Improved dating methods have increased our ability to more precisely determine the timing and durations of glaciations. Utilizing glacial and loess deposits, we have compared glaciations that occurred in North and South America in order to determine if events are synchronous or not, to explore forcing mechanisms, and to compare glaciations with cold periods of the Marine Oxygen Isotope stages and the loess/paleosol records of China. Stratigraphic sections containing a variety of glacial deposits, some with interbedded volcanics, as well as loess deposits, were used in reconstructing the glacial history. The Late Pleistocene (Brunhes Chron) Last Glacial Maximum is recognized in mountain and continental areas of North America but only in the mountains of South America. Commonly our comparisons indicate roughly synchronous glaciations on the two continents, whereas other glaciations are more elusive and difficult to compare. Although our comparisons are at low resolutions, the results suggest that Milankovitch forcing is most likely the dominant trigger for hemispheric glaciation modified by local factors.

"This volume brings together nineteen papers of interdisciplinary Quaternary science honoring Stephen Porter. Special Paper 548 features papers from six continents, on wide-ranging topics including glaciation, paleoecology, landscape evolution, megafloods, and loess. The topical and geographical range of the papers, as well as their interdisciplinary nature, honor Porter's distinct approach to Quaternary science and leadership that influence the field to this day"--

This book summarizes the evolution of carnivorous mammals in the Cenozoic of South America. It presents paleontological information on the two main mammalian carnivorous groups in South America; Metatheria and Eutheria. The topics include the origin, systematics, phylogeny, paleoecology and evolution of the Sparassodonta and Carnivora. The book is based on a wide variety of published sources from the last few decades.

This book presents isotope data reflecting changes in temperature derived from core samples in South America. Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) is examined in detail with respect to Stage 3. With over 20 chapters, this detailed treatise discusses high climatic variability, paleoclimatic events, Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles, continental vertebrates, sea level changes, vegetation and climate changes based on pollen records, and the non-Amazon landscape and fauna from 65 to 20 ka B.P. The book also looks at the earth’s magnetic field and climate change during MIS 3 and MIS 5 and presents a comparison between both stages with respect to marine deposits in Uruguay. With case studies drawn from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay this book presents research from the some of the worlds experts in this field.

This book highlights the knowledge about landscapes and characteristics of the earliest hunter-gatherer lifeway in Southern Patagonia. It presents an analysis of the archaeological investigations carried out during three decades by an interdisciplinary team that involved archaeologists, anthropologists, paleontologists, geologists and specialists in pollen and diatoms. The database yielded was recovered from systematic survey and excavations from the Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphic layers of the rockshelter known as AEP-1, Piedra Museo Locality, situated in the central plateau of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Piedra Museo is a unique place in the world of high academic interest with some of the earliest archaeological remains in the Americas. Researchers defined two strata and several Stratigraphic units in the site based on the sedimentological and pedological characteristics. The depositional zones contain archaeological remains that are interpreted as hunting events corresponding to two main different occasions in the human colonization of the region, and a third human occupation during the Middle Holocene. Last one occurred then of the massive rockshelter roof colapse. The faunal remains led to a new approach to the palaeoenvironmental evolution of this enclosed basin. This volume describes the management of lithic raw materials and social networks from first human occupation of the Patagonian region to territorial consolidation of hunter-gatherer societies.

This book presents the most relevant basaltic plateau exposures in the provinces of Neuquén (northern Patagonia) and Santa Cruz (southern Patagonia), and analyzes their geomorphological and morphometric characteristics. The existence of wetland ecosystems near the volcanic plateaus is quantified, thus providing indexes that describe the quantitative relationships between these landscape features. These indexes also make it possible to estimate the development of these wetlands in non-surveyed areas, opening the door for studying remote, isolated areas by means of remote sensing images. In turn, the book proposes a numerical classification system for this type of landscape that summarizes the main geomorphological and hydrological characteristics.teristics.