HR: 1330h
AN: PP52A-0953    [PDF]
TI: Geoarchaeological Evidence for Multi-decadal Pacific Climate Change
AU: * Sandweiss, D H
EM: dan.sandweiss@umit.maine.edu
AF: Climate Change Institute, University of Maine 5790 BGSC, Orono, ME 04469-5790 United States
AU: Maasch, K A
EM: kirk.maasch@maine.edu
AF: Climate Change Institute, University of Maine 5790 BGSC, Orono, ME 04469-5790 United States
AU: Chai, F
AF: Climate Change Institute, University of Maine 5790 BGSC, Orono, ME 04469-5790 United States
AU: Andrus, C F
AF: Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802 United States
AU: Reitz, E J
AF: Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-1882 United States
AB: Anchoveta- versus sardine-dominated fisheries correlate with 20th century climate change in the Pacific Basin. Such fish regime changes are linked to multi-decadal climate variability. The "anchovy regime" is characterized by cooler conditions and lower frequency El Ni\~{n}o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, while the "sardine regime" is associated with warmer conditions and higher frequency ENSO. Excavations at Lo Dem\'{a}s, an Inca-period (ca. A.D. 1480-1540) fishing site at 13$^{\rm o}$25'S on the Peruvian coast, contained evidence of a shift from an anchoveta- to a sardine-dominated fishery at about A.D. 1500. This shift correlates with records of increased ENSO frequency at the same time and demonstrates that changes in the fish regime can result from natural variability. Middle and Late Holocene sites have archaeofish assemblages that also suggest regime changes, supporting the potential role of archaeological assemblages in tracking multi-decadal climate change in the Pacific Basin during the Holocene.
DE: 1610 Atmosphere (0315, 0325)
DE: 1620 Climate dynamics (3309)
DE: 4522 El Ni¤o
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting