TROPICAL CLIMATIC VARIATION ON THE PACIFIC SLOPES OF THE ECUADORIAN ANDES BASED ON A 25,000-YEAR POLLEN RECORD FROM DEEP-SEA SEDIMENT CORE TRI-163-31B

Marine sediments from 3-degrees-37'S, 83-degrees-58'W yield a well-dat ed pollen record of equatorial Andean vegetation. Moderate development of Podocarpus-high montane rainforest (approximately 34,000-28,000 yr B.P.) and increase of high Andean grassland pollen (approximately 28, 000-16,000 yr B.P.) imply an extended dry, cool glacial period followi ng a brief interstade. Rapid stepwise expansion in coastal and montane forest pollen characterizes the deglacial interval. The general corre spondence between pollen and oxygen isotope variations in Tri 163-31B suggests that tropical climatic variations in the northern Andes were basically coherent with northern hemisphere glacier variations. (C) 19 94 University of Washington.