Trends in late Holocene Climate Change in Central Mexico

Summary

Lakes in central Mexico are ideal sites for the study of late Holocene climatic trends. These lakes have high sedimentation rates and their sediments are rich in pollen, diatoms and other biological remains that allow reconstructions of past environmental, ecological and climatic changes. In these lakes, precipitation, concentrated during the summer months, is frequently more important than temperature as a long-term environmental control; however, both variables are connected by climatic mechanisms. We present a review of late Holocene lake records from central Mexico that show climatic variability, its impact on tropical ecosystems and document human impact in this culturally rich region. In these records the main climatic trends that can be identified are: 1) a trend to dry conditions during the Classic, particularly the late Classic (AD 600 to 900), 2) Relatively moist conditions during the late Post-Classic (Ad 1200-1400) and 3) colder Little Ice Age, with two dry phases that follow the Spörer and Mounder solar minima (1400 - 1560 and 1650 - 1750).

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• El hombre en la cuenca del rio Lerma. Pasado y presente

Keywords

Spatial Coverage