LATE-GLACIAL AND HOLOCENE TEPHROSTRATIGRA PHICAL AND BIOCLIMATICAL RESEARCH OF THE LAGUNA-SALINAS, SOUTHERN PERU

Late glacial and Holocene tephrostratigraphical and bioclimatical rese arch of the Laguna Salinas, southern Peru. This study is a contributio n to the Late glacial and Holocene environmental changes in the Andean Cordillera. Due to the presence of volcanoes near Arequipa city (800, 000 inhabitants), particular importance is given to the frequency of v olcanic activity and it is demonstrated that seven major tephras have covered the area after the last glacial maximum. Laguna Salinas is a v olcano-tectonic closed basin in the Arequipa Department (southern Peru ) which acts as a sediment trap in which cores were taken that corresp ond to the last 15,000 years. A multidisciplinary research (tephras, p ollen, diatoms, C-14-dating) of a core as well as tephrostratigraphica l investigations of nearby roadcuts have allowed to realize the first chronostratigraphical model for the Late Glacial and Holocene periods of southern Peru.