QUATERNARY

RESEARCH

16, 263-292 (1981)

Pleistocene
Quaternary

Glaciation
Research Center,

in the Southern
STEPHEN
University

Lake District
Scuttle. Washington

of Chile
98/95

C. PORTER
of Washington,

Received December 23, 1980 Relative-age criteria permit deposits of successive Andean glacier advances in the southern Lake District of Chile to be divided into four mappable drift sheets, the oldest two of which overlie Tertiary bedrock along the eastern flank of the Cordillera de la Costa. Only the youngest drift (Llanquihue) is datable by radiocarbon. During the most extensive ice advance of the last glaciation the Lago Llanquihue glacier was about 95 km long and reached an estimated maximum thickness of between 1000 and 1300 m. Glacier equilibrium lines at that time lay about 1000 m below their present level and rose eastward with a gradient of about 5 m/km. Successive ice advances in the Lago Llanquihue basin, which resulted in construction of end moraines and associated outwash plains beyond the lake margin, culminated sometime before about 20,000 yr ago and between 20,000 and 19,000 yr ago. A later readvance, inferred from the sedimentary record of lake-level fluctuations in the basin, had begun by about 15,000 yr ago and culminated shortly after 13,000 yr ago. A comparable, but less-closely dated, record of ice advances is found northwest of Seno Reloncavi and on Isla Chiloe. Deglaciation following the latest advance is likely to have been rapid, for the major glacier lobes fronted on deep water bodies that would have promoted extensive calving.

INTRODUCTION

The record of Quaternary glaciation in southern Chile is among the most extensive and detailed in the Southern Hemisphere and it therefore is significant for global paleoclimatic reconstructions and interhemispheric comparisons of glacial chronologies. The Lake District of Chile, stretching from approximately 39 to 42s latitude, has been the focus of several recent investigations. Glacial deposits are widespread and well exposed there, and the climate is conducive to preservation of organic matter suitable for radiocarbon dating. Peat and other organic-rich sediments are interstratified with the glacial sediments and offer a means of obtaining paleoenvironmental information about nonglacial intervals. The present investigation, an outgrowth of earlier studies of the Quaternary palynology of southern Chile (Heusser, 1960, 1966, 1972a, b, 1974, 1976) and of the glacial history of the adjacent Argentine Andes (Flint and Fidalgo, 1964, 19691, began with a reconnaissance of the glacial geology and Quaternary paleoecology of

Isla Chilot? by R. F. Flint and C. J. Heusser in 1976. During a second planned field season, which I carried out in 1978 with Heusser following the death of Professor Flint, field mapping and stratigraphic studies were extended north from Isla Child to the area west and southwest of Lago Llanquihue in the southern Lake District. The aim of these investigations was to synthesize the Quaternary stratigraphic record and glacial history of a region that was repeatedly invaded by large Piedmont ice lobes (Llanquihue, Seno Reloncavi, Golfo de Ancud, and northern Golfo Corcovado) from an extensive mountain ice field mantling the Cordillera de 10s Andes (Fig. 1). During their fieldwork on Isla Chilot, Heusser and Flint (1977) recognized three offlapping layers of drift (Fuerte San Antonio, Intermediate, and Llanquihue) representing the last (Llanquihue) glaciation and two (or possibly more) older glaciations. Radiocarbon dating suggested that the Llanquihue drift was deposited from at least 43,000 to about 10,000 yr ago and that the two older drifts are more than 57,000 yr
263 0033-5894/81/060263-30$02.00/O
Copyright 0 1981 by the University of Washington. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

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STEPHEN

C. PORTER

CORCOVADO

173"

1. Cordillera of southern Chile and Argentina between 40 and 43s latitude showing mapped (solid ticked line) and inferred (dashed ticked line) limit of ice during maximum Llanquihue advance in Chile and Nahuel Huapi advance in Argentina. Glacial limits for Isla Chiloe from Heusser and Flint (1977); for Seno Reloncavi and Lago Llanquihue from present study; for Lago Rupanco, Lago Puyehue, and Lago Ranco from Mercer (1976); and for Argentine Andes from Flint and Fidalgo (1964, 1969). Active volcanoes are indicated by star (Casertano, 1963).
FIG.

old. The vegetation history during part of each of these glaciations was inferred from pollen analysis of sediments associated with the three drifts.

In the region around Lago Llanquihue, Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer, 1972, 1976) mapped four end-moraine systems which they designated, from oldest to

PLEISTOCENE

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265

youngest, Rio Frio, Colegual, Casma, and Llanquihue. Only the Llanquihue moraines could be shown to date from the last glacial age on the basis of available radiocarbon dates. The older moraines, inferred to represent two or three earlier glacial ages, lay beyond the range of radiocarbon dating. The Llanquihue deposits were interpreted as representing two ice advances, one more than 40,000 yr old (more than 56,000 yr at Lago Ranco) and a later, more-extensive advance during which the outermost moraines at Lago Llanquihue and Lago Rupanco were built about 19,500 yr ago. Subsequent glacier recession within the basin of Lago Llanquihue was inferred to have been marked by a readvance about 13,000 yr ago, following which the ice retreated into the Andean source region. Vegetational changes in the vicinity of Lago Llanquihue during and since the last (preLlanquihue) interglaciation were reconstructed by Heusser (1966, 1974), but prior to the present investigation, information on the vegetation history of earlier intervals was not available. STRATIGRAPHY Criteria AND CHRONOLOGY of Relative Age

In earlier studies of glacial deposits in the Lake District, subdivision of the glacial record was based mainly on morphologic criteria (moraines or moraine belts) supplemented by weathering criteria. For example, Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer, 1976) inferred that each recognized moraine belt west of Lago Llanquihue was characterized by a distinct surface drift which they named informally after that belt. In their studies, a feature west of the main Llanquihue moraine system was identified as an end moraine if at least part of it is composed of till. The moraine belts were also characterized on the basis of depth of overlying volcanic ash, degree of dissection of landforms, and the comparative degree of weathering. Mercer (1976) reported that weathering of volcanic clasts in drift of Llanquihue age was barely perceptible

whereas clasts in drifts of Casma and Collegual age had rinds about 2 cm thick; those of Rio Frio age reached a thickness of about 4 cm. By contrast, Brtiggen (1950), who studied these same moraine belts, found no obvious difference in weathering among them, an observation Mercer (1976) attributed to his possibly having examined only exposures of compact; impervious till. Heusser and Flint (1976) found that the most useful criteria of relative age for distinguishing the three drift sheets on Isla Chiloe were depth of weathering, degree of weathering of clasts, surface morphology, relationship of drift to regional topography, degree of dissection, and bulk of associated outwash. In their study, they referred to deposits of the last glaciation (Llanquihue Glaciation of Heusser (1974, pp. 291-292)) as Llanquihue drift. A type section was designated for the oldest (Fuerte San Antonio) drift and its characteristics were described. The stratigraphic interpretation of preLlanquihue glacial deposits in this study differs from that of Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer, 1976)), as discussed below, and warrants a new lithostratigraphic nomenclature to supplant previous informal designations that employed the same geographic locality names for landforms (moraine belts) as for the sediments which comprise them. In the present study, glacial deposits have been separated into mappable units termed drifts, described at type sections, and assigned local geographic names. These are not lithostratigraphic units in the strict sense, for each drift sheet is composed of a similar lithic mix of volcanic, plutonic, and sedimentary clasts; in the case of the two oldest drifts, weathering is so intense that the lithology of many clasts is not determinable. The glacial deposits can be differentiated, however, on the basis of age-dependent weathering and erosional characteristics (including depth of weathering, thickness of rinds on volcanic clasts, intensity of limonitization, extent of MnO, deposition on clasts and in matrix, and moraine morphology; Table l), into

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drift sheets that are believed to represent first-order glacial events, or glaciations (Porter, 1971; Burke and Birkeland, 1979). Second-order events (= stades) within the youngest glaciation are recognized on the basis of landform assemblages and local stratigraphic relationships, even though the degree of weathering of the deposits is similar. Weathering rinds proved to be among the most useful of the weathering parameters. Rind measurements were restricted to volcanic clasts and generally gave consistent and reproducible results when samples were collected near the top of a drift sheet. In the case of the three youngest drifts, some variability in mean values is found if samples are collected at random within a drift, for as a general rule the thickness of rinds in any drift tends to decrease with increasing depth in the weathering profile. For example, in one exposure of Rio Llico till, clasts collected within 1.5 m of the top of the drift had a mean rind thickness of 9.4 mm, whereas a second sample from the same outcrop taken at a depth of 3 to 4 m had a mean thickness of only 3.8 mm. In certain cases where a till overlies and incorporates clasts of an older weathered outwash gravel, occasional rounded clasts with anomalously thick rinds may be encountered in the till. Such rinds typically match those in the underlying gravel, from which the clasts are inferred to have been derived. Despite such possible internal variability, the range of sample means obtained for each of the four drift sheets form distinct populations that normally permit unequivocal assignment of an exposed unit to a specific drift (Table 1). The weatheringrind data provide a regionally consistent stratigraphic picture that is supported by other relative-age criteria (Table 1). The drift sheets include two principal facies, till and outwash. For the youngest drifts, the facies distinction is straightforward, but for the two oldest drifts the intensity of weathering often obscures distinctive sedimentary characteristics and

makes recognition of these facies difficult. In such cases, the weathered till and outwash facies are both appropriately described as diamictons. Intensely weathered outwash gravel, in which the sandy matrix has been altered to clay, may superficially resemble weathered tills of the same drift sheet. However, pebble- and cobble-size clasts in outwash gravel typically are in contact with one another, and the interstices between adjacent clasts are filled by weathered matrix. By contrast, the clasts in tills infrequently are in contact and commonly appear to float in a finer weathered matrix. Outwash gravels, although generally poorly sorted, rarely contain clasts larger than cobbles, whereas tills include boulders with diameters exceeding 1 m. Even in thoroughly weathered outwash units, relict cross-stratification and graded bedding can be discerned locally. Such features are common in outwash of the youngest drift sheet but were not observed in unweathered basal (lodgment) tills of that drift. In most large outcrops such characteristics serve to distinguish the two facies, but in the case of small exposures, weathered diamictons often cannot be assigned with confidence to one facies or the other. Lahars from Volcan Calbuco overlie drift of the last glaciation along the west and south margins of Lago Llanquihue and across the region between the lake and Seno Relocavi. Although they superficially resemble till, the lahars are different in several respects: (1) clasts within lahars are overwhelmingly volcanic and include few of the plutonic rock types that are common in the tills; (2) clasts are predominantly angular or subangular, whereas the tills contain a high percentage of rounded to subrounded clasts; (3) in exposures a meter or more high, a crude vertical grading is often detectable; and (4) the upper surfaces of lahars commonly are flat or nearly flat in contrast to the hummocky character of the younger tills. Although no pre-Llanquihue lahars were identified, some may extend locally beyond the Llanquihue drift limit.

TABLE
1. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIFTS

Characteristic

Llanquihue

Drift

Santa Maria Drift

Rio Llico Drift

Caracol Drift

Thickness (mm) of weathering rinds on volcanic clasts in upper part of till (n = 20) Mean Range Depth (m) of weathering profile on till Surface morphology
L

0.5 o-2 1-6 4 No obvious depositional morphology, drift deeply dissected, integrated drainage, no lakes Common as coatings on clasts and clast sockets and partially fills small voids and fissile partings

10 6-14

17 13-21 3 Drift largely buried by younger drifts, no depositional morphology preserved at surface Pervasive, coats clast sockets, fills fissile partings and voids

1 Obvious end-moraine crests, dead-ice terrain with undrained depressions, outwash terraces

Degree of MnOx deposition

2-3 Broad, rolling drift plain, some possible end moraines, integrated drainage, outwash terraces capped by thick loess Generally absent, but may locally coat clasts, fill small voids

Development coatings

of

iron-oxide

Limonite and (or) hematite staining pervasive

Generally absent, but locally forms thin, discontinuous coatings on bottoms of clasts in upper 0.5 m of weathering protile Absent, or present as thin coatings in upper meter of deposits Limonite coating on clasts and along fissile partings; cements matrix in outwash to depths of 5 m or more

Limonite and (or) hematite coating common on clasts and fissile partings

X i=

Dominant color of till Dry Light-brownish-gray (2.5Y 6/2) Grayish-brown (2.5Y 512) 2-4

Gray (2.5Y 6/l)

Moist

Thickness (m) of loess mantle

Dark-grayish-brown (2.5Y 412) <2

Grayish-brown (2.5Y S/2) Olive-brown (2SY 4/4) 2-4

Brown (IOYR S/3) Brown (IOYR 4/3) -

(I Maximum depth of exposure seen: overlies Tertiary bedrock at one site.

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Caracol

Drift

The oldest identified glacial drift crops out in the western part of the lowland and along the eastern slope of the Cordillera de la Costa (Fig. 2). All exposures but one lie beyond the inferred limit of Santa Mans till and inside the limit of Rio Llico till. In only a few places was the drift found at the surface; generally it is buried by Rio Llico till or outwash. Caracol Drift is designated after the small community of that name, near which, in a 7-m-deep borrow pit along

route V-610, it crops out beneath No Llico till (Fig. 2, Lot. 1; Appendix Ia). Although the base of the drift is not exposed in this section, sandy outwash gravel inferred to correlate with the till unconformably overlies dipping cross-stratified Tertiary sandstone and siltstone 15 km to the north along route V-440; the gravel, in turn, is overlain by silt (loess?) and till of Rio Llico age. Intense weathering characterized by a deep dusky-red to brownish color, thick weathering rinds on stones, and extensive development of MnO, serve to distinguish

--

Petrc

LLANQUIHUE

V\
EXPLANATION Drift Llanqulhue bndiv.) Llonqulhue Ill Llonqulhue II Llanquihue I Santo Marla Rio LIICO Caracol Llmlt of drift v T-TIT -V----VT 7 7 n A l Till

172930,

Outw

0 A c

@ Borehok (depth to bedrock,de,,th of

/ Melfwaler channel Sv Submerged valley

FIG.

2. Glacial-geologic

map of the southern

Lake

District.

PLEISTOCENE

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269

this unit from younger glacial sediments. Till of the Caracol Drift is stony and apparently had a sandy matrix, but in most exposures both the matrix and clasts have been chemically altered to clay. The brown color of the weathered till contrasts with the yellowish or grayish hues of younger deposits. Although clasts include both granitic and volcanic rock types, many are too weathered for their lithology to be identified with certainty. Weathering rinds at the type section range in thickness from 13 to 21 mm, and average 17 mm; this range is also typical at other outcrops of the drift. Weathered rinds commonly spall off from a less-altered core when large clasts are removed from exposures. In some outcrops the till has well-developed subhorizontal fissility along which, and in the sockets of clasts, locally dense MnO, is concentrated, thereby imparting a dark cast to the sediment. In outwash deposits of this age, MnO, mottling is widespread and iron oxide staining is common. The distribution of Caracol Drift indicates that ice spread westward from the Andes as an extensive Piedmont glacier and locally rose against the eastern slope of the coastal mountains. Based on the presently known distribution of the till, the glacier was less extensive than that which subsequently deposited Rio Llico Drift.
Rio Llico Drift

The next younger drift, which is also the most widespread of those identified, is named for Rio Llico. The drift crops out at the surface through a l&km-wide belt along and east of the flank of the Cordillera de la Costa near the head of Rio Llico and was identified beneath younger drifts in outcrops farther east to within l-2 km of the shore of Lago Llanquihue . The land surface underlain by the drift is extensively and deeply dissected, and the drainage net is well integrated. Moraines, if they exist, are not obvious features, for none were identified during the study. The mapped western limit of Rio Llico Drift is based on the westernmost expo-

sures of till of this unit, rather than on any pronounced lithologic or morphologic boundary. It was determined from five traverses along roads that cross the lowland and rise up the eastern slope of the Cordillera de la Costa. Although the limit is interpolated between these traverses, it probably is accurate to within several kilometers, inasmuch as the bedrock topography would have locally controlled the shape of the glacier margin and produced the inferred minor lobations shown on the map. The position of the drift limit indicates that within the mapped area an extensive Piedmont glacier filled the lowland between the coastal mountains and the Andes during the culminating Rio Llico advance and probably reached the Pacific Ocean at or somewhat north of Bahia Maullin. The type section of the drift is in a borrow pit on route V-440 near its junction with route V-46 (Fig. 2, Lot. 2; Appendix Ib). In this section two stony tills, each at least 3 m thick, are separated by a thin laminated silt. Although the tills are essentially indistinguishable in physical appearance and weathering properties, it is not clear whether they represent a single glaciation or two separated by a nonglacial weathering interval. Other exposures of multiple tills having similar weathering characteristics were not encountered during this study, so the former interpretation is currently favored. However, additional field studies are needed to resolve this question. In most exposures the till is thoroughly weathered to clay, as are small stones less than about 1 cm in diameter, and can easily be cut through with a knife or shovel. In many road cuts the drift forms a smooth face with few or no projecting stones. Large clasts typically have solid cores surrounded by weathered rinds that average about 10 mm thick and spa11 off when stones are removed from the matrix. Limonite and (or) MnO, commonly coats clasts and clast sockets, and lenses and pods of MnO, that are pervasive in the matrix generally impart a purplish-gray cast to the drift. Lenses or

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overlain in turn by about 3 m of loess and colluvium (Fig. 2, Lot. 3; Appendix Ic). The compact stony Santa Maria till appears much less weathered than either the Caracol or Rio Llico tills, but is characterized by a yellowish-brown color due largely to limonite that coats clasts and clast sockets and penetrates the matrix, especially along fissile partings. Rinds on volcanic clasts in the upper part of the weathering profile average about 2 mm thick (Table 1). Most clasts are solid and little weathered, except for the external rinds, Santa Matia Drift and in contrast to those in the older tills A widespread drift lies at the land surface project from vertical exposures. Although across much of the lowland between Lago the clasts in porous outwash gravels often Llanquihue, Seno Relocavi, and the belt of are little weathered, the sandy matrix typiRio Llico Drift east and south of the Cor- cally is loosely cemented by limonite, in dillera de la Costa. It is named for Rio Santa places to a depth of at least 10 m. MnO, is Maria, a minor tributary of Rio Maullin present in some outcrops as partial coatings west of Puerto Varas. Till of this drift on clasts and clast sockets, or as dissemunderlies gently rolling terrain throughout inated blebs in the upper part of the weaththe outcrop belt, and dissected outwash ering profile, but it is not as obvious or pergravels form terraces along major stream vasive as in the two older drifts. valleys. Linear and arcuate interfluves Three of the end-moraine systems dewithin this belt of drift could represent scribed by Laugenie and Mercer (1973) lie broad end-moraine crests, as inferred by within the belt of Santa Maria Drift and if Laugenie and Mercer (1973), but straticorrectly identified suggest that the drift graphic exposures through these generally may have resulted from more than a single broad subdued crests are few and shallow, ice advance. Because no difference in the so it is not always clear if, in fact, the ridges age of the uppermost glacial sediments are end moraines modified by mass wasting within this belt was discernable using and erosion or result from dissection of a relative-age criteria, the surface drift was relatively low-relief drift plain. The western mapped as a single unit. However, distinlimit of the drift approximately parallels guishing between drifts of successive that of the Rio Llico Drift, but lies some 7 to glaciations becomes more difficult with in14 km farther east in the area mapped (Fig. creasing age because the weathering rate 2). This distribution indicates that during very likely decreases exponentially as a deposition of the outermost Santa Marfa function of time (Colman, 1981). Therefore, till, the glacier was a broad coalescent possibly the Santa Marta Drift records sevPiedmont system consisting of ice from the eral glaciations. Llanquihue, Seno Relocavi, and Golfo de Minimum limiting dates for Santa Maria Ancud source areas. Drift come from an exposure along the The type section of Santa Marta Drift is south side of route V-55 just west of the Pan designated as a road cut on the north side of American Highway where wood and adjaroute V-50 directly beneath San Ambrosio cent peat overlying Santa Mafia till were cemetery, some 24 km west of Puerto dated as >39,900 yr old (I-4170 and I-5032; Varas. In this section, 2 m of Santa Maria Mercer, 1976) (Fig. 3 and Table 2). Finite till overlies weathered sediments probably ages of 32,000 5 700 yr (TK-70) on wood belonging to the Rio Llico Drift and is from the same horizon and of 23,300 + 300 layers of tine silt that are locally interstratilied with till commonly are penetrated by closely spaced veins of MnOe. Like the still-younger Santa Maria Drift, the Rio Llico lies beyond the range of radiocarbon dating. Nonbedded silts lying within and directly above Rio Llico till were sampled at two localities for paleomagnetic analyses, and in both cases the samples had normal polarity. However, like the bounding tills, the silts are strongly weathered, so the paleomagnetic signal may be unreliable.

PLEISTOCENE

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271

LAG0 LLANQUIHUE
0.700fl300

Calbuco

SENO I RELONCAVi

FIG. 3. Radiocarbon dates associated with glacial drifts around Lago Llanquihue Reloncavi. Designation of ice limits same as for Figure 2.

and Seno

TABLE2.
DATESFROMTHELAGOLLANQUIHUE-SENORELONCAV~REGION

RADIOCARBON

Laboratory number position Reference Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, Heusser, 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, p. 1966, 1966, 1966, 1966, 1966, p. p. p. p. p. 293 293 293 293 291 291 291 291 291 291 288 291 279, 288 288 279, 288 288 C. J. Heusser, pers. commun., Mercer, 1976, p. 155 Puerto Varas Puerto Varas Puerto Montt Puerto Varas Punta Penas Puerto Varas Puerto Varas Mercer, 1976, p. 155 Mercer, 1976, p. 155 Kobayashi et al., 1974, p. 383 Heusser, 1974, p. 308 1979 Alerce III Alerce I Alerce I Calbuco Alerce I Puerto Varas CaIbuco AIerce III Alerce III Alerce I AIerce III CaIbuco Los PeUines Los PeIlines Calbuco Los Pellines Alerce I Puerto Octay Puerto Varas Los Pellines Puerto Varas Locality (Fig. 3)

Date

Sample material and stratigraphic

I-10.53 I-1047 I-1048 I-1060 I-1049 LJW-427 I-1061 I-1054 I-1055 I-1050 I-1056 I-1063 I-1064 I-1067 I-1062 I-1065 I-1051 RL-1183 UW-480

890 + 250 3,610 rf- 250 4,950 + 400 6,760 + 300 7,360 k 300 7,660 2 90 7,880 + 750 8,600 + 300 9,410 + 400 10,520 * 300 10,820 + 800 10,820 2 900 11,300 k 250 11,800 2 400 12,165 + 900 12,165 + 400 12,500 2 800 12,500 2 370 13,145 % 235

RL-122 GX-4169

13,170 + 290 13,200 2 320

GX-2947

13,300 k 550

GX-4170

13,750 2 295

TK-74 UW-48 1

13,900 2 120 13,965 * 235

UW-421 GX-2948

14,200 + 135 14,250 + 400

uw-479

14,485 2 120

Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drkt Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Peat clast in gravel beneath Llanquihue I (?) till Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue II drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue II drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue II drift Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Wood in peat above Llanquihue II drift Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Wood from beneath till of Llanquihue III (?) age Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Peat beneath lake sediments and Llanquihue III till Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars

I-5033 Puerto Varas Punta Penas Punta Penas Puerto Varas Puerto Octay Alerce I Puerto Varas Puerto Octay Puerto Octay Puerto Octay Puerto Octay Frutillar Puerto Varas Puerto Montt Puerto Octay Los Pellines Frutillar Alto Frutillar Alto Puerto Varas Frutillar Alto Puerto Octay Punta Penas Punta Pelluco Puerto Varas Alto Mercer, 1972, p. 1118 J. H. Mercer, pers. commun., Mercer, 1972, p. 1118 1978 Ives et al., 1964, p. 69 J. H. Mercer, pers. commun., 1978

14,820 2 230

Puerto Varas

Mercer, 1972, p. 1118; 1976, p. 154

QL-1335

15,050 2 100

UW-422

15,220 2 160

W-948 GX-5275

15,400 2 400 15,715 Ik 440

RL-1185 I-1052 RL-113

15,800 * 550 16,085 2 800 16,270 2 360

Heusser, 1966, p. 280, 288. Mercer, 1972, p. 118; 1976, p. 154

RL-1184 RL-120

16,580 2 730 17,370 f 670

GX-5274

18,170 f 650

uw-418

18,900 -e 370

RL-116

20,100 t so0

TK-71

23,300 k 300

TK-72 QL-1338 I-6618 uw-419 uw-430 TK-70

26,000 2 29,600 k 30,400 k 30,700 k 31,700 32,000

400 350 1150 1300 1000 700

Mercer, 1976, p. 148; Kobayashi et al., 1974, p. 382 Kobayashi et al., 1974, p. 383 Heusser, 1974. p. 311 Mercer. 1976, p. 148

U W-425

32,800 t 1600

QL-1339 QL-1337

37,400 i so0 42,400 500

C. Klohn, pers. commun. to C. J. Heusser, 1977

47,600 %t

QL-1336

Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Wood in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Plant fragments at base of clay beneath lake sediments and Llanquihue III tiIl Wood beneath lake sediments and Llanquihue III till Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Basal peat in bog on Llanquihue I (?) drift Wood in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments and lahars Peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Near-basal peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Basal peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Basal peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Peat clast in Llanquihue 11 outwash beneath Llanquihue II till Wood from silt underlying Llanquihue I till above nonglacial sediments and Santa Mana till Wood in Llanquihue I (?) drift Gyttja beneath Llanquihue I or II (?) gravel Peat clast in stratified drift beneath Llanquihue till Peat clast in gravel beneath Llanquihue I (7) till Peat clast in gravel beneath Llanquihue I (?) till Wood from base of Llanquihue I till above nonglacial sediments and Santa Matia till Peat clast in Llanquihue II outwash beneath Llanquihue II till Gyttja beneath Llanquihue I or II (?) gravel Wood (in situ stump) in nonglacial sediments beneath Llanquihue I or II (?) drift Wood (in situ stump) in nonglacial sediments beneath Llanquihue drift Wood in nonglacial sediments between Santa Matia and Llanquihue tills

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yr (TK-71) from a lower horizon were regarded by Mercer as probably due to contamination of samples. An additional date of 57,800 ti$@ yr (QL-1336) on wood from this same locality provides a still-older minimum age for the underlying till. However, modern rootlets penetrate the exposure, so contamination of the sample cannot be ruled out; introduction of only 1 part in 1000 of modern carbon would make an infinitely old sample have an apparent age of about 55,000 yr. Accordingly, like dates obtained earlier, this date should be regarded as only a minimum, and not necessarily a close minimum, age for the underlying Santa Matia Drift. Interdrift Sediments

In some exposures two or more drifts rest in superposition, the contacts marked by erosional unconformities. However, in places the drifts are separated by sediments of nonglacial origin, sometimes as much as several meters thick. The sediments differ in character from exposure to exposure, but they commonly include well-sorted silt or fine sand, rubbly silt, and peat and organic silts. The sediments typically are weathered, the degree of weathering being related to the relative stratigraphic position within the drift sequence. The silts are thought to consist mainly of loess, but some thin and persistent yellowish-red units are believed to be weathered tephra layers. In some cases, the latter contain recognizable pumice lapilli. Buried soils within the loessial silts indicate periods of relative landscape stability. Rubbly units are interpreted as colluvium consisting of mixtures of loess and reworked underlying drift. Peats and organic silts are generally compact and hard, and in places contain pieces of wood, occasionally as much as 40 cm in diameter. Inter-till peats at Punta Penas and Punta Pelluco on the north shore of Seno Reloncavi contain stumps of trees rooted in place and are associated with clayey silts and sandy gravels of lacustrine and fluvial character. A reference section displaying many of these general characteristics was

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measured between Llanquihue till and Santa Maria till in an exposure along route V-SO near the Pan American Highway (Fig. 2, Lot. 4; Appendix Id). As yet too little is known about the regional distribution and continuity of the intertill sediments to infer much about their origin or the environmental conditions which they reflect. Although intervals of loess accumulation may generally have been related to glacial episodes and represent deflation of aggrading outwash surfaces, loess also apparently accumulated during the last interglaciation. Analysis of fossil pollen from eolian silts that lie above Santa Matia till at Nueva Braunau, about 8 km west of Puerto Varas, indicates that the silts record a warm, dry interglacial climate and a landscape that was largely unforested (Heusser, 1981). Buried soils associated with the intertill sediments may record all or part of interstades or interglaciations when depositional activity was restricted and relative landscape stability promoted soil formation. In some instances, the upper parts of interstadial or interglacial weathering profiles may have been largely removed during subsequent ice advances. No radiometric dates are available for sediments between the Caracol and Rio Llico Drifts or between the Rio Llico and Santa Mar-la Drifts; however, because dates for organic matter in sediments between the Llanquihue and Santa Marta Drifts are generally beyond the range of the radiocarbon method, so too would be those of any samples from the older interdrift units. The radiocarbon dates from inter-till sediments on route V-50, which have already been discussed, indicate that the basal sediments at that site are more than 57,800 ?z$g yr old. Wood from intertill sediments beneath Llanquihue Drift at Punta Penas has been dated as 42,400 t 500 yr old (QL- 1337), whereas a wood sample from Punta Pelluco, which occupies a similar stratigraphic position, is >40,000 yr old (UW-423). At the former site, which is awash at high tide, contamination of wood by marine organisms is probable.

Peat found as clasts in gravelley outwash and till of Llanquihue age and having 14C ages in the range of 32,800 + 1600 to 30,400 ? 1150 yr apparently formed during a nonglacial (interstadial?) interval prior to the Llanquihue ice advances that deposited the enclosing drift.
Llanquihue Drift

Sediments of the last glaciation were named Llanquihue Drift by Mercer (1976, p. 146) following Heussers (1974) designation of the last major expansion of the Andean glacier complex in the Lake District as the Llanquihue Glaciation. The drift is named for Lago Llanquihue which is bordered by arcuate moraine systems that delineate the lobate margin of the youngest ice cap (Fig. 2). Much of the moraine belt has been affected by land clearance, grazing, and farming, but the depositional morphology is little modified. Outwash forms broad, gently sloping plains west of the Llanquihue moraine system, and underlies terraces along principal .streams. Subdivision of Llanquihue Drift on the basis of lithologic or weathering differences was not possible, but morphostratigraphic and sedimentologic criteria permit it to be separated within the mapped area into three units of stadial rank informally designated Llanquihue I, II, and III. These are inferred to relate to at least three, or possibly four, episodes of glacier advance and (or) readVance, the ages of which are bracketed by radiocarbon dates. Llanquihue I Drift

Llanquihue I moraines lie within about 5 km of the shore of Lago Llanquihue and generally form the outermost moraine arc, although locally the drift limit apparently is marked by moraines of the subsequent Llanquihue II advance. Similar moraines built at the limit of the Seno Reloncavi glacier during the last glaciation lie about 10 km northwest of the marine embayment and are believed to correlate with the Llanquihue I moraines of the Lago Llanquihue lobe; locally they are characterized by

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kettle-and-kame topography with small lakes and bogs. Exposures in Llanquihue I moraines indicate that they typically consist of stony, compact till, the clasts of which are mostly well rounded; in places the till directly overlies proglacial outwash gravel from which the rounded clasts are presumed to have been derived. The moraines are breached in places by meltwater channels floored with outwash that grades back to the Llanquihue II and III moraines (Fig. 2). The highest Llanquihue outwash terraces west of the outer moraine belt are related to this advance. Although stratigraphic sections and relationships of the Llanquihue Drift were discussed by previous workers, no type section was described. Such a section is here designated in a road cut along route V-50 near its junction with the Pan American Highway (Fig. 2, Lot. 5). In this section, stony Llanquihue till overlies nonglacial sediments and tills of the Santa Maria and Rio Llico Drifts (Appendix Ie). In this and other exposures obvious weathering of Llanquihue till extends to a depth of a meter or less and consists mainly of yellowish-brown limonite staining and discontinuous MnO, staining on clasts and clast sockets. Some mica-rich granites are weathered through, but volcanic clasts have rinds averaging ~0.5 mm thick (Table 1). Outwash gravels show a similar degree of alteration, with weathering generally being confined to the top meter. Llanquihue I drift is not yet closely dated. Lower limiting dates are available from several sites west of Lago Llanquihue, but all are ambiguous. Wood in basal till at the type section is >4O,OOfl yr old (UW-420; Appendix Ie). Even if the till is of Llanquihue I age, which is not certain, the date tells nothing about the age of the enclosing till. Peat clasts in possible Llanquihue I till east of Frutillar Alto have finite ages of 30,700 + 1300 and 31,700 & 1000 yr (UW419 and UW-430). The till underlies silty till of Llanquihue II age that forms the land surface and was tentatively regarded in the field as Llanquihue I in age; if true, then the

dates provide lower limiting ages for the Llanquihue I advance. The wood beneath Llanquihue I till west of Puerto Varas having an age of 57,800 Zi$$ yr may indicate that the till is less than this age; but because the date should be regarded as a minimum due to possible contamination, it is not definitive. Two further dates of 29,600 +- 350 yr (QL-1338) and 37,400 ? 500 yr B.P. (QL-1339) from west of Puerto Octay for gyttja lying beneath Llanquihue gravel which in turn is overlain by Llanquihue II till may offer additional limiting ages for the Llanquihue I advance. However, it is not clear whether the gravel is of Llanquihue I or II age; if the former, then the younger date is a lower limiting age for the advance. Llanquihue I drift is older than basal organic sediments in two meltwater channels northwest of Puerto Octay that cross the Llanquihue I moraine, but although the oldest date of 18,900 + 370 yr (UW-418) is thought to provide a close minimum age for Llanquihue II drift, it does not closely limit the age of the older drift. A possible limiting date for the Llanquihue I advance in Seno Reloncavi comes from wood in nonglacial sediments at Punta Penas (42,400 & 500; QL-1337) that underlies sediments predating the Llanquihue III advance and outwash of probable Llanquihue II or I age. Wood found in icecontact stratified drift of possible Llanquihue I age at Punta Pelluco is >40,000 yr (UW-423) and >45,600 yr old. A rooted stump from beneath the Llanquihue Drift at this locality was dated 47,600 ?Eg yr. In both places, however, the stratigraphic assignment of the deposits is open to question. A minimum age for the outermost drift of the Seno Reloncavi lobe comes from basal sediments of the Alerce I bog which are 16,085 +_ 800 yr old (I-1052). However, the age of the drift under the bog is not known with certainty, and could be either Llanquihue I or Llanquihue II. Collectively these dates indicate that the Llanquihue I drift was deposited more than about 19,000 yr ago (the minimum age of

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the younger Llanquihue II drift), but the lower age limit is uncertain, On the basis of several dates, the advance could have occurred after about 30,000 yr ago, but the older suite of dates in the range of 40,000 to 58,000 yr, all of which could be regarded as only minimum dates, leaves open the possibility that the drift is much older. The weathering characteristics, which are essentially indistinguishable from those of the Llanquihue II drift, seem to favor a young age, but the occurrence under the till of well-preserved logs that are >39,000 and at least 57,800 yr old suggests an older age. The question will remain unresolved until additional stratigraphic studies and radiometric dating are undertaken. Llanquihue II Drijii

Llanquihue II moraines are best developed between the towns of Puerto Octay and Llanquihue where they are fronted by flat outwash surfaces that pass westward through breaches in the Llanquihue I moraines to form intermediate terraces along Rio Maullin and its eastern tributaries (Fig. 2). Where the ice overrode proglacial outwash, the till is stony and resembles Llanquihue I till, but in many exposures near and behind the crest of the moraine system the till consists largely of lake sediments that have been strongly sheared and folded. A typical sequence is exposed in a reference section east of Frutillar Alto (Fig. 2, Lot. 6; Appendix If). Similar deformed lake sediments are found within the Llanquihue II moraine system west of Puerto Varas and between Frutillar and Puerto Octay. Locally abundant dropstones in the laminated sediments suggest that following the Llanquihue I advance the glacier retreated into, but did not evacuate, the lake basin, and that a thick lacustrine section was deposited west of the calving ice margin. During the Llanquihue II advance, the unconsolidated lake sediments were pushed up, deformed, and deposited as part of the Llanquihue II moraines. A moraine system of the Seno Reloncavi glacier that is inferred to correlate with

Llanquihue II moraines can be traced discontinuously southwest of Puerto Montt (Fig. 2). However, unlike the silt-rich moraines of the Llanquihue lobe, this drift is mainly stony till, the clasts of which come from reworked proglacial outwash gravel. Close bracketing ages are available for the Llanquihue II drift in the Lago Llanquihue basin. A peat clast in stratified drift of probable Llanquihue II age (J. H. Mercer, pers. commun., 1980) near Los Pellines is 30,400 + 1150 yr old (I-6618) and provides a lower limiting age. Other lower limiting dates come from peat clasts in a borrow pit at Frutillar Alto where proglacial outwash underlies stony till forming the distal slope of the Llanquihue II moraine. One clast is 32,800 -t 1600 yr old (UW-425), but another has an age of only 20,100 +- 500 yr (RL-116; Mercer, 1976), indicating that the advance culminated after about 20,000 yr ago. The northernmost and higher of the two meltwater channels near Puerto Octay that drained proglacial Lago Llanquihue during early recession of the ice from the Llanquihue II moraine is floored by peat, the base of which has an age of 18,170 + 650 yr (GX-5274); a sample obtained earlier from just above the base of this same deposit was dated 17,370 + 670 yr (RL-120; Mercer, 1972, 1976). A nearby, but somewhat lower spillway is also floored by peat having a basal age of 18,900 2 370 (UW418). Outwash in which these spillway channels are cut is graded to the Llanquihue II ice limit, and the samples therefore provide minimum ages for that advance. Together, the dates suggest that the outermost Llanquihue II drift was deposited between about 20,000 and 19,000 C yr ago. No close limiting ages for the Llanquihue II drift are available from the Seno Reloncavi area. A date of 10,820 + 900 yr (I-1063) was obtained from clayey sediments about 1 m above the base of the Alerce III bog by Heusser (1966). Although the site lies in an area underlain by Llanquihue II outwash, it also is an area that has

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14,200 -t 135 yr ago, but the actual time of deposition of the till is not known. A minimum date for deglaciation following the Llanquihue III advance of the Golfo de Ancud lobe comes from Heussers (1966) Calbuco site, where basal bog sediments date to 12,165 + 900 yr ago (I-1062). Only two Llanquihue moraine systems A record of events at the time of the are recognized around the west side of Llanquihue III advance is also found along Mercer Lago Llanquihue, but a third system has the margin of Lago Llanquihue. (1976) described a succession of lake sedibeen mapped inside the Llanquihue II moraines of the Seno Reloncavi lobe (Fig. ments and associated peat in the vicinity of 2). This system is characterized by exten- Puerto Varas which he interpreted as indisive dead-ice terrain with numerous lakes cating an interval of ice withdrawal from and bogs, especially in the zone where the the end moraines west of the town during Subsequent subSeno Reloncavi and Golfo de Ancud lobes the Varas interstade. merged. Along the north shore of the Golfo mergence of peats was inferred to mark a de Ancud and on Isla Puluqui, elongate readvance of the glacier, possibly to a posidrumlinoid hills oriented northwest define tion within the lake, culminating about former ice-flow directions across the mar- 13,000 yr ago. Restudy of the Puerto Varas gin of the marine embayment. localities, together with additional 14C datStratigraphic evidence related to the ing, substantiates this series of events, but Llanquihue III advance is found in the also allows the possibility of a somewhat coastal exposure at Punta Penas where a more complex history of ice-marginal flucthick section of laminated lake sediments is tuations . exposed (Figs. 2 and 3). Radiocarbon dates A prominent terrace lying at about 74 m of a thin bed of peat at the base of the altitude in the Puerto Varas embayment lake sediments and plant fragments in a rises along the south side of the lake to clay directly above indicate that organic about 100 m at Laguna La Poza, and desedimentation took place from at least scends northward to about 70 m altitude at the outlet of the lake near Llanquihue 15,400 r+_ 400 yr ago (W-948; see also UW422: 15,220 +- 160 yr) to 14,200 + 135 yr ago (Figs. 2 and 4). Beyond the outlet, it can be (UW-421), after which time rising lake wa- followed discontinuously past Puerto Octay, rising in that direction. North of ters, presumably due to advancing ice in the Llanquihue the terrace is underlain mainly basin, terminated peat deposition and led to by ice-contact stratified drift and has the lacustrine sedimentation. Stony till of presumed Llanquihue III age unconformably appearance of a kame terrace. The southern overlies the lake sediments, which are segment, however, is different in character, strongly sheared and deformed near the for fluvial ice-contact sediments and lake contact, at the south end of the Punta Penas clays are capped by at least three laharic exposure. An additional sample of wood breccias that coarsen eastward from Puerto collected west of Puerto Montt (13,900 + Varas toward Laguna La Poza, and evi120 yr; TK-74) may come from approxidently originated at Volcan Calbuco. The mately the same stratigraphic horizon, morphology and stratigraphy indicate that while a rooted stump beneath drift of prob- when the terrace formed, the lake basin was ably Llanquihue III age at Quemchi on the filled with ice as far as the present shoreline east coast of Isla Chilot is 14,200 yr old (C. and that meltwater flowed along the ice Laugenie, pers. commun. to J. H. Mercer, front to the Rio Maullin outlet. Further1978). These relationships suggest that the more, the laharic eruptions must have ocice advance had begun by shortly after curred while the ice front still lay against been affected by late-glacial and postglacial lahars from Volcan Calbuco and it is uncertain whether the bog rests directly on outwash gravel or on a laharic breccia of younger age.

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t\

BELLA

VISTA

SOUTH SHORE WEST SHORE so 30 20 10 0 ,a za 30 40 01STtlNCE FROM Rio MAULLiN OVTLET IhI

NORM StmRE x1 60

FIG. 4. Gradients of kame- and lahar-fill terraces along the margins of Lago Llanquihue relative to the Rio Maullin outlet.

aLohar ePeot,gyttja aRhythmiteql ~Gravel 27

the margin of the basin, for otherwise the lahars would have flowed directly into the lake opposite Volcan Calbuco, rather than along the top of the terrace on the south and west sides of the basin. Therefore, kame terraces, rather than end moraines, mark the limit of the last recognized advance of the glacier in the Lago Llanquihue basin. Knowledge of the timing of the glacier fluctuations is based on interpretation of the sedimentary sequence in the Puerto Varas embayment. At five sections the laharic breccias overlie massive to finely laminated lake sediments and interbedded peat (Fig. 5; Appendix lg). The lake sediments, which reach at least as high as 15 m above the present lake level, locally contain dropstones and are inferred to represent times when the calving glacier front terminated well east of Puerto Varas although still within the lake basin. The peat layers represent times of lowered lake level that permitted terrestrial organic sediments to accumuiate at altitudes at least as low as 60 m in the Puerto Varas embayment. Mercer (1976) inferred that the peat layers seen at different outcrops lay at approximately the same altitude, but careful resurveying indicates that they lie at various altitudes and apparently formed in depressions or channels on the top of a lacustrine terrace prior to deposition of the lahars. At each locality, the peats are overlain by lake sediments, indicating that a rise of water level terminated peat formation. This rise is best explained by an advance of the glacier front that prevented drainage via the eastern

q
0 I ? 3

Covered 4km

, -I

FIG. 5. Map of Puerto Varas embayment showing location and stratigraphy of key sections, related radiocarbon dates, and altitudes of tops of peat beds (in meters).

outlet along Rio Petrohue and forced the lake to drain via the Rio Maullin outlet. The age of the uppermost peat at each locality should indicate the approximate time of submergence. If the ages plus one standard deviation are plotted as a function of altitude, the result is a sinuous curve that can be interpreted as indicating two episodes of advance separated by a brief period of falling lake level, presumably reflecting ice retreat (Fig. 6). The initial episode of advance began before 15,700 yr ago when the lake level was <60 m and culminated about 15,000-14,500 yr ago at which time the lake level exceeded 61 m in altitude. There followed an interval of ice recession when the water level fell below 61 m, thereby permitting peat to form at the Bella Vista Bluff site (~60.8 m). Rising water terminated peat growth there shortly after 13,965 -+-235 yr ago and subsequently at two higher sites during the next 800 yr. Culmination of this phase occurred sometime after about 13,145 yr ago, by which time the lake level had risen to at least 67 m altitude (the approximate altitude of the Rio

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Above

lake

level

1% yr B.P

FIG. 6. Curve showing inferred fluctuations of lake level in the Lago Llanquihue basin during late-glacial time based on altitudes of highest radiocarbon-dated peats. Dashed lines indicate la envelope.

Maullin outlet at that time), laminated lake sediments had been laid down above the peats at the railroad cut in Puerto Varas, and lahars erupted by Volcan Calbuco had been deposited across the top of the southern segment of the ice-marginal terrace. Laminated lake sediments occur between the lahars at several places, suggesting that lake level was still high in the Puerto Vat-as embayment at the time of the laharic eruptions . This postulated sequence of events rests on the assumption that both the altitudes and radiocarbon ages of the peats at the Bella Vista Bluff, Calle Santa Rosa, and Bella Vista Park sites are different. Although the altitudes, which are based on two or more levelings at each site, are considered accurate to within 20 cm, one cannot rule out possible differential postglacial deformation resulting from isostatic recovery. Furthermore, at two standard deviations, the radiocarbon dates for successive pairs of sites are indistinguishable and could be interpreted as defining a simple curve showing continuously rising lake level beginning sometime before 15,000 yr ago. Therefore the postulated regression

about 15,000 to 14,500 yr ago is of questionable validity. A date of 16,270 t 360 yr (RL-113) for wood about 2.3 m beneath the peat at the Puerto Varas railroad bridge plots well off the curve but may simply record the earlier part of the low-lake-level interval when vegetation was growing at that site. The timing of ice retreat from the kame terrace following the advance that culminated about 13,000 yr ago is not closely dated. Deglaciation apparently preceded eruption of a tephra that overlies the lahar fill and crops out discontinuously near the lake shore west of Ensenada. A similar tephra encountered in peat borings at Calbuco, Alerce, and Los Pellines by Heusser (1966) is probably the same layer and dates to about 10,000 yr ago on the basis of limiting 14C dates of 10,520 * 300 yr (I- 1050) and 9410 2 400 (I-1055) yr. Heusser and Streeter (1980) have reconstructed temperature and precipitation trends in the Lake District for the past 16,000 yr by applying regression analysis to pollen data from the Alerce I bog core. The resulting trends appear consistent with the geologic interpretations presented here. Cold, dry conditions dating to about 16,000 yr ago were followed by a brief warm interval that reverted to cooler climate culminating close to 13,000 yr ago. This was followed by a warming trend, accompanied by increase of precipitation, that reached a peak close to 11,300 yr ago. At the time of high lake level, the ponded water must have drained via the Rio Maullin outlet which by the end of the laharic eruptions lay at about 70 m altitude. During ice recession, the fill at and beyond this outlet was entrenched, thereby progressively lowering the level of the lake. After deglaciation of the Llanquihue basin, the lake surface apparently fell below its present level (51 m) and the No Maullin outlet was abandoned. Evidence in support of this inferred event is several stream valleys along the south and west shores of the

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lake that were eroded below present lake level and subsequently submerged as the lake surface rose (Fig. 2). Rise of the water level was related to construction of Calbuco and Osomo volcanoes which in postglacial time have deposited thick coalescing tills of lava, Wars, and alluvium in the vicinity of Ensenada, thereby raising the level of the lake to that of the Rio Maullin spillway. INTERPRETATIONS AND CORRELATIONS Stratigraphic Interpretations Mercer (1976) suggested that linear topographic crests in the lowland west of Lago Llanquihue represent end moraines of successive ice advances, each underlain by a different glacial drift (Fig. 7). Stratigraphic relationships documented during the present study suggest an alternative interpretation, namely, that a single drift, distinguished from older drifts by its physical attributes, lies at the surface within the area of Mercers Rio Frio, Colegual, and Casma moraine belts. Furthermore, exposures at or near the crests indicate that the surface drift generally is no more than a few meters thick and forms only a superficial veneer, rather than the bulk of the landform. One or more older drifts lie beneath the surface till

(Figs. 7 and 8). Although the belts mapped by Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer, 1976) may, in fact, be of morainal origin, they are discontinuous features and might be interpreted in several other ways: 1. They are moraines of one or both of the oldest glacial advances that were overridden during the Santa Mafia advance and mantled with till of that age. Similar compound end moraines of this type have been reported from the drift belt near the southern margin of the former Laurentide Ice Sheet (Totten, 1969). 2. The belts of higher ground are intertluves separating subparallel consequent tributaries of Rio Maullin and merely represent the dissected remnants of an extensive drift plain of Santa Maria age. 3. The position and relief of the topographic highs are unrelated or only partly related to glacier activity; instead they are surface expressions of the underlying bedrock. Bedrock is infrequently exposed in the wide lowland between Lago Llanquihue and the foothills of the Cordillera de la Costa, but the gross topography both within the coastal mountains and in the lowland suggests that the Tertiary rocks are broadly folded into a series of southeast- to eastplunging folds (Fig. 9). The northern part of Mercers Colegual moraine belt coincides approximately with the northeast limb of an

FIG. 7. Inferred stratigraphy of region between the Cordillera de la Costa and Lago Llanquihue according to interpretations of (a) Laugenie and Mercer (1973) and Mercer (1976); and (b) this study. Cd = Caracol Drift; Rd = Rio Llico Drift; Sd = Santa Marta Drift; Lid, LIId, and LIIId = Llanquihue I, II, and II drifts, respectively; ow = outwash (undifferentiated).

af -Artlf,ctal f,ll eo-Loess and tephro Lt - Llonquihue till Is- Interdraft sed,ments

TO Puerto MO,,

st- Santa Marl.2 t,,, So-S anta Marta outwasl Rt-Rto Llaco till

FIG. 8. Stratigraphic sections near intersection of Routes V-5 and V-55 west of Puerto Varas showing multiple-drift sequences in Llanquihue moraine belt and locations of radiocarbon samples.

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FIG. 9. Generalized topographic map of lowland between Cordillera de la Costa and Lago Llanquihue showing location of inferred anticlinal and synclinal fold axes and of moraine belts mapped by Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer, 1976). Contours in meters (shaded above 250 m).

inferred plunging anticline and therefore may be primarily a bedrock-controlled landform (Fig. 9). Confirmation of the inferred structure will require far more subsurface geologic data than are currently available. The broad topographic crests mapped by Laugenie and Mercer could not be traced across the Rio Maullin lowland west of Seno Reloncavi. If they are moraines, there is no obvious reason why they should disappear in that direction. However, if they are interfluve crests or bedrock-controlled ridges, they should disappear in that region of low relief. Mercers Rio Frio moraine belt also could not be traced either north or

south. On the other hand, segments of the Casma belt do appear morainal in character, especially toward the northern limit of the study area and in the region between the Llanquihue limit of the Lago Llanquihue and Seno Reloncavi ice lobes; however, exposures in both areas are few and poor. Unequivocal end moraines were seen only inside the outer limit of Llanquihue Drift. Positive linear relief features beyond that limit may be end moraines, as inferred by Laugenie and Mercer, but in most cases their internal character is unknown or poorly known and their possible origin is ambiguous and clearly warrants further detailed study.

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Regional Correlations Critical sites on Isla Chilot were revisited during the present study to provide a basis for comparing the stratigraphy there with that developed on the mainland to the north. Relative-age parameters employed in the southern Lake District were used to assess the three drifts identified by Heusser and Flint. Fuerte San Antonio drift, the oldest, was examined at the type locality and displays the same general characteristics as Rio Llico Drift, including a grayishbrown color, widespread limonite and manganese oxide coatings on clasts and clast sockets, and weathering rinds on volcanic clasts that fall within the range of those measured for Rio Llico Drift. Accordingly, these drifts, each the third oldest that was identified in its respective area, are regarded as correlative. Similarly, the Intermediate drift on Chiloe resembles, in both morphology and physical characteristics, the Santa Matia Drift farther north. Mean thickness of weathering rinds in each drift averages 2 mm, and both have a lightbrownish-gray cast imparted by limonite staining. The morphology and physical character of Llanquihue drift on Chilot match those of the type Llanquihue deposits at Lago Llanquihue, and the outer limit of the drift at the north end of the island lies exactly opposite that on the mainland, as mapped by Heusser and Flint and reconfirmed during the present investigation. The radiocarbon chronology supports the correlation, because dates of organic samples collected behind the drift limit show that some sites became ice free by about 13,000 yr ago (Heusser and Flint, 1977). The Llanquihue drift was not subdivided on Isla Chiloe, although the presence of several moraines there suggests a sequence of multiple advances like that discovered farther north. The apparent absence of a drift older than the Fuerte San Antonio on Chiloe may merely reflect the absence of critical deep exposures and the relative inaccessibility of the outer glaciated zone. Caracol Drift was

not found beyond the limit of Rio Llico Drift on the mainland, and a similar relationship may exist on Isla Chilot as well. Flint and Fidalgo (1964, 1969) described three ofllapping drifts on the Argentine side of the Andes between 3910 and 43lOS latitude which they named, from oldest to youngest, Pichileufu, El Condor, and Nahuel Huapi. They were unable to locate organic samples for radiocarbon dating, so were forced to use relative-age criteria as a basis for estimating the ages of the sediments. They concluded that the Nahuel Huapi drift, which may consist of two members, dates to the last glaciation (<25,000 yr B.P.), whereas the two older drifts, because they are little weathered, were thought to date to the late Pleistocene (>25,000 yr B.P., but falling within the Wisconsin glacial age); but they suggested the possibility that the oldest drift might be pre-Wisconsin in age. Because the climate along the east front of the Andes at this latitude is drier than on the western slopes, weathering rates probably are low, so the pre-Nahuel Huapi drifts could be older than inferred by Flint and Fidalgo. Although correlation of the Argentine sequence with that near Lago Llanquihue remains an open question, for purposes of the present discussion it is assumed that the Nahuel Huapi and Llanquihue drifts are correlative (Fig. 1). Llanquihue Dimensions Glacier System

The glacier complex that developed over the Andes during the last glaciation was largely confined to the mountains in the region north of the Lake District, but formed large Piedmont lobes within the Lake District proper, Farther south, an extensive mountain ice field existed that extended onto the continental shelf on the west. At the latitude of Lago Llanquihue and Lago Nahuel Huapi the glacier system was about 165 km wide. The ice divide probably coincided approximately with the continental divide, but the glacier system was asymmetrical, with flow lines on the dry Argen-

284

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PORTER

tine flank of the range being shorter than those on the Chilean slope (Figs. 1 and 10). Ice thickness in the Chilean sector is poorly known, in part due to the lack of detailed mapping within mountain valleys. Ice-limit data were compiled along the Llanquihue flow line as far as Lago Todos 10s Santos; through this reach the glacier surface rose in altitude from about 150 m at the terminal moraines bordering the lake to about 700 m at the Andean front and to at least 900 m in the lower basin of Lago Todos 10s Santos. Within the basin of Lago Llanquihue, which reportedly reaches depths of 500 m or more, the ice may have locally been as much as 800- 1000 m thick, and within 25 2 km of the ice divide the thickness may have ; increased to nearly 1300 m (Fig. 10). Ice was probably of comparable thickness in Seno Reloncavi where water depths locally exceed 500 m and much of the eastern third of the embayment is more than 300 m deep (Instituto Hidrografico de Chile, 1968). Snowline Depression Glaciers in this sector of the Andes are now largely confined to high volcanic cones that reach or exceed 2000 m altitude, so a substantial lowering of snowline must have taken place during the late Pleistocene to generate the extensive Llanquihue ice cover. An estimate of the magnitude of snowline depression is obtained by comparing the altitude of the present snowline with that of the reconstructed snowline of the last glacial maximum. The position of the modern snowline is estimated from the median altitude of glaciers lying on the flanks of Volcan Calbuco, Volcan Osorno, Cerro Puntiagudo, Cerro Tronador, and Cerro Bonete which fall close to a line trending east from the western shore of Lago Llanquihue to the eastern shore of Lago Nahuel Huapi (Fig. 10). Along this transect the median altitude of glaciers rises inland from about 1900 m at Volcan Calbuco to about 2250 m at Cerro Bonete, representing a slope of about 4.4 m/km. This value is close to that (4 m/km) estimated independently by Rabassa et al.

A- A 2 $

4 i 8 :: g P4 3allllllw

I g

I .P Q g

PLEISTOCENE

GLACIATION

IN CHILE

285

(1980) for the sector between 4120 and 4130. A reliable reconstruction of the Llanquihue snowline cannot yet be made, for the extent and dtitudinal distribution of the glacier system within the Andes are imperfectly known. Nevertheless, an estimate of its approximate position can be obtained. The drainage basin that contributed ice to the Llanquihue lobe can be delineated, as can the extent of the Piedmont lobe in the lowland. If the accumulation-area ratio of the glacier is assumed to have been approximately 0.65 (ratio of accumulation area to total area of glacier = 2:3), then the steady-state equilibrium line should have been situated close to the mountain front and within the lower basin of Lago Todos 10s Santos. As the reconstructed icesurface profile in this reach lies at approximately 900 m altitude, this value may approximate the equilibrium-line altitude for the glacier in this sector. An alternate approach is to assume that the median altitude of the glacier would have approximated the steady-state equilibrium-line altitude. The glacier terminated at about 150 m altitude, and the highest part of its accumulation area must have been at altitudes where glaciers exist today (ca. 2000 m). The median altitude of the glacier system would therefore have been about 925 m on the Chilean slope. Although these independent estimates are similar, they should be considered only as approximations and subject to refinement. If the Llanquihue snowline rose eastward with the same gradient as the modern snowline, an as-yet unproved assumption, then it would have involved a lowering of some 1000 m below that of the present (Fig. 10). This figure falls within the range of calculated values for snowline depression in other middle-latitude mountain ranges (e.g., Porter, 1975) and is therefore regarded as a reasonable preliminary estimate. Terminal Fluctuations Available radiocarbon dates provide partial control on the timing of marginal fluctu-

ations of the Lago Llanquihue lobe during the last glaciation. The advances occurred during an interval when glacier systems elsewhere in the world were also experiencing second-order variations. The radiocarbon dates make it possible to construct a discontinuous time series for the lobe between about 25,000 and 10,000 yr ago (Fig. 11) which shows culminations of advances being reached between about 20,000 and 19,000 yr ago and shortly after 13,008 yr ago. A possible additional readVance or stillstand about 15,000 to 14,500 yr ago is suggested by 14C-dated lake-level data. The glacial-geologic time series resembles a record of oxygen-isotope variations in the Dome C ice core from East Antarctica (Fig. 11; Lorius et al., 1979). The Dome C core was taken from a site having relatively simple glacier-flow conditions and therefore may be more reliably dated than the better-known core from Byrd StaLLANPUIHUE LOBE

DOME

ICE CORE

F---J

FIG. 11. Discontinuous time series showing terminal fluctuations of Lago Llanquihue glacier lobe based on controlling radiocarbon dates (solid circles) compared with curve of oxygen-isotope variations in Dome C ice core from East Antarctic Ice Sheet (Lorius et al., 1979, Fig. 2). Ice-core time scale estimated from simple ice-flow model assuming variable rate of accumulation; ages based on assumption of constant rate of accumulation are shown in brackets. Dashed lines show possible correlations of the two paleoclimatic

286

STEPHEN

C. PORTER

tion in West Antarctica for which several different time scales have been proposed based on different ice-flow models and involving different basic assumptions (e.g., Robin, 1977). In the Dome C record, low isotopic values representing the last glacial maximum pass upcore to higher values representing the change to postglacial climatic conditions, the transition beginning about 15,000 yr ago according to the estimated time scale. A prominent secondorder peak, regarded by Lorius et al. as one isotopic events, of several significant dates to about 13,000-12,000 yr ago (Fig. 11) and also appears in a core from Vostock Station (East Antarctica) (Robin, 1977, Fig. 15). This isotopic event may correlate with the Llanquihue III advance in Chile which culminated at about this time. The Llanquihue II advance, which culminated about 19,000-20,000 yr ago, may in turn correlate with the most negative part of the Dome C isotope curve which has an estimated age of about 18,200-20,000 yr. An intermediate peak, with an estimated age of 14,40015,000 yr, falls at the time of the postulated readvance or stillstand of the ice lobe in the Lago Llanquihue basin. Although other peaks in the isotope curve may equate with glacier advances in southern Chile, possible correlations are not as obvious because the ice-core chronology becomes less reliable with increasing depth and the Llanquihue I advance is not yet closely dated. Ice Recession The timing and character of ice recession in the Lago Llanquihue basin and the mountain source region following the Llanquihue III advance have not yet been studied in detail, but certain inferences can

be made. With a change from dominantly positive to dominantly negative mass balance at the end of the final ice advance, the glacier terminus is presumed to have pulled back from the western shore of the lake and begun to calve. Calving may have been slow at fust due to shallow water depths, but as the receding front reached deeper water, the calving rate may have increased. Although Lago Llanquihue and Lago Todos 10s Santos are now separated by a threshold of lavas and volcanic detritus from Osomo and Calbuco volcanoes, the fill is partly postglacial, so the two basins may not have been as widely separated during deglaciation. Once the glacier became ungrounded from the western shore of Lago Todos 10s Santos, further terminal recession would have carried the front far back into the interior of the range. Calving may have been enhanced by isostatic depression, which along the flow line could have amounted to 150 m or more. If deglaciation of the main trough took place before substantial isostatic recovery occurred, then a terminal retreat of some 80 to 90 km in water depths that substantially exceeded those of the present lake basins might have encompassed only a brief time interval. A comparable recession is likely to have occurred along the Seno Reloncavi flow line, where a long fjord-like arm of the sea extends inland to the region southeast of Volcan Calbuco (Fig. 1). Such rapid ice retreat would have been analogous to that documented at Glacier Bay, Alaska, since the end of the 18th century (Field, 1976) and would have led to extensive breakup of the Andean glacier system at this latitude, possibly well before the end of the Pleistocene Epoch.

PLEISTOCENE

GLACIATION

IN CHILE

287 DRIFT*
Thickness (cm) 130
loo

APPENDIX
Unit I 2
Rio Llico 3 Caracol Drift

la: TYPE SECTION

Description

OF CARACOL

Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/4) Colluvium, stony, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (1OYR
514)

Till, stony, olive-brown

Dri

(2.5YR 4/4)

170

Till, stony with Iissile, sandy matrix; dusky-red (1OR 312) to yellowish-orange (IOYR 6/6); locally dense concentrations of MnO, f&ing voids and clast sockets; pebbles and small cobbles rotted to center; mean rind thickness on larger clasts = 17 mm; clasts reach diameter of 25 cm and include volcanic and granitic lithologies, but many unidentifiable due to intensity of weathering

340 t

Base of borrow pit * Borrow pit at 225 m altitude on Route V-610 just west of Caracol and 2.8 km south of junction V-610 and V-510 on Cordillera de Zarao 1:50,000 scale topographic map. of Routes

APPENDIX
Unit
Rio Llico 1 Drif

lb. TYPE SECTION

Description

OF Rio LLICO DRIFT*

Thickness (cm)

Till, stony, moderate-yellowish-gray (5Y 7/4) to brownishgray (5YR 4/l); strong horizontal fissility; most clasts are pebbles and cobbles, but some boulders (to 25cm diameter); weathering variable depending on compactness and permeability; clast sockets and clast surfaces coated with limonite; MnO* mottling and veins throughout unit; small pebbles (~2 cm) commonly weathered through, but large clasts may have fresh, unweathered cores; mean rind thickness in upper 1.5 m = 9.4 mm, but decreases to 3.8 mm at base of unit; clasts include basalt, andesite, rhyolite, porphyry, and granite; rinds best developed on aphanitic andesite and basalt; granite clasts weathered to core; local lenses of sandy gravel are dark-yellowish-orange (1OYR 6/6) with matrix weathered to clay Silt, hard, laminated, dark-yellowish-brown (1OYR 4/2); 7-cm layer of pebbly sand in middle; small pellets of MnO*, probably weathered pebbles, scattered in sand Till, stony, like Unit 1; largest boulder 25 x 80 cm in longest dimensions; many clasts with IO-mm rinds (mean thickness = 10.1 mm near top of unit)

300 30 300 +

Base of borrow pit * Borrow pit at 140 m altitude on north side of Route V-440 about 100 m west of Route V-46 and 1.2 km northwest of Rio Llico on Cordillera de Zarao 1:50,000 scale topographic map.

APPENDIX
Unit 1 2 3 4
Santa 5 Manh Drifr

Ic: TYPE SECTION OF SANTA MARlA DRIFT*

Description Thickness (cm)

Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/4), with two dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 4/4) buried B soil horizons Colluvium, gravelly, with loamy matrix Sand, olive-brown (2SY 414) Silt and sand, laminated; dark-olive-brown (2SY 3/4) Till, compact, very stony; generally massive but locally fissile; light-olive-gray (5Y 6/l), weathering to yellowishbrown (IOYR 6/4); clasts mainly cobbles and pebbles, but scattered boulders to 80-cm diameter; clasts largely volcanic, with granite <lo%; yellowish-orange (IOYR S/6) to dark-yellowish-orange (10YR 6/6) limonite fills fissile partings and coats clasts and clast sockets; weathering rinds on volcanic clasts average 1.9 mm thick
sediments

300 10 o- 10 o- 10

200

Intertill

Silt, laminated, dusky-yellowish-brown (IOYR 2/2) and grayish-orange (IOYR 714) to dark-yellowish-orange (1OYR 6/6); mottled with MnO*
Drift (?)

25 70 O-200 +

Rio Llico 7

8 Base of exposure

Clay, pebbly, dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 4/2); clasts weathered to core; mottled with MnO, Gravel, mostly pebbles and small cobbles of volcanic lithologies; weathering rinds 2-5 mm thick

* Roadcut at 100-m altitude on north side Route V-50 directly beneath San Ambrosio 1:50,000 scale topographic map.

cemetery on Tepual

APPENDIX

Id: REFERENCE

SECTION OF PRE-LLANQUIHUE, INTERDRIFT SEDIMENTS

Description

POST-SANTA

MARiA

Unit 1
Llanquihue Drift

Thickness (cm) (IOYR 5/6) 100 200

Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown Till, stony, dark-yellowish-brown

sediments

2
Interdrift

(1OYR 4J2)

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IO
Santa Maria Drift

Silty clay, mottled dark-yellowish brown (IOYR 3/2) to moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/4) Cobble-pebble gravel, light-brown (5YR 5/6) Organic silts, dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 3/2), sandy and pebbly near base Peat, dark-brown (IOYR 3/3); wood in unit dates 57,800 Z&9 yr (QL-1336) Silt, possibly tephra, dark-yellowish-orange (IOYR 6/6) Sandy clayey silt, probably loess; mottled dark yellowish brown (IOYR 4/2) to light brown (5YR 5/6) Silt, possibly tephra, dark-yellowish-orange (IOYR 6/6); MnO* concentrations near base Sandy, clayey silt, like Unit 7; moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/4) Till, stony; contains granite boulders as large as 130 cm

30 10 140 10 10 70 5 65 130 +

11 Base of exposure

* Section measured on south side of Route V-50 about 50 m west of junction with Route 5. Units pinch and swell laterally, and vary considerably in thickness. Tepual 1:50,000 scale topographic map. 288

PLEISTOCENE

GLACIATION

IN

CHILE

289

APPENDIX
Unit I

le: TYPE SECTION

Description

OF LLANQUIHUE

DRIFT
Thickness km)

Loess, loamy, with scattered pebbles; moderate-yellowishbrown (IOYR 5/6); stony in lower part; probably contains admixed tephra; depth of solum = 75 cm
Driff

100

Llanquihue

Till, compact, stony, with sandy silty matrix; dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 4/2); pronounced horizontal fissility; 78% of clasts are volcanic rocks (andesite, basalt, dacite), the remainder being granite and gneiss; largest boulder 60cm diameter; clasts mostly rounded to subrounded, and probably are reworked outwash gravel; weathering rinds on volcanic clasts are ~0.5 mm thick; limonite stain on base of clasts and clast sockets; discontinuous MnOZ staining on some clasts; a few local lenses of cross-stratitied sand and silt; unit is probably a meltout till Till, massive, stony, compact; dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 6/2); higher percentage of cobbles and boulders than in Unit 2; largest boulder 150 cm in diameter; rare limonite and MnO* staining on undersides of some clasts; rinds on volcanic clasts mostly CO.5 mm; fissility not as pronounced as in Unit 2; large number of wood fragments in basal 30 cm (>40,000 yr B.P.; UW-420) probably derived from gyttja of underlying unit; this unit interpreted as a basal till
sediments

170

250 30 70

Intertill

4 5
Santa Maria Drift

Peat and organic silts with wood fragments Silt, probably mostly weathered tephra Till, compact, stony; hard, sandy matrix; grayish-brown (2.5Y 5/2); clasts mainly cobbles, but some boulders up to 80-cm diameter; limonite encrusts clasts and clast sockets, and tills voids in matrix; discontinuous MnO* staining; rinds on volcanic clasts 2-4 mm thick
Drif

220

Rio Llico

Till, stony, olive-brown (2.5Y 4/4); matrix weathered to clay and mottled with MnO*; unit typically weathers flush to face of exposure; rinds on volcanic clasts average 10 mm and tend to spall off when stones are removed from exposure; clasts and clast sockets coasted with MnQ

loo t

Base of exposure * Roadcut along south side of Route V-50 300 m east of junction Tepual 1:50,000 scale topographic map. with Pan American Highway (Route 5).

290

STEPHEN

C. PORTER

APPENDIX If: REFERENCE

Unit
1 2 Lianquihue II Drift

SECTION OF LLANQUIHUE

II DRIFT
Thickness (cm) 70 25

Description Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 514) Colluvium, stony, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/6) Lacustrine sand, silt, and clay; sheared and locally folded; contains dropstones up to 20-cm diameter (to 50 cm in nearby sections); sediments dip vertically in outcrops upslope; medium-gray (N5) weathering to light-gray (N7), and to light-brown (5YR 5/6) or moderate-yellowishbrown (IOYR 5/4) along shear surfaces Pebble-cobble gravel, yellowish-orange (IOYR 8/6); unit is discontinuous; contains one boulder 1.5 m in diameter
I Drifr

200 o-100

4
Llanquihue

6 Base of exposure,

Till, hard, compact, stony, olive-gray (5Y 4/l); contains granite boulders to 2-m diameter; clasts of dark-brown peat up to 30 x 250 cm in size date 30,700 f 1300 (UW-419), and 31,700 2 1000 (UW-430) yr B.P. Pebble-cobble gravel, cross-stratified, dark-yellowishbrown (IOYR 4/2); moderately well sorted

40-200 300 +

* Roadcut at about 125 m altitude on south side of Route V-25 0.9 km west of Lago Llanquihue 1:50,000 scale topographic map.

on Frutillar

APPENDIX lg: REFERENCE SECTION OF LLANQUIHUE 111 SEDIMENTS AT BELLA VISTA PARK, PUERTO VARAS
Unit 1 2 Description Loess, loamy, dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 4/4) Tephra, sandy, light-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/7); probably same unit dated ca. 10,000 yr B.P. in nearby bogs by Heusser (1966)
sediments and interstratijied lahars

Thickness km) 150-200 15 170 O-90 190 110

Llanquihue

3 4 5 6 7

8
9 10

Lahar, sandy; crude vertical grading Lahar, sandy; pebbles and cobbles at base; erosional channels s2-m deep in unit 5 mostly tilled by this lahar Lahar, sandy, pebbly; contains medium-gray pumice lapilli, especially near base; fine silt loam at top oxidized moderate yellowish brown (IOYR 5/4) Lahar, sandy, pebbly; like unit 5 Rhythmites, laminated, medium- to light-gray (NS-N7); ripples and locally cross-stratified; dark-gray (N3) crossstratified coarse sand locally appears at base (at RR section (Fig. 8) a lens of pebble-cobble gravel ~1 m thick at this level) Lahar, sandy, dark-gray (N4); angular andesite clasts, especially near base, to 20 cm in diameter; vertically graded, with well-sorted, medium-coarse sand at top Rhythmites, even-laminated, light- to dark-gray (N3-N7) Peat and peaty silts; very dusky red purple (5RP 212); abrupt contact at top, gradational at base; peat dated at 15,715 -C

85- 140 200-300 60- 150

PLEISTOCENE

GLACIATION

IN CHILE

291

APPENDIX
Unit

Ig-Continued
Thickness (cm) 4-20 100 350 +

Description 440 yr B.P. (GX-5275) at park, 13,965 + 235 (UW-481) at bluff to south Sand, medium to coarse, dark-gray (N3) Rhythmites, even-laminated; light- to dark-gray (N3-N7); unit contains dropstones at railroad section

11 12

Base of exposure (strongly deformed lake sediments are visible to east in shallow water (~50 cm deep) near margin of Lago Llanquihue) * Upper part of section exposed in main part of Bella Vista Park above and to south of monument: lower part of section (below unit 10) measured in bluff about 75 m farther south. Puerto Montt 1:50,000 scale topographic map.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant EAR7602655 to New York University. I am indebted to Carlos Mordojovich K. and the Empresa National de1 Petroleo (ENAP) for arranging logistic support in Chile. Calvin J. Heusser, Linda E. Heusser, Mario Marino P., and Anne H. Porter aided in the collection and evaluation of geologic data. Eleven new 14Cdates were provided by Arthur W. Fairhall and four by Minze Stuiver, both of the University of Washington. George Kukla (Columbia University) and Ronald T. Merrill (University of Washington) conducted the paleomagnetic analyses of intertill silt samples. This report was completed while I was a Visiting Scholar at Scott Polar Research Institute and a Visiting Fellow in Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. Chalmers M. Clapperton, Calvin J. Heusser, and John H. Mercer kindly reviewed a draft of this paper and provided helpful recommendations.

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Flint, R. F.. and Fidalgo, F. (1964). Glacial geology of the east flank of the Argentine Andes between latitude 3YlO S and latitude 4120 S. Geological Society of America. Bulletin 75, 335-352. Flint, R. F., and Fidalgo, F. (1%9). Glacial drift in the eastern Argentine Andes between latitude 41lO S and latitude 43lO S. Geological Society of America. Bulletin 80, 1043-1052. Heusser, C. J. (1960). Late Pleistocene environments of the Laguna de San Rafael area, Chile. Geographical Review SO, X5-577. Heusser, C. J. (1966). Late Pleistocene pollen diagrams from the province of Llanquihue, southern Chile. American Philosophical Society. Proceedings 110, 269-305. Heusser, C. J. (1972a). On the occurrence of Lycopodium fuegianum during late Pleistocene interstades in the Province of Osorno, Chile. Torre~ Botanical Club Bulletin 99, 178- 184. Heusser, C. J. (1972b). An additional postglacial pollen diagram from Patagonia Occidental. Pollen ct spores 14, 157-167. Heusser, C. J. (1974). Vegetation and climate of the southern Chilean Lake District during and since the last interglaciation. Quaternary Research 4, 290-315. Heusser, C. J. (1976). Palynology and depositional environment of the Rio Ignao nonglacial deposit. Province of Valdivia, Chile. Quaternary Research 6. 273-279. Heusser, C. J. (1981). Palynology of the last interglacial-glacial cycle in midlatitudes of southern Chile. Quaternary Research 16, 293-321. Heusser, C. J., and Flint, R. F. (1977). Quatemary glaciations and environments of northern Isla Chiloe, Chile. Geology 5, 305-308. Heusser, C. J., and Streeter, S. S. (1980). A temperature and precipitation record of the past 16,000 years in southern Chile. Science 210, 1345- 1347. Instituto Hidrografico de Chile (1968). Chart 707 (Puerto Montt CI Isla Tat), 1:50,000.

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C. PORTER Late Cenozoic Glacial Ages (K. K. Turekian, Ed.), pp. 307-329. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Conn. Porter, S. C. (1975). Equilibrium-line altitudes of late Quaternary glaciers in the Southern Alps, New Zealand. Quaternary Research 5, 27-47. Porter, S. C. (1980). Rapid deglaciatton of alpine regions at the end of the last glaciation. In Abstracts and Program, Sixth Biennial Meeting, American Quaternary Association, p. 157. Rabassa, J., Rubulis, S., and Brandini, A. (1980). East-west and north-south snowline gradients in the northern Patagonian Andes, Argentina. In World Glacier Inventory. IAHS-AISH Publication 126, pp. l-10. Robin, G. de Q. (1977). Ice cores and climatic change.
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Ives, P. C., Levin, B., Robinson, R. D., and Rubin, M. (1964). U.S. Geological Survey radiocarbon dates VIII. Radiocarbon 6, 37-76. Kobayashi, H., Hirose, T., Sugino, M., and Watanabe, N. (1974). University of Tokyo radiocarbon measurements V. Radiocarbon 16, 381-387. Laugenie, C. A., and Mercer, J. H. (1973). Southern Chile: A chronology of the last glaciation. In IX INQUA Congress Abstracts, Christchurch, N.Z., pp. 202-203. Lorius, C., Merlivat, L., Jouzel, J., and Pourchet, M. (1979). A 30,000-yr isotope climatic record from Antarctic ice. Narure (London) 280, 644-648. Mercer, J. H. (1972). Chilean glacial chronology 20,000 to 11,000 Carbon-14 years ago: Some global comparisons. Science 176, 1118- 1120. Mercer, J. H. 1976. Glacial history of southernmost South America. Quaternary Research 6, 125- 166. Porter, S. C. (1971). Fluctuations of late Pleistocene alpine glaciers in western North America. In The

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Totten, S. M. (1969). Overridden recessional moraines of north-central Ohio. Geo/ogica/ Society of America. Bulletin 80, 1931- 1946.