Antonio Maldonado

• PhD
• Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas University of La Serena

Deserts are unique ecosystems, characterized by extreme conditions and singular biodiversity. The Atacama Desert, South America, is one of the harshest environments on Earth. Rodent middens are valuable archives of desert ecosystems, offering insights into desert ecosystems worldwide. In the last years, rodent middens have been recognized as excell...

Archaeological dates compilation for Central Chile (Valparaíso - Maule Region)

Subtropical zones are crucial for understanding climate dynamics, as they strongly control the subtropical anticyclone system and serve as a bridge between the tropical and temperate regions of the planet. Therefore, understanding the long‐term dynamics of these areas is vital on a hemispheric scale. A continuous late Pleistocene climate record bas...

This study used sedimentary archives obtained from a high-standing terrace along the coastal zone of the Coquimbo region to reconstruct past extreme events (floods and tsunamis). Using sedimentological (grain size), geochemical (XRF), and geochronological (¹⁴C and ¹³⁷Cs) analyses, we identified nine flood deposits (1957, 1965, 1984, 1987, 1991, 199...

The most recent IPCC report indicated that the Subtropical Andes (32°–35° S) are one of the world areas undergoing a strong tendency towards more arid conditions due to current climate change. The winter precipitation that falls on the Andes, related to the Southern Westerlies System (SWS), is the main source of water for central Chile and west cen...

We examine the long-term changes in vegetation structure and wildfires regimes at the westernmost part of the Cisnes river basin (Aysén region) in the Chilean Patagonia (44°S, 72°W). Previous studies within this basin have accounted for millennial shifts in glacier, vegetation and fire dynamics at its middle and easternmost portions. Here, we prese...

Holocene environmental changes in Patagonia were mostly shaped by fluctuating ice cover recession. Consequently, environmental reconstructions are largely based on discontinuous moraine chronologies from valley deposits. Here, we present a 3 m long continuous sediment record recovered from Laguna Meseta (LME), a lake located on Meseta Chile Chico....

RESUMEN Se discute críticamente la relación directa y absoluta que se ha establecido en los An-des entre desarrollo agrohidráulico, complejidad social y poder centralizado, a partir del levantamiento de evidencias arqueológicas y etnográficas relacionadas con los acondi-cionamientos agrícolas e hidráulicos que se preservan en Pampa Iluga (Tarapacá,...

Understanding socio-ecological systems over the long term can shed light on past adaptive strategies in environmentally sensitive regions. Central Chile is an emblematic case study for mediterranean ecosystems, where a progressive and sustained population increase began approximately 2000 years ago alongside significant landscape changes. In this w...

Proxy records have long documented the existence of multicentury hydroclimate anomalies in the Altiplano of South America. However, the causes and mechanisms of these events are still largely unknown. Here we present the results of an innovative climate modelling experiment that explores the oceanic drivers and atmospheric mechanisms conducive to l...

Mountain ecosystems located in the Andes cordillera of central Chile (29–35°S) have been strongly affected by the ongoing Mega Drought since 2010, impacting the snow cover, the surficial water resources (and thereby water storage), as well as the mountain biota and ecosystem services. Paleoenvironmental records in this part of the semiarid Andes ar...

The Atacama Desert in Chile is known to be one of the driest deserts on Earth, with dominating hyperaridity at least since the Miocene. During recent times, however, especially the southern part of the Atacama repeatedly experienced exceptional precipitation events, like in 2015 and 2017. Locally, these events with high rainfall rates caused catast...

RESUMEN Se discute críticamente la relación directa y absoluta que se ha establecido en los An-des entre desarrollo agrohidráulico, complejidad social y poder centralizado, a partir del levantamiento de evidencias arqueológicas y etnográficas relacionadas con los acondi-cionamientos agrícolas e hidráulicos que se preservan en Pampa Iluga (Tarapacá,...

Holocene environmental changes in Patagonia were mostly shaped by unsteady ice-cover recession. Consequently, environmental reconstructions are largely based on discontinuous moraine chronologies from valley deposits. Here, we present a 3 m-long continuous sediment record recovered from Laguna Meseta (LME), a lake located on Meseta Chile Chico. Its...

Resumen El área de Laguna del Diamante (3.000 m snm) tiene una oferta de recursos atractiva para las sociedades humanas durante los últimos 2.000 años. Este trabajo evalúa la variable intensidad en la ocupación humana en Laguna del Diamante en cinco segmentos temporales entre 2030 y 440 años cal aP. Estos segmentos se modelaron a partir de 14 fecha...

This article presents the results of excavations at the Infieles-1 site, located at 3529 m. a.s.l. in the Salar de Infieles (25 S), highlands of the Chile's southern Puna ecoregion. An initial human occupation was discovered next to an ignimbrite rock-shelter at a depth of 70e80 cm on top of a volcanic ash deposit, dated between 10,798 and 12,440 c...

This article presents the results of the interdisciplinary investigation in Quebrada Pedernales (26°S-69°W, Chile 3456 masl), in the highlands of northern Chile. The excavations and surveys carried out revealed a great diversity of pre-Hispanic evidence in an area of the Andes that has been little investigated. This evidence allowed us to reconstru...

The Late-Holocene history of hydroclimatic variability in the Atacama Desert offers insights into the effects of precipitation and humans on ecosystems in one of the most extremely arid regions of the world. However, understanding the effects of regional precipitation variability in relation to local ecological stressors remains to be fully resolve...

Near-surface geophysical techniques are useful for the characterization of archaeological areas because of their ability to rapidly cover wide extensions and obtain high-resolution data to identify the location for archaeological excavations. However, in hyperarid environments usual geophysical techniques may fail to obtain the expected results due...

The Anthropocene is an uneven phenomenon. Accelerated shifts in the functioning of the Earth System are mainly driven by the production and consumption of wealthy economies. Social, environmental and health costs of such industrialization, however, bear on low-income communities inhabiting severely degraded territories by polluting activities (i.e....

Deglaciation modeling of the Patagonian Ice Field since the Last Glacial Maximum has been a topic of intensive research in Central West Patagonia (44°–49°S). However, the chronology of deglaciation onset, acceleration, and the subsequent thinning and recession of the different ice lobes as well as the timing and extension of large proglacial system...

This study examines metal concentrations in sediments under the influence of the oxygen minimum zone of the SE-Pacific and the anthropogenic impact following industrialization in Caldera Bay (27° S), which is one of the main ore-loading ports in operation from 1849. ²¹⁰Pb and the CRS dating method were employed to estimate the age in two sediment c...

The coast of Chile has been exposed to marine submersion events from storm surges, tsunamis and flooding due to heavy rains. We present evidence of these events using sedimentary records that cover the last 1000 years in the Pachingo wetland. Two sediment cores were analyzed for granulometry, XRF, pollen, diatoms and TOC. Three extreme events produ...

The effects of climate change may be more evident in mountainous areas. In these areas, an increase in temperature and a decrease in precipitation can reduce the amount of snow, which represents a source of water for human consumption and vegetation. To analyze the effects of climate change on vegetation, it is possible to examine the climate–veget...

We present new evidence obtained in archaeological surveys in Quebrada Pedernales (3356 masl), in the southern puna of Chile (26°S; 69°W). A series of surface findings such as large lanceolate stemmed projectile points and geometric stones, together with chronostratigraphic and artifactual data recovered in excavations at the Pedernales-38 site, su...

Plain Language Summary Fossilized rodent middens are able to preserve plant remains for millennia, representing glimpses of ancient vegetation and climates. Pollen recovered from 31 fossil middens in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile allowed us to reconstruct vegetation and rainfall changes over the most recent millennium. Upslope shifts of low...

Results of the zooarchaeological analysis of the Pedernales-1 site are presented. The site is located at 3.379 m.a.s.l. in the Pedernales salt flat (Atacama Region, Chile), dated in 2,964-3,206 cal. years BP for the earliest component and 539-634 cal. years. BP for the later component. The faunistic record is mainly composed by remains of vicuñas (...

Late Quaternary precipitation dynamics in the central Andes have been linked to both high- and low-latitude atmospheric teleconnections. We use present-day relationships between fecal pellet diameters from ashy chinchilla rats (Abrocoma cinerea) and mean annual rainfall to reconstruct the timing and magnitude of pluvials (wet episodes) spanning the...

In the Central Atacama Desert (22-24 S; henceforth CAD), around 3700 cal yrs BP, human economies begin to transition from relying mostly on hunting and gathering to increasingly incorporating horticulture and pastoralism became more intensive during the Late Intermediate Period (LIP; beginning at ca. 1050 cal yrs BP/900 AD). In this extreme environ...

The results of archaeological surface surveys carried out on Infieles (25°58’39’S 69°03’25’’W) and Pedernales (26°13’59’’S-69°07’16’’W) salt flats, Atacama, Chile, located at an altitude from 3000 to 4100 masl are presented. Both surveys were carried out in areas that directly connect the Arid North with the Semiarid. The surveys are part of a proj...

Coastal landscapes of the Pacific coast of South America are regarded as bountiful biomes, as they are zones on the fringes of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems. Cumulative research shows an almost uninterrupted presence of mobile hunter-fisher-gatherer communities throughout the Holocene in North-Central Chile (29°–32° S). However, local-scale...

The scarcity of middle Holocene radiocarbon dates in different regions of the Andes has been interpreted as an indicator of discontinuity in human occupations in response to adverse environmental conditions due to marked aridity. In the subtropical Andes of north-central Chile and adjacent areas, this paucity has been detected in radiocarbon ages b...

Late Pleistocene-Holocene history of human and environment relationships in the Atacam Desert core thought for teenagers and young adults. Simple language, full of illustrations and guided by two amazing hosts, Gecko and Zöe.

The impact of future climate change on the native vegetation of subtropical Andes is relatively unknown. The semiarid region of north-central Chile (30–34°S) has experienced a mega-drought over the last decade, with a partial recovery during the 2015 El Niño year. To characterize the vegetation response to climate variability, we analyzed the seaso...

The earliest known population of the Atacama Desert coincided with the Central Andean Pluvial Event II (CAPE II), an extensive pluvial event recorded during the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene (13,800–8,500 cal years BP). A large number of archaeological sites from this period have been found along the borders of the Imilac and Punta Negra (24.5°S)...

This review paper compiles research related to debris flows and hyperconcentrated flows in the central Andes (30°-33° S), updating the knowledge of these phenomena in this semiarid region. Continuous records of these phenomena are lacking through the Andean region; intense pre-cipitations, sudden snowmelt, increased temperatures on high relief moun...

In one of the most arid places on Earth, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile (18–21° S), pre‐Hispanic cultures developed different types of tillage and irrigation systems in the Guatacondo Ravine. Their agrarian production, based on a summer precipitation regime, enabled the formative villages of Ramaditas (2300–2600 years BP) and Guatacondo (2400...

High altitude, Andean wetlands, or bofedales as they are locally known, are important regulators of the local water balance and also play a key role in sustaining biodiversity. Nevertheless, there is almost no information regarding their hydrogeological structure and functioning. This paper aims to characterize the thickness of the alluvial filling...

Se presenta el sitio Iluga Túmulos de la región de Tarapacá, Chile. El sitio se localiza en Pampa Iluga, al sur del Cerro Unitas donde se dispone el geoglifo Gigante de Tarapacá y al oeste de la quebrada de Tarapacá. Se asocia a miles de hectáreas de campos de cultivo y sistemas de irrigación, vinculados a un notable complejo de túmulos y arquitect...

The aim of this project was to establish past variations in the main oceanographic and climatic features of a transitional semiarid ecosystem on the north-central Chilean coast. We analyzed recent sedimentary records retrieved from two bays, Guanaqueros and Tongoy (30∘ S), for geochemical and biological analyses, including the following: sensitive...

Estimating total plant diversity in extreme or hyperarid environments can be challenging, as adaptations to pronounced climate variability include evading prolonged stress periods through seeds or specialized underground organs. Short‐term surveys of these ecosystems are thus likely poor estimators of actual diversity. Here we develop a multimethod...

The South American summer monsoon (SASM) is the most important climate system of tropical South America, transporting moisture from the tropical Atlantic Ocean to the core of the continent during the austral summer. Recent paleoclimate studies suggest that past variability of the SASM has been more heterogenous in space and time than previously tho...

We explored the site context of a late Holocene shell midden on the coast of Los Vilos in north-central Chile (31°51′ S, South America) to better understand the spatial organization of short-term, small-sized hunter-gatherer campsites. The Dunas de Agua Amarilla (LV 007) site comprises 14 separate surf clam refuse deposits. Extensive stratigraphic...

Late Quaternary volcanic basins are active landscapes from which detailed archives of past climate and seismic and volcanic activity can be obtained. A multidisciplinary study performed on a transect of sediment cores was used to reconstruct the depositional evolution of the high-elevation Laguna del Maule (LdM) (36∘ S, 2180 m a.s.l., Chilean Andes...

High-altitude peatlands in the Andes, i.e., bofedales, play an essential role in alpine ecosystems, regulating the local water balance and supporting biodiversity. This is particularly true in semiarid Chile, where bofedales develop near the altitudinal and hydrological limits of plant life. The subterranean geometry and stratigraphy of one peatlan...

Sites in north-central Chile have yielded late-Pleistocene megafauna bone remains, occasionally associated with human-made artifacts. However, little is known about the depositional characteristics, the conditions that allow their preservation, and how to identify recurrences facilitating their discovery. This work presents contextual and stratigra...

Plain Language Summary Stable oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸Ocell) that are incorporated in cellulose of organic matter of plants accumulated by cushion peatlands on the Puna Plateau are a useful tool to investigate past environmental changes in the southern central Andes. Contemporaneous changes in the composition of δ¹⁸Ocell became evident in the high‐elev...

Abstract. Late Quaternary volcanic basins are active landscapes from which detailed archives of past climate, seismic and volcanic activity can be obtained. A multidisciplinary study performed on a transect of sediment cores was used to reconstruct the depositional evolution of the high-elevation Laguna del Maule (LdM) (36° S, 2180 m asl, Chilean A...

En este trabajo se describen las relaciones que las sociedades humanas establecieron con su entorno durante el período Formativo (3000-1000 aP) en la Pampa del Tamarugal, Desierto de Atacama, desde una perspectiva teórico-metodológica que pone el acento en el potencial del registro ecofactual. Éste, al mediar entre lo cultural y lo ambiental, propo...

RESUMEN Los registros polínicos superficiales pueden ser una herramienta para caracterizar la vegetación de una determinada zona y, al igual que los registros de vegetación establecida, son aplicables para clasificar formaciones vegetales y determinar su diversidad. Aunque algunos estudios muestran la relación polen-vegetación en Chile, pocos han e...

The superficial pollen records are tools for the vegetal reconstruction of a certain area. Like a plant record, pollen can be used to classify plant formations and determine plant diversity. Although some studies show the relationship between pollen and vegetation in Chile, few have explored the pollen diversity in an altitudinal gradient and its s...

Modern precipitation anomalies in the Altiplano, South America, are closely linked to the strength of the South American summer monsoon (SASM), which is influenced by large-scale climate features sourced in the tropics such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, the timing, direction, and spat...

Due to their location at the southern margin of the Arid Diagonal, only a limited number of archives in the western Central Andes of Chile is capable for paleoclimate investigations. High-altitude cushion peatlands are potentially suitable to fill this gap despite their heterogenic stratigraphies representing past geomorphodynamics, especially for...

The deep-time dynamics of coupled socio-ecological systems at different spatial scales is viewed as a key framework to understand trends and mechanisms that have led to the Anthropocene. By integrating archeological and paleoenvironmental records, we test the hypothesis that Chilean societies progressively escalated their capacity to shape national...

A Late Holocene paleoenvironmental record was obtained from the Lagunillas cushion peatland (LP, 27°120S, 69°170W), located in the dry Puna of the western Central Andes. Ten radiocarbon dates build the chronology for the last 1800 cal a BP. Analyses of stable isotopes on cellulose (d18Ocell, d13Ccell) and geochemical proxies on organic matter (d13C...

Modern precipitation anomalies in the Altiplano region of South America are closely linked to the strength of the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM) which is influenced by large-scales climate components sourced in the tropics such as latitudinal shifts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However,...

The European conquest of the New World produced major socio-environmental reorganization in the Americas, but for many specific regions and ecosystems, we still do not understand how these changes occurred within a broader temporal framework. In this paper, we reconstruct the long-term environmental and vegetation changes experienced by high-altitu...

Two correlated tephra deposits, each 13 cm thick in the Aisén region of southern Chile, one in a lacustrine sediment core from the Mallín el Toqui (MET) peat bog and another from a subaerial soil exposure ~10 km to the west in the Río Maniguales (RM) valley, preserve evidence for a large explosive eruption of Mentolat volcano, one of the five strat...

Los ecosistemas litorales se encuentran en un delicado equilibrio entre la influencia marina y terrestre, albergan una alta biodiversidad y ejercen un importante control sobre los ciclos y flujos biogeoquímicos entre los continentes y los océanos. Las proyecciones de cambio climático para los próximos 100 años señalan a estos ambientes como altamen...

The procurement of high-quality lithic resources is amongst the most indicative processes of decision-making in the archaeology of early human groups peopling the Americas. Directly dated deposits from quarry workshops have been absent of the late Pleistocene record of South America. We present the results of the excavations of a high-quality trans...

Frequency of piece-plotted lithic specimens by depth from artificial datum. (PDF)

Lithic distributions per excavated unit of area X partitioned by level. (PDF)

3D reconstruction of piece-plotted specimens from area X. Vertical (depth) axis is exaggerated. (PDF)

Detailed stratigraphy of Area X at the Valiente site. (PDF)

Flake size diameter intervals per excavated level. Intervals in X axis represent 1 cm increase. (PDF)

Topographic map of the Valiente site. (PDF)

Scanning Electron Microscopy of faunal material of Area X at the Valiente site. (PDF)

Selected burnt bone remains from the Valiente site. A. left astragalus, Lycalopex griseus; B. radius, Lycalopex griseus; C. distal end of femur, Lycalopex griseus; D. vertebra fragment, Artiodactyla; E. indeterminate long bone fragment, Mammalia. (PDF)

The bioarchaeological context of Area U at the Valiente site. (PDF)

The timing, structure, and landscape change during the Patagonian Ice Sheet deglaciation remains unresolved. In this article, we provide a geomorphic, stratigraphic, and geochronological deglacial record of Río Cisnes Glacier at 44°S and also from the nearby Río Ñirehuao and Río El Toqui valleys (45°S) in Chilean Patagonia. Our ¹⁴ C, ¹⁰ Be, and opt...

Vegetation is crucial for modulating rates of denudation and landscape evolution, as it stabilizes and protects hillslopes and intercepts rainfall. Climate conditions and the atmospheric CO2 concentration, hereafter [CO2], influence the establishment and performance of plants; thus, these factors have a direct influence on vegetation cover. In addi...

This study aims at establishing past variations of the main oceanographic and climatic features in the Central Chilean coast, using recent sedimentary records of a transitional semi-arid ecosystem susceptible to environmental forcing conditions. Coquimbo (30°S) region is characterized by dry summers and short rainfall periods during winter. The rel...

The chronology of over 50 tephra layers preserved in a lake sediment core from Laguna La Trapananda (LLT) in the southern portion of the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone (SSVZ), Chile, is constrained by new radiocarbon age determinations, which span the period from late Pleistocene glacial retreat to the late Holocene. The tephra are correlative with...

"The Tarapacá Declaration" draws attention to the urgent need to change how human societies have been using water in the Atacama Desert, based on a historical trajectory spanning several millennia. The Declaration, an initiative that summarizes the results of the CONICYT/PIA, Anillo project SOC1405, is oriented towards civil society and various pol...

Resumen. La Diagonal Árida Sudamericana (DAS) es un rasgo biogeográfico y climático que ha experimentado cambios importantes en los ambientes, en las plantas, en los animales e incluso en las poblaciones humanas como consecuencia de la dinámica climática durante el Cuaternario tardío. El objetivo de este trabajo es revisar el desarrollo de las inve...

Vegetation is crucial for modulating rates of denudation and landscape evolution as it stabilizes and protects hillslopes and intercepts rainfall. Climate conditions and atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) influence the establishment and performance of plants and thus have a direct influence on vegetation cover. In addition, vegetation dynamics (...

This paper presents an interdisciplinary study of the Miscanti-1 archaeological site, located in the Holocene terrace deposits accumulated on the eastern margin of Miscanti Lake (4120 m.a.s.l.), northern Chile (23.7� S, 67.7� W). The human response to environmental and climatic variability in the MidHolocene (9500-4500 cal yr BP) is discussed throu...

This paper presents an interdisciplinary study of the Miscanti-1 archaeological site, located in the Holocene terrace deposits accumulated on the eastern margin of Miscanti Lake (4120 m.a.s.l.), northern Chile (23.7� S, 67.7� W). The human response to environmental and climatic variability in the MidHolocene (9500-4500 cal yr BP) is discussed throu...