Cosmogenic in situ 14C-10Be reveals abrupt Late Holocene soil loss in the Andean Altiplano

Kristina Hippe; John D. Jansen; Daniel Søndergaard Skov; Maarten Lupker; Susan Ivy-Ochs; Florian Kober; Gerold Zeilinger; José Mariano Capriles; Marcus Christl; Colin Maden; Christof Vockenhuber; David Lundbek Egholm

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22825-6

Cosmogenic in situ ¹⁴C-¹⁰Be reveals abrupt Late Holocene soil loss in the Andean Altiplano

Kristina Hippe^*, John D. Jansen, Daniel Søndergaard Skov, Maarten Lupker, Susan Ivy-Ochs, Florian Kober, Gerold Zeilinger, José Mariano Capriles, Marcus Christl, Colin Maden, Christof Vockenhuber, David Lundbek Egholm

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Geoscience

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Soil sustainability is reflected in a long-term balance between soil production and erosion for a given climate and geology. Here we evaluate soil sustainability in the Andean Altiplano where accelerated erosion has been linked to wetter climate from 4.5 ka and the rise of Neolithic agropastoralism in the millennium that followed. We measure in situ cosmogenic ¹⁴C directly on cultivated hilltops to quantify late Holocene soil loss, which we compare with background soil production rates determined from cosmogenic ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be. Our Monte Carlo-based inversion method identifies two scenarios to account for our data: an increase in erosion rate by 1–2 orders of magnitude between ~2.6 and 1.1 ka, or a discrete event stripping ~1–2 m of soil between ~1.9 and 1.1 ka. Coupled environmental and cultural factors in the Late Holocene signaled the onset of the pervasive human imprint in the Andean Altiplano seen today.

Original language	English
Article number	2546
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	12
Issue	1
Number of pages	9
ISSN	2041-1723
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22825-6
Publication status	Published - 2021

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10.1038/s41467-021-22825-6Licence: CC BY

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title = "Cosmogenic in situ 14C-10Be reveals abrupt Late Holocene soil loss in the Andean Altiplano",

abstract = "Soil sustainability is reflected in a long-term balance between soil production and erosion for a given climate and geology. Here we evaluate soil sustainability in the Andean Altiplano where accelerated erosion has been linked to wetter climate from 4.5 ka and the rise of Neolithic agropastoralism in the millennium that followed. We measure in situ cosmogenic 14C directly on cultivated hilltops to quantify late Holocene soil loss, which we compare with background soil production rates determined from cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be. Our Monte Carlo-based inversion method identifies two scenarios to account for our data: an increase in erosion rate by 1–2 orders of magnitude between ~2.6 and 1.1 ka, or a discrete event stripping ~1–2 m of soil between ~1.9 and 1.1 ka. Coupled environmental and cultural factors in the Late Holocene signaled the onset of the pervasive human imprint in the Andean Altiplano seen today.",

author = "Kristina Hippe and Jansen, {John D.} and Skov, {Daniel S{\o}ndergaard} and Maarten Lupker and Susan Ivy-Ochs and Florian Kober and Gerold Zeilinger and Capriles, {Jos{\'e} Mariano} and Marcus Christl and Colin Maden and Christof Vockenhuber and Egholm, {David Lundbek}",

year = "2021",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-021-22825-6",

language = "English",

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T1 - Cosmogenic in situ 14C-10Be reveals abrupt Late Holocene soil loss in the Andean Altiplano

AU - Hippe, Kristina

AU - Jansen, John D.

AU - Skov, Daniel Søndergaard

AU - Lupker, Maarten

AU - Ivy-Ochs, Susan

AU - Kober, Florian

AU - Zeilinger, Gerold

AU - Capriles, José Mariano

AU - Christl, Marcus

AU - Maden, Colin

AU - Vockenhuber, Christof

AU - Egholm, David Lundbek

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Soil sustainability is reflected in a long-term balance between soil production and erosion for a given climate and geology. Here we evaluate soil sustainability in the Andean Altiplano where accelerated erosion has been linked to wetter climate from 4.5 ka and the rise of Neolithic agropastoralism in the millennium that followed. We measure in situ cosmogenic 14C directly on cultivated hilltops to quantify late Holocene soil loss, which we compare with background soil production rates determined from cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be. Our Monte Carlo-based inversion method identifies two scenarios to account for our data: an increase in erosion rate by 1–2 orders of magnitude between ~2.6 and 1.1 ka, or a discrete event stripping ~1–2 m of soil between ~1.9 and 1.1 ka. Coupled environmental and cultural factors in the Late Holocene signaled the onset of the pervasive human imprint in the Andean Altiplano seen today.

AB - Soil sustainability is reflected in a long-term balance between soil production and erosion for a given climate and geology. Here we evaluate soil sustainability in the Andean Altiplano where accelerated erosion has been linked to wetter climate from 4.5 ka and the rise of Neolithic agropastoralism in the millennium that followed. We measure in situ cosmogenic 14C directly on cultivated hilltops to quantify late Holocene soil loss, which we compare with background soil production rates determined from cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be. Our Monte Carlo-based inversion method identifies two scenarios to account for our data: an increase in erosion rate by 1–2 orders of magnitude between ~2.6 and 1.1 ka, or a discrete event stripping ~1–2 m of soil between ~1.9 and 1.1 ka. Coupled environmental and cultural factors in the Late Holocene signaled the onset of the pervasive human imprint in the Andean Altiplano seen today.

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JO - Nature Communications

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Cosmogenic in situ ¹⁴C-¹⁰Be reveals abrupt Late Holocene soil loss in the Andean Altiplano

Abstract

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