeded the transport capacity of the Majes River and aggradation started in the lower reaches where the river gradient is less. Depletion of the hillslope sediment reservoirs caused a relative increase in the capacity of the trunk river to entrain and transport sediment, resulting in erosion of the previously deposited sediment. Consequently, although climate change may initiate a phase of sediment accumulation, degradation can be triggered by an autocyclic negative feedback and does not have to be driven by climatic change. Keywords Alluvial fan Á Terrace Á Luminescence dating Á Peru Á Paleoclimate

Introduction and motivation The response of geomorphic systems to climate change has been a challenging research field in fluvial geomorphology.
D. Steffen (&) Á F. Schlunegger Á F. Preusser ¨ Institute of Geological Sciences, Universitat Bern, Bern, Switzerland e-mail: [e-mail]

Records of change are preserved in stratigraphic archives, and successful reconstructions of

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