Mollusk shells as bio-geo-archives: Evaluating environmental changes during the Quaternary

Abstract

Give the wide range of disciplines involved in Quaternary research, this book aims ti provide a comprehensive approach to how mollusk shells remains have been udes in the reconstuction of Quaternary enviroment in southern South America. Our study was based on present-day Holocene and Pleistocene mollusk assemblages and/or selected taxa were analyzed using a multidisciplinary approach mainly involving taphonomy, paleocology , morphometry, Shell microstucture, and sclerochrononology. A local-scale quantitative and qualitative analysis of mollusc assemblages at different latitudes suggests that each enviroment acted as a "dynamic mosaic" for the development of local physical variations (i.e. substrate, availability of food and currents); changes associated to global-scale climatic variability during the Holocene were also recorded in individual taxa. As the multi-proxy evidence used in this study provides a consistent picture of spatial and temporal enviromental and climatic changes in southern South America, we have concluded that mollusk shells are extremely valuable tolos for studies addressing Quaternary enviroments anywhere.