QUATERNARY RESEARCH 16, 263-292 (1981)

Pleistocene Glaciation in the Southern Lake District of Chile

STEPHEN C. PORTER
Quaternary Research Center, University of‘ Washington, Scuttle. Washington 98/95
Received December 23, 1980
Relative-age criteria permit deposits of successive Andean glacier advances in the southern Lake
District of Chile to be divided into four mappable drift sheets, the oldest two of which overlie
Tertiary bedrock along the eastern flank of the Cordillera de la Costa. Only the youngest drift
(Llanquihue) is datable by radiocarbon. During the most extensive ice advance of the last glaciation
the Lago Llanquihue glacier was about 95 km long and reached an estimated maximum thickness of
between 1000 and 1300 m. Glacier equilibrium lines at that time lay about 1000 m below their
present level and rose eastward with a gradient of about 5 m/km. Successive ice advances in the
Lago Llanquihue basin, which resulted in construction of end moraines and associated outwash
plains beyond the lake margin, culminated sometime before about 20,000 yr ago and between
20,000 and 19,000 yr ago. A later readvance, inferred from the sedimentary record of lake-level
fluctuations in the basin, had begun by about 15,000 yr ago and culminated shortly after 13,000 yr
ago. A comparable, but less-closely dated, record of ice advances is found northwest of Seno
Reloncavi and on Isla Chiloe. Deglaciation following the latest advance is likely to have been rapid,
for the major glacier lobes fronted on deep water bodies that would have promoted extensive
calving.

INTRODUCTION
The record of Quaternary glaciation in
southern Chile is among the most extensive
and detailed in the Southern Hemisphere
and it therefore is significant for global
paleoclimatic reconstructions and inter-
hemispheric comparisons of glacial chro-
nologies. The Lake District of Chile,
stretching from approximately 39 to 42”s
latitude, has been the focus of several re-
cent investigations. Glacial deposits are
widespread and well exposed there, and the
climate is conducive to preservation of or-
ganic matter suitable for radiocarbon dat-
ing. Peat and other organic-rich sediments
are interstratified with the glacial sediments
and offer a means of obtaining paleo-
environmental information about nonglacial
intervals.
The present investigation, an outgrowth
of earlier studies of the Quaternary
palynology of southern Chile (Heusser,
1960, 1966, 1972a, b, 1974, 1976) and of the
glacial history of the adjacent Argentine
Andes (Flint and Fidalgo, 1964, 19691,
began with a reconnaissance of the glacial
geology and Quaternary paleoecology of
263
Isla Chilot? by R. F. Flint and C. J. Heusser
in 1976. During a second planned field sea-
son, which I carried out in 1978 with Heus-
ser following the death of Professor Flint,
field mapping and stratigraphic studies
were extended north from Isla Child to the
area west and southwest of Lago Llan-
quihue in the southern Lake District. The
aim of these investigations was to synthe-
size the Quaternary stratigraphic record
and glacial history of a region that was re-
peatedly invaded by large Piedmont ice
lobes (Llanquihue, Seno Reloncavi, Golfo
de Ancud, and northern Golfo Corcovado)
from an extensive mountain ice field man-
tling the Cordillera de 10s Andes (Fig. 1).
During their fieldwork on Isla Chilot,
Heusser and Flint (1977) recognized three
offlapping layers of drift (Fuerte San
Antonio, Intermediate, and Llanquihue)
representing the last (Llanquihue) glacia-
tion and two (or possibly more) older glaci-
ations. Radiocarbon dating suggested that
the Llanquihue drift was deposited from at
least 43,000 to about 10,000 yr ago and that
the two older drifts are more than 57,000 yr
0033-5894/81/060263-30$02.00/O
Copyright 0 1981 by the University of Washington.
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
264 STEPHEN C. PORTER

CORCOVADO

173"
FIG. 1. Cordillera of southern Chile and Argentina between 40 and 43”s latitude showing mapped
(solid ticked line) and inferred (dashed ticked line) limit of ice during maximum Llanquihue advance in
Chile and Nahuel Huapi advance in Argentina. Glacial limits for Isla Chiloe from Heusser and Flint
(1977); for Seno Reloncavi and Lago Llanquihue from present study; for Lago Rupanco, Lago
Puyehue, and Lago Ranco from Mercer (1976); and for Argentine Andes from Flint and Fidalgo (1964,
1969). Active volcanoes are indicated by star (Casertano, 1963).

old. The vegetation history during part of In the region around Lago Llanquihue,
each of these glaciations was inferred from Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer, 1972,
pollen analysis of sediments associated 1976) mapped four end-moraine systems
with the three drifts. which they designated, from oldest to
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION
youngest, Rio Frio, Colegual, Casma, and
Llanquihue. Only the Llanquihue moraines
could be shown to date from the last glacial
age on the basis of available radiocarbon
dates. The older moraines, inferred to rep-
resent two or three earlier glacial ages, lay
beyond the range of radiocarbon dating.
The Llanquihue deposits were interpreted
as representing two ice advances, one more
than 40,000 yr old (more than 56,000 yr at
Lago Ranco) and a later, more-extensive
advance during which the outermost
moraines at Lago Llanquihue and Lago
Rupanco were built about 19,500 yr ago.
Subsequent glacier recession within the
basin of Lago Llanquihue was inferred to
have been marked by a readvance about
13,000 yr ago, following which the ice re-
treated into the Andean source region.
Vegetational changes in the vicinity of Lago
Llanquihue during and since the last (pre-
Llanquihue) interglaciation were recon-
structed by Heusser (1966, 1974), but prior
to the present investigation, information on
the vegetation history of earlier intervals
was not available.
STRATIGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY
Criteria of Relative Age
In earlier studies of glacial deposits in the
Lake District, subdivision of the glacial
record was based mainly on morphologic
criteria (moraines or moraine belts) sup-
plemented by weathering criteria. For
example, Laugenie and Mercer (1973;
Mercer, 1976) inferred that each recognized
moraine belt west of Lago Llanquihue was
characterized by a distinct surface drift
which they named informally after that belt.
In their studies, a feature west of the main
Llanquihue moraine system was identified
as an end moraine “if at least part of it is
composed of till.” The moraine belts were
also characterized on the basis of depth of
overlying volcanic ash, degree of dissection
of landforms, and the comparative degree
of weathering. Mercer (1976) reported that
weathering of volcanic clasts in drift of
Llanquihue age was barely perceptible
IN CHILE 265
whereas clasts in drifts of Casma and Col-
legual age had rinds about 2 cm thick; those
of Rio Frio age reached a thickness of about
4 cm. By contrast, Brtiggen (1950), who
studied these same moraine belts, found no
obvious difference in weathering among
them, an observation Mercer (1976) attrib-
uted to his possibly having examined only
exposures of compact; impervious till.
Heusser and Flint (1976) found that the
most useful criteria of relative age for dis-
tinguishing the three drift sheets on Isla
Chiloe were depth of weathering, degree of
weathering of clasts, surface morphology,
relationship of drift to regional topography,
degree of dissection, and bulk of associated
outwash. In their study, they referred to
deposits of the last glaciation (Llanquihue
Glaciation of Heusser (1974, pp. 291-292))
as Llanquihue drift. A type section was
designated for the oldest (Fuerte San
Antonio) drift and its characteristics were
described.
The stratigraphic interpretation of pre-
Llanquihue glacial deposits in this study
differs from that of Laugenie and Mercer
(1973; Mercer, 1976)), as discussed below,
and warrants a new lithostratigraphic
nomenclature to supplant previous informal
designations that employed the same geo-
graphic locality names for landforms
(moraine belts) as for the sediments which
comprise them. In the present study, glacial
deposits have been separated into mappa-
ble units termed drifts, described at type
sections, and assigned local geographic
names. These are not lithostratigraphic
units in the strict sense, for each drift sheet
is composed of a similar lithic mix of vol-
canic, plutonic, and sedimentary clasts; in
the case of the two oldest drifts, weathering
is so intense that the lithology of many
clasts is not determinable. The glacial de-
posits can be differentiated, however, on
the basis of age-dependent weathering and
erosional characteristics (including depth of
weathering, thickness of rinds on volcanic
clasts, intensity of limonitization, extent of
MnO, deposition on clasts and in matrix,
and moraine morphology; Table l), into
266 STEPHEN
drift sheets that are believed to represent
first-order glacial events, or glaciations
(Porter, 1971; Burke and Birkeland, 1979).
Second-order events (= stades) within the
youngest glaciation are recognized on the
basis of landform assemblages and local
stratigraphic relationships, even though the
degree of weathering of the deposits is sim-
ilar.
Weathering rinds proved to be among the
most useful of the weathering parameters.
Rind measurements were restricted to vol-
canic clasts and generally gave consistent
and reproducible results when samples
were collected near the top of a drift sheet.
In the case of the three youngest drifts,
some variability in mean values is found if
samples are collected at random within a
drift, for as a general rule the thickness of
rinds in any drift tends to decrease with in-
creasing depth in the weathering profile.
For example, in one exposure of Rio Llico
till, clasts collected within 1.5 m of the top
of the drift had a mean rind thickness of 9.4
mm, whereas a second sample from the
same outcrop taken at a depth of 3 to 4 m
had a mean thickness of only 3.8 mm. In
certain cases where a till overlies and in-
corporates clasts of an older weathered
outwash gravel, occasional rounded clasts
with anomalously thick rinds may be en-
countered in the till. Such rinds typically
match those in the underlying gravel, from
which the clasts are inferred to have been
derived. Despite such possible internal
variability, the range of sample means ob-
tained for each of the four drift sheets form
distinct populations that normally permit
unequivocal assignment of an exposed unit
to a specific drift (Table 1). The weathering-
rind data provide a regionally consistent
stratigraphic picture that is supported by
other relative-age criteria (Table 1).
The drift sheets include two principal
facies, till and outwash. For the youngest
drifts, the facies distinction is straight-
forward, but for the two oldest drifts the
intensity of weathering often obscures dis-
tinctive sedimentary characteristics and
C. PORTER
makes recognition of these facies difficult.
In such cases, the weathered till and out-
wash facies are both appropriately de-
scribed as diamictons. Intensely weathered
outwash gravel, in which the sandy matrix
has been altered to clay, may superficially
resemble weathered tills of the same drift
sheet. However, pebble- and cobble-size
clasts in outwash gravel typically are in
contact with one another, and the inter-
stices between adjacent clasts are filled by
weathered matrix. By contrast, the clasts in
tills infrequently are in contact and com-
monly appear to “float” in a finer weath-
ered matrix. Outwash gravels, although
generally poorly sorted, rarely contain
clasts larger than cobbles, whereas tills in-
clude boulders with diameters exceeding 1
m. Even in thoroughly weathered outwash
units, relict cross-stratification and graded
bedding can be discerned locally. Such
features are common in outwash of the
youngest drift sheet but were not observed
in unweathered basal (lodgment) tills of that
drift. In most large outcrops such charac-
teristics serve to distinguish the two facies,
but in the case of small exposures, weath-
ered diamictons often cannot be assigned
with confidence to one facies or the other.
Lahars from Volcan Calbuco overlie drift
of the last glaciation along the west and
south margins of Lago Llanquihue and
across the region between the lake and
Seno Relocavi. Although they superficially
resemble till, the lahars are different in sev-
eral respects: (1) clasts within lahars are
overwhelmingly volcanic and include few
of the plutonic rock types that are common
in the tills; (2) clasts are predominantly
angular or subangular, whereas the tills
contain a high percentage of rounded to
subrounded clasts; (3) in exposures a meter
or more high, a crude vertical grading is
often detectable; and (4) the upper surfaces
of lahars commonly are flat or nearly flat in
contrast to the hummocky character of the
younger tills. Although no pre-Llanquihue
lahars were identified, some may extend lo-
cally beyond the Llanquihue drift limit.
 TABLE 1. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIFTS

Characteristic Llanquihue Drift Santa Maria Drift Rio Llico Drift Caracol Drift

Thickness (mm) of weathering

rinds on volcanic clasts in upper
part of till (n = 20)
Mean 0.5
Range o-2
Depth (m) of weathering profile
on till 1 2-3
Surface morphology Obvious end-moraine crests,
dead-ice terrain with un-
drained depressions, out-
wash terraces
Degree of MnOx deposition Generally absent, but lo-
cally forms thin, discon-
tinuous coatings on bot-
toms of clasts in upper
0.5 m of weathering pro-
tile
Development of iron-oxide Absent, or present as thin
coatings coatings in upper meter
of deposits
Dominant color of till
Dry Gray (2.5Y 6/l)
Moist Dark-grayish-brown
(2.5Y 412)
Thickness (m) of loess mantle <2
L 10
1-6
Broad, rolling drift plain,
some possible end mo-
raines, integrated drain-
age, outwash terraces
capped by thick loess
Generally absent, but may
locally coat clasts, fill
small voids
Limonite coating on clasts
and along fissile partings;
cements matrix in out-
wash to depths of 5 m or
more
Light-brownish-gray
(2.5Y 6/2)
Grayish-brown
(2.5Y 512)
2-4
17
6-14 13-21
4 3”
No obvious depositional Drift largely buried by
morphology, drift deep- younger drifts, no depo-
ly dissected, integrated sitional morphology pre-
drainage, no lakes served at surface
Common as coatings on Pervasive, coats clast sock-
clasts and clast sockets ets, fills fissile partings
and partially fills small and voids
voids and fissile partings
Limonite and (or) hematite Limonite and (or) hematite 0
X
coating common on clasts staining pervasive i=
and fissile partings m
Grayish-brown Brown
(2.5Y S/2) (IOYR S/3)
Olive-brown Brown
(2SY 4/4) (IOYR 4/3)
2-4 -

(I Maximum depth of exposure seen: overlies Tertiary bedrock at one site.

268 STEPHEN C. PORTER

Caracol Drift route V-610, it crops out beneath No Llico

The oldest identified glacial drift crops
out in the western part of the lowland and
along the eastern slope of the Cordillera de
la Costa (Fig. 2). All exposures but one lie
beyond the inferred limit of Santa Man’s till
and inside the limit of Rio Llico till. In only
a few places was the drift found at the sur-
face; generally it is buried by Rio Llico till
or outwash. Caracol Drift is designated
after the small community of that name,
near which, in a 7-m-deep borrow pit along
till (Fig. 2, Lot. 1; Appendix Ia). Although
the base of the drift is not exposed in this
section, sandy outwash gravel inferred to
correlate with the till unconformably over-
lies dipping cross-stratified Tertiary sand-
stone and siltstone 15 km to the north along
route V-440; the gravel, in turn, is overlain
by silt (loess?) and till of Rio Llico age.
Intense weathering characterized by a
deep dusky-red to brownish color, thick
weathering rinds on stones, and extensive
development of MnO, serve to distinguish

-- Petrc
LLANQUIHUE \ ‘L

V\ 172930,

EXPLANATION
Drift Llmlt of drift Till Outw
Llanqulhue bndiv.) - - -
Llonqulhue Ill - - -
Llonqulhue II - T 7
Llanquihue I v - 7
Santo Marla T-TIT n 0
Rio LIICO -V----V- A A
Caracol l c
@ Borehok (depth to
bedrock,de,,th of

/ Melfwaler channel
Sv Submerged valley

FIG. 2. Glacial-geologic map of the southern Lake District.

 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION
this unit from younger glacial sediments.
Till of the Caracol Drift is stony and appar-
ently had a sandy matrix, but in most expo-
sures both the matrix and clasts have been
chemically altered to clay. The brown color
of the weathered till contrasts with the yel-
lowish or grayish hues of younger deposits.
Although clasts include both granitic and
volcanic rock types, many are too weath-
ered for their lithology to be identified with
certainty. Weathering rinds at the type sec-
tion range in thickness from 13 to 21 mm,
and average 17 mm; this range is also typi-
cal at other outcrops of the drift. Weathered
rinds commonly spall off from a less-altered
core when large clasts are removed from
exposures. In some outcrops the till has
well-developed subhorizontal fissility along
which, and in the sockets of clasts, locally
dense MnO, is concentrated, thereby im-
parting a dark cast to the sediment. In out-
wash deposits of this age, MnO, mottling is
widespread and iron oxide staining is
common.
The distribution of Caracol Drift indi-
cates that ice spread westward from the
Andes as an extensive Piedmont glacier and
locally rose against the eastern slope of the
coastal mountains. Based on the presently
known distribution of the till, the glacier
was less extensive than that which sub-
sequently deposited Rio Llico Drift.
Rio Llico Drift
The next younger drift, which is also the
most widespread of those identified, is
named for Rio Llico. The drift crops out at
the surface through a l&km-wide belt along
and east of the flank of the Cordillera de la
Costa near the head of Rio Llico and was
identified beneath younger drifts in out-
crops farther east to within l-2 km of the
shore of Lago Llanquihue . The land surface
underlain by the drift is extensively and
deeply dissected, and the drainage net is
well integrated. Moraines, if they exist, are
not obvious features, for none were identi-
fied during the study.
The mapped western limit of Rio Llico
Drift is based on the westernmost expo-
IN CHILE 269
sures of till of this unit, rather than on any
pronounced lithologic or morphologic
boundary. It was determined from five
traverses along roads that cross the lowland
and rise up the eastern slope of the Cordil-
lera de la Costa. Although the limit is inter-
polated between these traverses, it proba-
bly is accurate to within several kilometers,
inasmuch as the bedrock topography would
have locally controlled the shape of the
glacier margin and produced the inferred
minor lobations shown on the map. The po-
sition of the drift limit indicates that within
the mapped area an extensive Piedmont
glacier filled the lowland between the
coastal mountains and the Andes during the
culminating Rio Llico advance and proba-
bly reached the Pacific Ocean at or some-
what north of Bahia Maullin.
The type section of the drift is in a bor-
row pit on route V-440 near its junction
with route V-46 (Fig. 2, Lot. 2; Appendix
Ib). In this section two stony tills, each at
least 3 m thick, are separated by a thin
laminated silt. Although the tills are essen-
tially indistinguishable in physical appear-
ance and weathering properties, it is not
clear whether they represent a single
glaciation or two separated by a nonglacial
weathering interval. Other exposures of
multiple tills having similar weathering
characteristics were not encountered dur-
ing this study, so the former interpretation
is currently favored. However, additional
field studies are needed to resolve this
question.
In most exposures the till is thoroughly
weathered to clay, as are small stones less
than about 1 cm in diameter, and can easily
be cut through with a knife or shovel. In
many road cuts the drift forms a smooth
face with few or no projecting stones. Large
clasts typically have solid cores surrounded
by weathered rinds that average about 10
mm thick and spa11 off when stones are re-
moved from the matrix. Limonite and (or)
MnO, commonly coats clasts and clast sock-
ets, and lenses and pods of MnO, that are
pervasive in the matrix generally impart a
purplish-gray cast to the drift. Lenses or
 270 STEPHEN C. PORTER

layers of tine silt that are locally interstrati- overlain in turn by about 3 m of loess and
lied with till commonly are penetrated by colluvium (Fig. 2, Lot. 3; Appendix Ic).
closely spaced veins of MnOe. The compact stony Santa Maria till ap-
Like the still-younger Santa Maria Drift, pears much less weathered than either the
the Rio Llico lies beyond the range of Caracol or Rio Llico tills, but is charac-
radiocarbon dating. Nonbedded silts lying terized by a yellowish-brown color due
within and directly above Rio Llico till were largely to limonite that coats clasts and
sampled at two localities for paleomagnetic clast sockets and penetrates the matrix, es-
analyses, and in both cases the samples had pecially along fissile partings. Rinds on vol-
normal polarity. However, like the bound- canic clasts in the upper part of the weath-
ing tills, the silts are strongly weathered, so ering profile average about 2 mm thick
the paleomagnetic signal may be unreliable. (Table 1). Most clasts are solid and little
weathered, except for the external rinds,
Santa Matia Drift and in contrast to those in the older tills
A widespread drift lies at the land surface project from vertical exposures. Although
across much of the lowland between Lago the clasts in porous outwash gravels often
Llanquihue, Seno Relocavi, and the belt of are little weathered, the sandy matrix typi-
Rio Llico Drift east and south of the Cor- cally is loosely cemented by limonite, in
dillera de la Costa. It is named for Rio Santa places to a depth of at least 10 m. MnO, is
Maria, a minor tributary of Rio Maullin present in some outcrops as partial coatings
west of Puerto Varas. Till of this drift on clasts and clast sockets, or as dissem-
underlies gently rolling terrain throughout inated blebs in the upper part of the weath-
the outcrop belt, and dissected outwash ering profile, but it is not as obvious or per-
gravels form terraces along major stream vasive as in the two older drifts.
valleys. Linear and arcuate interfluves Three of the end-moraine systems de-
within this belt of drift could represent scribed by Laugenie and Mercer (1973) lie
broad end-moraine crests, as inferred by within the belt of Santa Maria Drift and if
Laugenie and Mercer (1973), but strati- correctly identified suggest that the drift
graphic exposures through these generally may have resulted from more than a single
broad subdued crests are few and shallow, ice advance. Because no difference in the
so it is not always clear if, in fact, the ridges age of the uppermost glacial sediments
are end moraines modified by mass wasting within this belt was discernable using
and erosion or result from dissection of a relative-age criteria, the surface drift was
relatively low-relief drift plain. The western mapped as a single unit. However, distin-
limit of the drift approximately parallels guishing between drifts of successive
that of the Rio Llico Drift, but lies some 7 to glaciations becomes more difficult with in-
14 km farther east in the area mapped (Fig. creasing age because the weathering rate
2). This distribution indicates that during very likely decreases exponentially as a
deposition of the outermost Santa Marfa function of time (Colman, 1981). Therefore,
till, the glacier was a broad coalescent possibly the Santa Marta Drift records sev-
Piedmont system consisting of ice from the eral glaciations.
Llanquihue, Seno Relocavi, and Golfo de Minimum limiting dates for Santa Maria
Ancud source areas. Drift come from an exposure along the
The type section of Santa Marta Drift is south side of route V-55 just west of the Pan
designated as a road cut on the north side of American Highway where wood and adja-
route V-50 directly beneath San Ambrosio cent peat overlying Santa Mafia till were
cemetery, some 24 km west of Puerto dated as >39,900 yr old (I-4170 and I-5032;
Varas. In this section, 2 m of Santa Maria Mercer, 1976) (Fig. 3 and Table 2). Finite
till overlies weathered sediments probably ages of 32,000 5 700 yr (TK-70) on wood
belonging to the Rio Llico Drift and is from the same horizon and of 23,300 + 300
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION IN CHILE 271

LAG0

LLANQUIHUE

0.700fl300

Calbuco

SENO
I
RELONCAVi

FIG. 3. Radiocarbon dates associated with glacial drifts around Lago Llanquihue and Seno
Reloncavi. Designation of ice limits same as for Figure 2.
 TABLE2. RADIOCARBON DATESFROMTHELAGOLLANQUIHUE-SENORELONCAV~REGION

Laboratory Locality
number Date Sample material and stratigraphic position (Fig. 3) Reference
I-10.53 890 + 250 Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) Alerce III Heusser, 1966, p. 293
I-1047 3,610 rf- 250 Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drkt Alerce I Heusser, 1966, p. 293
I-1048 4,950 + 400 Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Alerce I Heusser, 1966, p. 293
I-1060 6,760 + 300 Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift Calbuco Heusser, 1966, p. 293
I-1049 7,360 k 300 Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Alerce I Heusser, 1966, p. 291
LJW-427 7,660 2 90 Peat clast in gravel beneath Llanquihue I (?) till Puerto Varas -
I-1061 7,880 + 750 Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift CaIbuco Heusser, 1966, p. 291
I-1054 8,600 + 300 Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) AIerce III Heusser, 1966, p. 291
I-1055 9,410 + 400 Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) Alerce III Heusser, 1966, p. 291
I-1050 10,520 * 300 Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Alerce I Heusser, 1966, p. 291
I-1056 10,820 + 800 Peat in bog on Llanquihue II outwash (?) AIerce III Heusser, 1966, p. 291
I-1063 10,820 2 900 Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift CaIbuco Heusser, 1966, p. 288
I-1064 11,300 k 250 Peat in bog on Llanquihue II drift Los PeUines Heusser, 1966, p. 291
I-1067 11,800 2 400 Peat in bog on Llanquihue II drift Los PeIlines Heusser, 1966, p. 279, 288
I-1062 12,165 + 900 Peat in bog on Llanquihue III drift Calbuco Heusser, 1966, p. 288
I-1065 12,165 + 400 Peat in bog on Llanquihue II drift Los Pellines Heusser, 1966, p. 279, 288
I-1051 12,500 2 800 Peat in bog on Llanquihue I drift Alerce I Heusser, 1966, p. 288
RL-1183 12,500 2 370 Peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Puerto Octay -
UW-480 13,145 % 235 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas -
and lahars
RL-122 13,170 + 290 Wood in peat above Llanquihue II drift Los Pellines C. J. Heusser, pers. commun., 1979
GX-4169 13,200 2 320 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas Mercer, 1976, p. 155
and lahars
GX-2947 13,300 k 550 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas Mercer, 1976, p. 155
and lahars
GX-4170 13,750 2 295 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas Mercer, 1976, p. 155
and lahars
TK-74 13,900 2 120 Wood from beneath till of Llanquihue III (?) age Puerto Montt Kobayashi et al., 1974, p. 383
UW-48 1 13,965 * 235 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas -
and lahars
UW-421 14,200 + 135 Peat beneath lake sediments and Llanquihue III till Punta Penas -
GX-2948 14,250 + 400 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas Heusser, 1974, p. 308
and lahars
uw-479 14,485 2 120 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas -
and lahars
I-5033 14,820 2 230 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas Mercer, 1972, p. 1118; 1976, p. 154
and lahars
QL-1335 15,050 2 100 Wood in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas -
and lahars
UW-422 15,220 2 160 Plant fragments at base of clay beneath lake sediments Punta Penas -
and Llanquihue III tiIl
W-948 15,400 2 400 Wood beneath lake sediments and Llanquihue III till Punta Penas Ives et al., 1964, p. 69
GX-5275 15,715 Ik 440 Peat in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas J. H. Mercer, pers. commun., 1978
and lahars
RL-1185 15,800 * 550 Peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Puerto Octay -
I-1052 16,085 2 800 Basal peat in bog on Llanquihue I (?) drift Alerce I Heusser, 1966, p. 280, 288.
RL-113 16,270 2 360 Wood in Llanquihue III terrace beneath lake sediments Puerto Varas Mercer, 1972, p. 118; 1976, p. 154
and lahars
RL-1184 16,580 2 730 Peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II outwash Puerto Octay -
RL-120 17,370 f 670 Near-basal peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II Puerto Octay Mercer, 1972, p. 1118
outwash
GX-5274 18,170 f 650 Basal peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II Puerto Octay J. H. Mercer, pers. commun., 1978
outwash
uw-418 18,900 -e 370 Basal peat in outlet channel cut in Llanquihue II Puerto Octay -
outwash
RL-116 20,100 t so0 Peat clast in Llanquihue 11 outwash beneath Frutillar Alto Mercer, 1972, p. 1118
Llanquihue II till
TK-71 23,300 k 300 Wood from silt underlying Llanquihue I till above Puerto Varas Mercer, 1976, p. 148; Kobayashi
nonglacial sediments and Santa Mana till et al., 1974, p. 382
TK-72 26,000 2 400 Wood in Llanquihue I (?) drift Puerto Montt Kobayashi et al., 1974, p. 383
QL-1338 29,600 k 350 Gyttja beneath Llanquihue I or II (?) gravel Puerto Octay -
I-6618 30,400 k 1150 Peat clast in stratified drift beneath Llanquihue till Los Pellines Heusser, 1974. p. 311
uw-419 30,700 k 1300 Peat clast in gravel beneath Llanquihue I (‘7) till Frutillar Alto -
uw-430 31,700” 1000 Peat clast in gravel beneath Llanquihue I (?) till Frutillar Alto -
TK-70 32,000 ” 700 Wood from base of Llanquihue I till above nonglacial Puerto Varas Mercer. 1976, p. 148
sediments and Santa Matia till
U W-425 32,800 t 1600 Peat clast in Llanquihue II outwash beneath Frutillar Alto
Llanquihue II till
QL-1339 37,400 i so0 Gyttja beneath Llanquihue I or II (?) gravel Puerto Octay -
QL-1337 42,400 ” 500 Wood (in situ stump) in nonglacial sediments beneath Punta Penas -
Llanquihue I or II (?) drift
- 47,600 %t Wood (in situ stump) in nonglacial sediments beneath Punta Pelluco C. Klohn, pers. commun. to
Llanquihue drift C. J. Heusser, 1977
QL-1336 Wood in nonglacial sediments between Santa Matia Puerto Varas
and Llanquihue tills
274 STEPHEN C. PORTER

yr (TK-71) from a lower horizon were re-

garded by Mercer as probably due to con-
tamination of samples. An additional date
of 57,800 ti$@ yr (QL-1336) on wood
from this same locality provides a still-older
minimum age for the underlying till. How-
ever, modern rootlets penetrate the expo-
sure, so contamination of the sample can-
not be ruled out; introduction of only 1 part
in 1000 of modern carbon would make an
infinitely old sample have an apparent age
of about 55,000 yr. Accordingly, like dates
obtained earlier, this date should be re-
garded as only a minimum, and not neces-
sarily a close minimum, age for the under-
lying Santa Matia ‘Drift.
Interdrift Sediments
In some exposures two or more drifts rest
in superposition, the contacts marked by
erosional unconformities. However, in
places the drifts are separated by sediments
of nonglacial origin, sometimes as much as
several meters thick. The sediments differ
in character from exposure to exposure, but
they commonly include well-sorted silt or
fine sand, rubbly silt, and peat and organic
silts. The sediments typically are weath-
ered, the degree of weathering being related
to the relative stratigraphic position within
the drift sequence. The silts are thought to
consist mainly of loess, but some thin and
persistent yellowish-red units are believed
to be weathered tephra layers. In some
cases, the latter contain recognizable
pumice lapilli. Buried soils within the loess-
ial silts indicate periods of relative land-
scape stability. Rubbly units are interpreted
as colluvium consisting of mixtures of loess
and reworked underlying drift. Peats and
organic silts are generally compact and
hard, and in places contain pieces of wood,
occasionally as much as 40 cm in diameter.
Inter-till peats at Punta Penas and Punta
Pelluco on the north shore of Seno
Reloncavi contain stumps of trees rooted in
place and are associated with clayey silts
and sandy gravels of lacustrine and fluvial
character. A reference section displaying
many of these general characteristics was
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION
measured between Llanquihue till and
Santa Maria till in an exposure along route
V-SO near the Pan American Highway (Fig.
2, Lot. 4; Appendix Id).
As yet too little is known about the re-
gional distribution and continuity of the
intertill sediments to infer much about their
origin or the environmental conditions
which they reflect. Although intervals of
loess accumulation may generally have
been related to glacial episodes and repre-
sent deflation of aggrading outwash sur-
faces, loess also apparently accumulated
during the last interglaciation. Analysis of
fossil pollen from eolian silts that lie above
Santa Matia till at Nueva Braunau, about 8
km west of Puerto Varas, indicates that the
silts record a warm, dry interglacial climate
and a landscape that was largely unforested
(Heusser, 1981). Buried soils associated
with the intertill sediments may record all
or part of interstades or interglaciations
when depositional activity was restricted
and relative landscape stability promoted
soil formation. In some instances, the upper
parts of interstadial or interglacial weath-
ering profiles may have been largely re-
moved during subsequent ice advances.
No radiometric dates are available for
sediments between the Caracol and Rio
Llico Drifts or between the Rio Llico and
Santa Mar-la Drifts; however, because dates
for organic matter in sediments between the
Llanquihue and Santa Marta Drifts are gen-
erally beyond the range of the radiocarbon
method, so too would be those of any sam-
ples from the older interdrift units. The
radiocarbon dates from inter-till sediments
on route V-50, which have already been
discussed, indicate that the basal sediments
at that site are more than 57,800 ?z$g yr old.
Wood from intertill sediments beneath
Llanquihue Drift at Punta Penas has been
dated as 42,400 t 500 yr old (QL- 1337),
whereas a wood sample from Punta Pel-
luco, which occupies a similar stratigraphic
position, is >40,000 yr old (UW-423). At
the former site, which is awash at high tide,
contamination of wood by marine or-
ganisms is probable.
IN CHILE 275
Peat found as clasts in gravelley outwash
and till of Llanquihue age and having 14C
ages in the range of 32,800 + 1600 to 30,400
? 1150 yr apparently formed during a
nonglacial (interstadial?) interval prior to
the Llanquihue ice advances that deposited
the enclosing drift.
Llanquihue Drift
Sediments of the last glaciation were
named Llanquihue Drift by Mercer (1976,
p. 146) following Heusser’s (1974) designa-
tion of the last major expansion of the
Andean glacier complex in the Lake Dis-
trict as the Llanquihue Glaciation. The drift
is named for Lago Llanquihue which is
bordered by arcuate moraine systems that
delineate the lobate margin of the youngest
ice cap (Fig. 2). Much of the moraine belt
has been affected by land clearance, graz-
ing, and farming, but the depositional mor-
phology is little modified. Outwash forms
broad, gently sloping plains west of the
Llanquihue moraine system, and underlies
terraces along principal .streams.
Subdivision of Llanquihue Drift on the
basis of lithologic or weathering differences
was not possible, but morphostratigraphic
and sedimentologic criteria permit it to be
separated within the mapped area into three
units of stadial rank informally designated
Llanquihue I, II, and III. These are inferred
to relate to at least three, or possibly four,
episodes of glacier advance and (or) read-
Vance, the ages of which are bracketed by
radiocarbon dates.
Llanquihue I Drift
Llanquihue I moraines lie within about 5
km of the shore of Lago Llanquihue and
generally form the outermost moraine arc,
although locally the drift limit apparently is
marked by moraines of the subsequent
Llanquihue II advance. Similar moraines
built at the limit of the Seno Reloncavi
glacier during the last glaciation lie about 10
km northwest of the marine embayment
and are believed to correlate with the Llan-
quihue I moraines of the Lago Llanquihue
lobe; locally they are characterized by
276 STEPHEN
kettle-and-kame topography with small
lakes and bogs. Exposures in Llanquihue I
moraines indicate that they typically con-
sist of stony, compact till, the clasts of
which are mostly well rounded; in places
the till directly overlies proglacial outwash
gravel from which the rounded clasts are
presumed to have been derived. The
moraines are breached in places by melt-
water channels floored with outwash that
grades back to the Llanquihue II and III
moraines (Fig. 2). The highest Llanquihue
outwash terraces west of the outer moraine
belt are related to this advance.
Although stratigraphic sections and re-
lationships of the Llanquihue Drift were
discussed by previous workers, no type
section was described. Such a section is
here designated in a road cut along route
V-50 near its junction with the Pan Ameri-
can Highway (Fig. 2, Lot. 5). In this sec-
tion, stony Llanquihue till overlies nongla-
cial sediments and tills of the Santa Maria
and Rio Llico Drifts (Appendix Ie). In this
and other exposures obvious weathering of
Llanquihue till extends to a depth of a
meter or less and consists mainly of
yellowish-brown limonite staining and dis-
continuous MnO, staining on clasts and
clast sockets. Some mica-rich granites are
weathered through, but volcanic clasts
have rinds averaging ~0.5 mm thick (Table
1). Outwash gravels show a similar degree
of alteration, with weathering generally
being confined to the top meter.
Llanquihue I drift is not yet closely
dated. Lower limiting dates are available
from several sites west of Lago Llanquihue,
but all are ambiguous. Wood in basal till at
the type section is >4O,OOfl yr old (UW-420;
Appendix Ie). Even if the till is of Llan-
quihue I age, which is not certain, the date
tells nothing about the age of the enclosing
till. Peat clasts in possible Llanquihue I till
east of Frutillar Alto have finite ages of
30,700 + 1300 and 31,700 & 1000 yr (UW-
419 and UW-430). The till underlies silty till
of Llanquihue II age that forms the land
surface and was tentatively regarded in the
field as Llanquihue I in age; if true, then the
C. PORTER
dates provide lower limiting ages for the
Llanquihue I advance. The wood beneath
Llanquihue I till west of Puerto Varas hav-
ing an age of 57,800 Zi$$ yr may indicate
that the till is less than this age; but because
the date should be regarded as a minimum
due to possible contamination, it is not de-
finitive. Two further dates of 29,600 +- 350
yr (QL-1338) and 37,400 ? 500 yr B.P.
(QL-1339) from west of Puerto Octay for
gyttja lying beneath Llanquihue gravel
which in turn is overlain by Llanquihue II
till may offer additional limiting ages for the
Llanquihue I advance. However, it is not
clear whether the gravel is of Llanquihue I
or II age; if the former, then the younger
date is a lower limiting age for the advance.
Llanquihue I drift is older than basal or-
ganic sediments in two meltwater channels
northwest of Puerto Octay that cross the
Llanquihue I moraine, but although the
oldest date of 18,900 + 370 yr (UW-418) is
thought to provide a close minimum age for
Llanquihue II drift, it does not closely limit
the age of the older drift.
A possible limiting date for the Llan-
quihue I advance in Seno Reloncavi comes
from wood in nonglacial sediments at Punta
Penas (42,400 & 500; QL-1337) that under-
lies sediments predating the Llanquihue III
advance and outwash of probable Llan-
quihue II or I age. Wood found in ice-
contact stratified drift of possible Llan-
quihue I age at Punta Pelluco is >40,000 yr
(UW-423) and >45,600 yr old. A rooted
stump from beneath the Llanquihue Drift at
this locality was dated 47,600 ?Eg yr. In
both places, however, the stratigraphic as-
signment of the deposits is open to ques-
tion.
A minimum age for the outermost drift of
the Seno Reloncavi lobe comes from basal
sediments of the Alerce I bog which are
16,085 +_ 800 yr old (I-1052). However, the
age of the drift under the bog is not known
with certainty, and could be either Llan-
quihue I or Llanquihue II.
Collectively these dates indicate that the
Llanquihue I drift was deposited more than
about 19,000 yr ago (the minimum age of
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION
the younger Llanquihue II drift), but the
lower age limit is uncertain, On the basis of
several dates, the advance could have oc-
curred after about 30,000 yr ago, but the
older suite of dates in the range of 40,000 to
58,000 yr, all of which could be regarded as
only minimum dates, leaves open the pos-
sibility that the drift is much older. The
weathering characteristics, which are es-
sentially indistinguishable from those of the
Llanquihue II drift, seem to favor a young
age, but the occurrence under the till of
well-preserved logs that are >39,000 and at
least 57,800 yr old suggests an older age.
The question will remain unresolved until
additional stratigraphic studies and radio-
metric dating are undertaken.
Llanquihue II Drijii
Llanquihue II moraines are best devel-
oped between the towns of Puerto Octay
and Llanquihue where they are fronted by
flat outwash surfaces that pass westward
through breaches in the Llanquihue
moraines to form intermediate terraces
along Rio Maullin and its eastern tributaries
(Fig. 2). Where the ice overrode proglacial
outwash, the till is stony and resembles
Llanquihue I till, but in many exposures
near and behind the crest of the moraine
system the till consists largely of lake sedi-
ments that have been strongly sheared and
folded. A typical sequence is exposed in a
reference section east of Frutillar Alto (Fig.
2, Lot. 6; Appendix If). Similar deformed
lake sediments are found within the Llan-
quihue II moraine system west of Puerto
Varas and between Frutillar and Puerto
Octay. Locally abundant dropstones in the
laminated sediments suggest that following
the Llanquihue I advance the glacier re-
treated into, but did not evacuate, the lake
basin, and that a thick lacustrine section
was deposited west of the calving ice mar-
gin. During the Llanquihue II advance, the
unconsolidated lake sediments were pushed
up, deformed, and deposited as part of the
Llanquihue II moraines.
A moraine system of the Seno Reloncavi
glacier that is inferred to correlate with
IN CHILE 277
Llanquihue II moraines can be traced dis-
continuously southwest of Puerto Montt
(Fig. 2). However, unlike the silt-rich
moraines of the Llanquihue lobe, this drift
is mainly stony till, the clasts of which
come from reworked proglacial outwash
gravel.
Close bracketing ages are available for
the Llanquihue II drift in the Lago Llan-
quihue basin. A peat clast in stratified drift
of probable Llanquihue II age (J. H.
Mercer, pers. commun., 1980) near Los
Pellines is 30,400 + 1150 yr old (I-6618) and
provides a lower limiting age. Other lower
limiting dates come from peat clasts in a
borrow pit at Frutillar Alto where proglacial
outwash underlies stony till forming the
distal slope of the Llanquihue II moraine.
One clast is 32,800 -t 1600 yr old (UW-425),
but another has an age of only 20,100 +- 500
yr (RL-116; Mercer, 1976), indicating that
the advance culminated after about 20,000
yr ago. The northernmost and higher of the
I two meltwater channels near Puerto Octay
that drained proglacial Lago Llanquihue
during early recession of the ice from the
Llanquihue II moraine is floored by peat,
the base of which has an age of 18,170 +
650 yr (GX-5274); a sample obtained earlier
from just above the base of this same de-
posit was dated 17,370 + 670 yr (RL-120;
Mercer, 1972, 1976). A nearby, but some-
what lower spillway is also floored by peat
having a basal age of 18,900 2 370 (UW-
418). Outwash in which these spillway
channels are cut is graded to the Llan-
quihue II ice limit, and the samples there-
fore provide minimum ages for that ad-
vance. Together, the dates suggest that the
outermost Llanquihue II drift was depos-
ited between about 20,000 and 19,000 ‘“C
yr ago.
No close limiting ages for the Llanquihue
II drift are available from the Seno
Reloncavi area. A date of 10,820 + 900 yr
(I-1063) was obtained from clayey sedi-
ments about 1 m above the base of the
Alerce III bog by Heusser (1966). Although
the site lies in an area underlain by Llan-
quihue II outwash, it also is an area that has
278 STEPHEN C. PORTER

been affected by late-glacial and postglacial 14,200 -t 135 yr ago, but the actual time of
lahars from Volcan Calbuco and it is un- deposition of the till is not known. A
certain whether the bog rests directly on minimum date for deglaciation following
outwash gravel or on a laharic breccia of the Llanquihue III advance of the Golfo de
younger age. Ancud lobe comes from Heusser’s (1966)
Calbuco site, where basal bog sediments
date to 12,165 + 900 yr ago (I-1062).
Only two Llanquihue moraine systems A record of events at the time of the
are recognized around the west side of Llanquihue III advance is also found along
Lago Llanquihue, but a third system has the margin of Lago Llanquihue. Mercer
been mapped inside the Llanquihue II (1976) described a succession of lake sedi-
moraines of the Seno Reloncavi lobe (Fig. ments and associated peat in the vicinity of
2). This system is characterized by exten- Puerto Varas which he interpreted as indi-
sive dead-ice terrain with numerous lakes cating an interval of ice withdrawal from
and bogs, especially in the zone where the the end moraines west of the town during
Seno Reloncavi and Golfo de Ancud lobes the “Varas interstade.” Subsequent sub-
merged. Along the north shore of the Golfo mergence of peats was inferred to mark a
de Ancud and on Isla Puluqui, elongate readvance of the glacier, possibly to a posi-
drumlinoid hills oriented northwest define tion within the lake, culminating about
former ice-flow directions across the mar- 13,000 yr ago. Restudy of the Puerto Varas
gin of the marine embayment. localities, together with additional 14C dat-
Stratigraphic evidence related to the ing, substantiates this series of events, but
Llanquihue III advance is found in the also allows the possibility of a somewhat
coastal exposure at Punta Penas where a more complex history of ice-marginal fluc-
thick section of laminated lake sediments is tuations .
exposed (Figs. 2 and 3). Radiocarbon dates A prominent terrace lying at about 74 m
of a thin bed of peat at the base of the altitude in the Puerto Varas embayment
lake sediments and plant fragments in a rises along the south side of the lake to
clay directly above indicate that organic about 100 m at Laguna La Poza, and de-
sedimentation took place from at least scends northward to about 70 m altitude at
15,400 r+_400 yr ago (W-948; see also UW- the outlet of the lake near Llanquihue
422: 15,220 +- 160 yr) to 14,200 + 135 yr ago (Figs. 2 and 4). Beyond the outlet, it can be
(UW-421), after which time rising lake wa- followed discontinuously past Puerto
ters, presumably due to advancing ice in the Octay, rising in that direction. North of
basin, terminated peat deposition and led to Llanquihue the terrace is underlain mainly
lacustrine sedimentation. Stony till of pre- by ice-contact stratified drift and has the
sumed Llanquihue III age unconformably appearance of a kame terrace. The southern
overlies the lake sediments, which are segment, however, is different in character,
strongly sheared and deformed near the for fluvial ice-contact sediments and lake
contact, at the south end of the Punta Penas clays are capped by at least three laharic
exposure. An additional sample of wood breccias that coarsen eastward from Puerto
collected west of Puerto Montt (13,900 + Varas toward Laguna La Poza, and evi-
120 yr; TK-74) may come from approxi- dently originated at Volcan Calbuco. The
mately the same stratigraphic horizon, morphology and stratigraphy indicate that
while a rooted stump beneath drift of prob- when the terrace formed, the lake basin was
ably Llanquihue III age at Quemchi on the filled with ice as far as the present shoreline
east coast of Isla Chilot is 14,200 yr old (C. and that meltwater flowed along the ice
Laugenie, pers. commun. to J. H. Mercer, front to the Rio Maullin outlet. Further-
1978). These relationships suggest that the more, the laharic eruptions must have oc-
ice advance had begun by shortly after curred while the ice front still lay against
 PLEISTOCENE
SOUTHSHORE WEST SHORE
so
30 20 10 0 ,a za 30 40
01STtlNCE FROM Rio MAULLiN OVTLET IhI
FIG. 4. Gradients of kame- and lahar-fill terraces
along the margins of Lago Llanquihue relative to the
Rio Maullin outlet.
the margin of the basin, for otherwise the
lahars would have flowed directly into the
lake opposite Volcan Calbuco, rather than
along the top of the terrace on the south and
west sides of the basin. Therefore, kame
terraces, rather than end moraines, mark
the limit of the last recognized advance of
the glacier in the Lago Llanquihue basin.
Knowledge of the timing of the glacier
fluctuations is based on interpretation of
the sedimentary sequence in the Puerto
Varas embayment. At five sections the
laharic breccias overlie massive to finely
laminated lake sediments and interbedded
peat (Fig. 5; Appendix lg). The lake sedi-
ments, which reach at least as high as 15 m
above the present lake level, locally contain
dropstones and are inferred to represent
times when the calving glacier front termi-
nated well east of Puerto Varas although
still within the lake basin. The peat layers
represent times of lowered lake level that
permitted terrestrial organic sediments to
accumuiate at altitudes at least as low as 60
m in the Puerto Varas embayment. Mercer
(1976) inferred that the peat layers seen at
different outcrops lay at approximately the
same altitude, but careful resurveying indi-
cates that they lie at various altitudes and
apparently formed in depressions or chan-
nels on the top of a lacustrine terrace prior
to deposition of the lahars. At each locality,
the peats are overlain by lake sediments,
indicating that a rise of water level termi-
nated peat formation. This rise is best ex-
plained by an advance of the glacier front
that prevented drainage via the eastern
GLACIATION IN CHILE 279
t\ BELLA VISTA
NORM
StmRE
x1 60
aLohar
ePeot,gyttja
aRhythmiteql 0
~Gravel 27 ,’
q Covered -I
0 I ? 3
FIG. 5. Map of Puerto Varas embayment showing
4km
J
location and stratigraphy of key sections, related
radiocarbon dates, and altitudes of tops of peat beds
(in meters).
outlet along Rio Petrohue and forced the
lake to drain via the Rio Maullin outlet.
The age of the uppermost peat at each
locality should indicate the approximate
time of submergence. If the ages plus one
standard deviation are plotted as a function
of altitude, the result is a sinuous curve that
can be interpreted as indicating two
episodes of advance separated by a brief
period of falling lake level, presumably re-
flecting ice retreat (Fig. 6). The initial
episode of advance began before 15,700 yr
ago when the lake level was <60 m and
culminated about 15,000-14,500 yr ago at
which time the lake level exceeded 61 m in
altitude. There followed an interval of ice
recession when the water level fell below 61
m, thereby permitting peat to form at the
Bella Vista Bluff site (~60.8 m). Rising
water terminated peat growth there shortly
after 13,965 -+-235 yr ago and subsequently
at two higher sites during the next 800 yr.
Culmination of this phase occurred some-
time after about 13,145 yr ago, by which
time the lake level had risen to at least 67 m
altitude (the approximate altitude of the Rio
280 STEPHEN
Above lake level
1% yr B.P
FIG. 6. Curve showing inferred fluctuations of lake
level in the Lago Llanquihue basin during late-glacial
time based on altitudes of highest radiocarbon-dated
peats. Dashed lines indicate la envelope.
Maullin outlet at that time), laminated lake
sediments had been laid down above the
peats at the railroad cut in Puerto Varas,
and lahars erupted by Volcan Calbuco had
been deposited across the top of the southern
segment of the ice-marginal terrace. Lami-
nated lake sediments occur between the
lahars at several places, suggesting that
lake level was still high in the Puerto Vat-as
embayment at the time of the laharic erup-
tions .
This postulated sequence of events rests
on the assumption that both the altitudes
and radiocarbon ages of the peats at the
Bella Vista Bluff, Calle Santa Rosa, and
Bella Vista Park sites are different. Al-
though the altitudes, which are based on
two or more levelings at each site, are con-
sidered accurate to within 20 cm, one can-
not rule out possible differential postglacial
deformation resulting from isostatic recov-
ery. Furthermore, at two standard devia-
tions, the radiocarbon dates for successive
pairs of sites are indistinguishable and
could be interpreted as defining a simple
curve showing continuously rising lake
level beginning sometime before 15,000 yr
ago. Therefore the postulated regression
C. PORTER
about 15,000 to 14,500 yr ago is of question-
able validity. A date of 16,270 t 360 yr
(RL-113) for wood about 2.3 m beneath the
peat at the Puerto Varas railroad bridge
plots well off the curve but may simply re-
cord the earlier part of the low-lake-level
interval when vegetation was growing at
that site.
The timing of ice retreat from the kame
terrace following the advance that culmi-
nated about 13,000 yr ago is not closely
dated. Deglaciation apparently preceded
eruption of a tephra that overlies the lahar
fill and crops out discontinuously near the
lake shore west of Ensenada. A similar
tephra encountered in peat borings at Cal-
buco, Alerce, and Los Pellines by Heusser
(1966) is probably the same layer and dates
to about 10,000 yr ago on the basis of limit-
ing 14C dates of 10,520 * 300 yr (I- 1050) and
9410 2 400 (I-1055) yr.
Heusser and Streeter (1980) have recon-
structed temperature and precipitation
trends in the Lake District for the past
16,000 yr by applying regression analysis to
pollen data from the Alerce I bog core. The
resulting trends appear consistent with the
geologic interpretations presented here.
Cold, dry conditions dating to about 16,000
yr ago were followed by a brief warm inter-
val that reverted to cooler climate cul-
minating close to 13,000 yr ago. This was
followed by a warming trend, accompanied
by increase of precipitation, that reached a
peak close to 11,300 yr ago.
At the time of high lake level, the ponded
water must have drained via the Rio
Maullin outlet which by the end of the
laharic eruptions lay at about 70 m altitude.
During ice recession, the fill at and beyond
this outlet was entrenched, thereby pro-
gressively lowering the level of the lake.
After deglaciation of the Llanquihue basin,
the lake surface apparently fell below its
present level (51 m) and the No Maullin
outlet was abandoned. Evidence in support
of this inferred event is several stream val-
leys along the south and west shores of the
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION
lake that were eroded below present lake
level and subsequently submerged as the
lake surface rose (Fig. 2). Rise of the water
level was related to construction of Calbuco
and Osomo volcanoes which in postglacial
time have deposited thick coalescing tills of
lava, Wars, and alluvium in the vicinity of
Ensenada, thereby raising the level of the
lake to that of the Rio Maullin spillway.
INTERPRETATIONS AND
CORRELATIONS
Stratigraphic Interpretations
Mercer (1976) suggested that linear topo-
graphic crests in the lowland west of Lago
Llanquihue represent end moraines of suc-
cessive ice advances, each underlain by a
different glacial drift (Fig. 7). Stratigraphic
relationships documented during the pres-
ent study suggest an alternative interpreta-
tion, namely, that a single drift, distin-
guished from older drifts by its physical at-
tributes, lies at the surface within the area
of Mercer’s Rio Frio, Colegual, and Casma
moraine belts. Furthermore, exposures at
or near the crests indicate that the surface
drift generally is no more than a few meters
thick and forms only a superficial veneer,
rather than the bulk of the landform. One or
more older drifts lie beneath the surface till
FIG. 7. Inferred stratigraphy of region between the
Cordillera de la Costa and Lago Llanquihue according
to interpretations of (a) Laugenie and Mercer (1973)
and Mercer (1976); and (b) this study. Cd = Caracol
Drift; Rd = Rio Llico Drift; Sd = Santa Marta Drift;
Lid, LIId, and LIIId = Llanquihue I, II, and II drifts,
respectively; ow = outwash (undifferentiated).
IN CHILE 281
(Figs. 7 and 8). Although the belts mapped
by Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer,
1976) may, in fact, be of morainal origin,
they are discontinuous features and might
be interpreted in several other ways:
1. They are moraines of one or both of
the oldest glacial advances that were over-
ridden during the Santa Mafia advance and
mantled with till of that age. Similar com-
pound end moraines of this type have been
reported from the drift belt near the south-
ern margin of the former Laurentide Ice
Sheet (Totten, 1969).
2. The belts of higher ground are in-
tertluves separating subparallel consequent
tributaries of Rio Maullin and merely repre-
sent the dissected remnants of an extensive
drift plain of Santa Maria age.
3. The position and relief of the topo-
graphic highs are unrelated or only partly
related to glacier activity; instead they are
surface expressions of the underlying bed-
rock. Bedrock is infrequently exposed in
the wide lowland between Lago Llanquihue
and the foothills of the Cordillera de la
Costa, but the gross topography both within
the coastal mountains and in the lowland
suggests that the Tertiary rocks are broadly
folded into a series of southeast- to east-
plunging folds (Fig. 9). The northern part of
Mercer’s Colegual moraine belt coincides
approximately with the northeast limb of an
af -Artlf,ctal f,ll
eo-Loess and tephro TO st- Santa Marl.2 t,,,
Puerto So-S anta Marta outwasl
Lt - Llonquihue till MO”,,
Is- Interdraft sed,ments Rt-Rto Llaco till
FIG. 8. Stratigraphic sections near intersection of
Routes V-5 and V-55 west of Puerto Varas showing
multiple-drift sequences in Llanquihue moraine belt
and locations of radiocarbon samples.
282 STEPHEN C. PORTER

FIG. 9. Generalized topographic map of lowland between Cordillera de la Costa and Lago Llan-
quihue showing location of inferred anticlinal and synclinal fold axes and of moraine belts mapped by
Laugenie and Mercer (1973; Mercer, 1976). Contours in meters (shaded above 250 m).

inferred plunging anticline and therefore
may be primarily a bedrock-controlled
landform (Fig. 9). Confirmation of the in-
ferred structure will require far more sub-
surface geologic data than are currently
available.
The broad topographic crests mapped by
Laugenie and Mercer could not be traced
across the Rio Maullin lowland west of
Seno Reloncavi. If they are moraines, there
is no obvious reason why they should dis-
appear in that direction. However, if they
are interfluve crests or bedrock-controlled
ridges, they should disappear in that region
of low relief. Mercer’s Rio Frio moraine
belt also could not be traced either north or
south. On the other hand, segments of the
Casma belt do appear morainal in charac-
ter, especially toward the northern limit of
the study area and in the region between the
Llanquihue limit of the Lago Llanquihue
and Seno Reloncavi ice lobes; however,
exposures in both areas are few and poor.
Unequivocal end moraines were seen only
inside the outer limit of Llanquihue Drift.
Positive linear relief features beyond that
limit may be end moraines, as inferred by
Laugenie and Mercer, but in most cases
their internal character is unknown or
poorly known and their possible origin is
ambiguous and clearly warrants further
detailed study.
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION
Regional Correlations
Critical sites on Isla Chilot were revisited
during the present study to provide a basis
for comparing the stratigraphy there with
that developed on the mainland to the
north. Relative-age parameters employed in
the southern Lake District were used to as-
sess the three drifts identified by Heusser
and Flint. Fuerte San Antonio drift, the
oldest, was examined at the type locality
and displays the same general characteris-
tics as Rio Llico Drift, including a grayish-
brown color, widespread limonite and man-
ganese oxide coatings on clasts and clast
sockets, and weathering rinds on volcanic
clasts that fall within the range of those
measured for Rio Llico Drift. Accordingly,
these drifts, each the third oldest that was
identified in its respective area, are re-
garded as correlative. Similarly, the Inter-
mediate drift on Chiloe resembles, in both
morphology and physical characteristics,
the Santa Matia Drift farther north. Mean
thickness of weathering rinds in each drift
averages 2 mm, and both have a light-
brownish-gray cast imparted by limonite
staining. The morphology and physical
character of Llanquihue drift on Chilot
match those of the type Llanquihue depos-
its at Lago Llanquihue, and the outer limit
of the drift at the north end of the island lies
exactly opposite that on the mainland, as
mapped by Heusser and Flint and recon-
firmed during the present investigation. The
radiocarbon chronology supports the cor-
relation, because dates of organic samples
collected behind the drift limit show that
some sites became ice free by about 13,000
yr ago (Heusser and Flint, 1977). The Llan-
quihue drift was not subdivided on Isla
Chiloe, although the presence of several
moraines there suggests a sequence of mul-
tiple advances like that discovered farther
north.
The apparent absence of a drift older than
the Fuerte San Antonio on Chiloe may
merely reflect the absence of critical deep
exposures and the relative inaccessibility of
the outer glaciated zone. Caracol Drift was
IN CHILE 283
not found beyond the limit of Rio Llico
Drift on the mainland, and a similar re-
lationship may exist on Isla Chilot as well.
Flint and Fidalgo (1964, 1969) described
three ofllapping drifts on the Argentine side
of the Andes between 3910 and 43”lO’S
latitude which they named, from oldest to
youngest, Pichileufu, El Condor, and
Nahuel Huapi. They were unable to locate
organic samples for radiocarbon dating, so
were forced to use relative-age criteria as a
basis for estimating the ages of the sedi-
ments. They concluded that the Nahuel
Huapi drift, which may consist of two mem-
bers, dates to the last glaciation (<25,000 yr
B.P.), whereas the two older drifts, because
they are little weathered, were thought to
date to the late Pleistocene (>25,000 yr
B.P., but falling within the Wisconsin gla-
cial age); but they suggested the possibility
that the oldest drift might be pre-Wisconsin
in age. Because the climate along the east
front of the Andes at this latitude is drier
than on the western slopes, weathering
rates probably are low, so the pre-Nahuel
Huapi drifts could be older than inferred
by Flint and Fidalgo. Although correlation
of the Argentine sequence with that near
Lago Llanquihue remains an open ques-
tion, for purposes of the present discus-
sion it is assumed that the Nahuel Huapi
and Llanquihue drifts are correlative (Fig. 1).
Llanquihue Glacier System
Dimensions
The glacier complex that developed over
the Andes during the last glaciation was
largely confined to the mountains in the re-
gion north of the Lake District, but formed
large Piedmont lobes within the Lake Dis-
trict proper, Farther south, an extensive
mountain ice field existed that extended
onto the continental shelf on the west. At
the latitude of Lago Llanquihue and Lago
Nahuel Huapi the glacier system was about
165 km wide. The ice divide probably coin-
cided approximately with the continental
divide, but the glacier system was asym-
metrical, with flow lines on the dry Argen-
 284 STEPHEN C. PORTER

tine flank of the range being shorter than

those on the Chilean slope (Figs. 1 and 10).
Ice thickness in the Chilean sector is poorly
known, in part due to the lack of detailed
mapping within mountain valleys. Ice-limit
data were compiled along the Llanquihue
flow line as far as Lago Todos 10s Santos;
through this reach the glacier surface rose
in altitude from about 150 m at the terminal
moraines bordering the lake to about 700 m
at the Andean front and to at least 900 m in
the lower basin of Lago Todos 10s Santos.
Within the basin of Lago Llanquihue,
which reportedly reaches depths of 500 m
or more, the ice may have locally been as
much as 800- 1000 m thick, and within 25 2
km of the ice divide the thickness may have ;
increased to nearly 1300 m (Fig. 10). Ice
was probably of comparable thickness in
Seno Reloncavi where water depths locally -
exceed 500 m and much of the eastern third
of the embayment is more than 300 m deep
(Instituto Hidrografico de Chile, 1968).
Snowline Depression
Glaciers in this sector of the Andes are
now largely confined to high volcanic cones
that reach or exceed 2000 m altitude, so a
substantial lowering of snowline must have
taken place during the late Pleistocene to
generate the extensive Llanquihue ice
cover. An estimate of the magnitude of
snowline depression is obtained by com-
paring the altitude of the present snowline
with that of the reconstructed snowline of
the last glacial maximum.
The position of the modern snowline is
estimated from the median altitude of
glaciers lying on the flanks of Volcan Cal-
buco, Volcan Osorno, Cerro Puntiagudo,
Cerro Tronador, and Cerro Bonete which
fall close to a line trending east from the
western shore of Lago Llanquihue to the
eastern shore of Lago Nahuel Huapi (Fig.
10). Along this transect the median altitude
of glaciers rises inland from about 1900 m at
I .P
a
Volcan Calbuco to about 2250 m at Cerro A- A 4 i ’ I Q
Bonete, representing a slope of about 4.4 2 $ 8 :: g g g
m/km. This value is close to that (4 m/km) P4 3allllllw
estimated independently by Rabassa et al.
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION
(1980) for the sector between 41”20’ and
41”30’.
A reliable reconstruction of the Llan-
quihue snowline cannot yet be made, for
the extent and dtitudinal distribution of the
glacier system within the Andes are imper-
fectly known. Nevertheless, an estimate of
its approximate position can be obtained.
The drainage basin that contributed ice to
the Llanquihue lobe can be delineated, as
can the extent of the Piedmont lobe in the
lowland. If the accumulation-area ratio of
the glacier is assumed to have been ap-
proximately 0.65 (ratio of accumulation
area to total area of glacier = 2:3), then the
steady-state equilibrium line should have
been situated close to the mountain front
and within the lower basin of Lago Todos
10s Santos. As the reconstructed ice-
surface profile in this reach lies at approxi-
mately 900 m altitude, this value may ap-
proximate the equilibrium-line altitude for
the glacier in this sector. An alternate ap-
proach is to assume that the median altitude
of the glacier would have approximated the
steady-state equilibrium-line altitude. The
glacier terminated at about 150 m altitude,
and the highest part of its accumulation
area must have been at altitudes where
glaciers exist today (ca. 2000 m). The me-
dian altitude of the glacier system would
therefore have been about 925 m on the
Chilean slope. Although these independent
estimates are similar, they should be con-
sidered only as approximations and subject
to refinement. If the Llanquihue snowline
rose eastward with the same gradient as the
modern snowline, an as-yet unproved as-
sumption, then it would have involved a
lowering of some 1000 m below that of the
present (Fig. 10). This figure falls within the
range of calculated values for snowline de-
pression in other middle-latitude mountain
ranges (e.g., Porter, 1975) and is therefore
regarded as a reasonable preliminary esti-
mate.
Terminal Fluctuations
Available radiocarbon dates provide par-
tial control on the timing of marginal fluctu-
IN CHILE 285
ations of the Lago Llanquihue lobe during
the last glaciation. The advances occurred
during an interval when glacier systems
elsewhere in the world were also ex-
periencing second-order variations. The
radiocarbon dates make it possible to con-
struct a discontinuous time series for the
lobe between about 25,000 and 10,000 yr
ago (Fig. 11) which shows culminations of
advances being reached between about
20,000 and 19,000 yr ago and shortly after
13,008 yr ago. A possible additional read-
Vance or stillstand about 15,000 to 14,500 yr
ago is suggested by 14C-dated lake-level
data.
The glacial-geologic time series resem-
bles a record of oxygen-isotope variations
in the Dome C ice core from East Ant-
arctica (Fig. 11; Lorius et al., 1979). The
Dome C core was taken from a site having
relatively simple glacier-flow conditions
and therefore may be more reliably dated
than the better-known core from Byrd Sta-
LLANPUIHUE
DOME c ICE CORE
LOBE
I F---J I I
FIG. 11. Discontinuous time series showing termi-
nal fluctuations of Lago Llanquihue glacier lobe based
on controlling radiocarbon dates (solid circles) com-
pared with curve of oxygen-isotope variations in Dome
C ice core from East Antarctic Ice Sheet (Lorius et al.,
1979, Fig. 2). Ice-core time scale estimated from sim-
ple ice-flow model assuming variable rate of accumu-
lation; ages based on assumption of constant rate of
accumulation are shown in brackets. Dashed lines
show possible correlations of the two paleoclimatic
 286 STEPHEN
tion in West Antarctica for which several
different time scales have been proposed
based on different ice-flow models and in-
volving different basic assumptions (e.g.,
Robin, 1977). In the Dome C record, low
isotopic values representing the last glacial
maximum pass upcore to higher values
representing the change to postglacial cli-
matic conditions, the transition beginning
about 15,000 yr ago according to the esti-
mated time scale. A prominent second-
order peak, regarded by Lorius et al. as one
of several “significant isotopic events,”
dates to about 13,000-12,000 yr ago (Fig.
11) and also appears in a core from Vostock
Station (East Antarctica) (Robin, 1977, Fig.
15). This isotopic event may correlate with
the Llanquihue III advance in Chile which
culminated at about this time. The Llan-
quihue II advance, which culminated about
19,000-20,000 yr ago, may in turn correlate
with the most negative part of the Dome C
isotope curve which has an estimated age of
about 18,200-20,000 yr. An intermediate
peak, with an estimated age of 14,400-
15,000 yr, falls at the time of the postulated
readvance or stillstand of the ice lobe in
the Lago Llanquihue basin. Although other
peaks in the isotope curve may equate with
glacier advances in southern Chile, possible
correlations are not as obvious because the
ice-core chronology becomes less reliable
with increasing depth and the Llanquihue I
advance is not yet closely dated.
Ice Recession
The timing and character of ice recession
in the Lago Llanquihue basin and the
mountain source region following the Llan-
quihue III advance have not yet been
studied in detail, but certain inferences can
C. PORTER
be made. With a change from dominantly
positive to dominantly negative mass bal-
ance at the end of the final ice advance, the
glacier terminus is presumed to have pulled
back from the western shore of the lake and
begun to calve. Calving may have been
slow at fust due to shallow water depths,
but as the receding front reached deeper
water, the calving rate may have increased.
Although Lago Llanquihue and Lago Todos
10s Santos are now separated by a threshold
of lavas and volcanic detritus from Osomo
and Calbuco volcanoes, the fill is partly
postglacial, so the ‘two basins may not have
been as widely separated during deglacia-
tion. Once the glacier became ungrounded
from the western shore of Lago Todos 10s
Santos, further terminal recession would
have carried the front far back into the
interior of the range. Calving may have
been enhanced by isostatic depression,
which along the flow line could have
amounted to 150 m or more. If deglaciation
of the main trough took place before sub-
stantial isostatic recovery occurred, then a
terminal retreat of some 80 to 90 km in
water depths that substantially exceeded
those of the present lake basins might have
encompassed only a brief time interval. A
comparable recession is likely to have oc-
curred along the Seno Reloncavi flow line,
where a long fjord-like arm of the sea ex-
tends inland to the region southeast of Vol-
can Calbuco (Fig. 1). Such rapid ice retreat
would have been analogous to that doc-
umented at Glacier Bay, Alaska, since the
end of the 18th century (Field, 1976) and
would have led to extensive breakup of the
Andean glacier system at this latitude, pos-
sibly well before the end of the Pleistocene
Epoch.
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION IN CHILE 287

APPENDIX la: TYPE SECTION OF CARACOL DRIFT*

Thickness
Unit Description (cm)
I Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/4) 130
2 Colluvium, stony, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (1OYR
514) loo

Rio Llico Drift

3 Till, stony, olive-brown (2.5YR 4/4) 170

Caracol Dri’
4 Till, stony with Iissile, sandy matrix; dusky-red (1OR 312) to
yellowish-orange (IOYR 6/6); locally dense concentra-
tions of MnO, f&ing voids and clast sockets; pebbles and
small cobbles rotted to center; mean rind thickness on
larger clasts = 17 mm; clasts reach diameter of 25 cm and
include volcanic and granitic lithologies, but many un-
identifiable due to intensity of weathering 340 t
Base of borrow pit
* Borrow pit at 225 m altitude on Route V-610 just west of Caracol and 2.8 km south of junction of Routes
V-610 and V-510 on Cordillera de Zarao 1:50,000 scale topographic map.

APPENDIX lb. TYPE SECTION OF Rio LLICO DRIFT*

Thickness
Unit Description (cm)
Rio Llico Drif
1 Till, stony, moderate-yellowish-gray (5Y 7/4) to brownish-
gray (5YR 4/l); strong horizontal fissility; most clasts are
pebbles and cobbles, but some boulders (to 25cm diam-
eter); weathering variable depending on compactness and
permeability; clast sockets and clast surfaces coated with
limonite; MnO* mottling and veins throughout unit; small
pebbles (~2 cm) commonly weathered through, but large
clasts may have fresh, unweathered cores; mean rind
thickness in upper 1.5 m = 9.4 mm, but decreases to 3.8
mm at base of unit; clasts include basalt, andesite, rhyo-
lite, porphyry, and granite; rinds best developed on apha-
nitic andesite and basalt; granite clasts weathered to core;
local lenses of sandy gravel are dark-yellowish-orange
(1OYR 6/6) with matrix weathered to clay 300
Silt, hard, laminated, dark-yellowish-brown (1OYR 4/2); 7-cm
layer of pebbly sand in middle; small pellets of MnO*,
probably weathered pebbles, scattered in sand 30
Till, stony, like Unit 1; largest boulder 25 x 80 cm in longest
dimensions; many clasts with IO-mm rinds (mean thick-
ness = 10.1 mm near top of unit) 300 +
Base of borrow pit
* Borrow pit at 140 m altitude on north side of Route V-440 about 100 m west of Route V-46 and 1.2 km north-
west of Rio Llico on Cordillera de Zarao 1:50,000 scale topographic map.
 APPENDIX Ic: TYPE SECTION OF SANTA MARlA DRIFT*
Thickness
Unit Description (cm)
1 Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/4), with
two dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 4/4) buried B soil hori-
zons 300
2 Colluvium, gravelly, with loamy matrix 10
3 Sand, olive-brown (2SY 414) o- 10
4 Silt and sand, laminated; dark-olive-brown (2SY 3/4) o- 10
Santa Manh Drifr
5 Till, compact, very stony; generally massive but locally fis-
sile; light-olive-gray (5Y 6/l), weathering to yellowish-
brown (IOYR 6/4); clasts mainly cobbles and pebbles, but
scattered boulders to 80-cm diameter; clasts largely vol-
canic, with granite <lo%; yellowish-orange (IOYR S/6) to
dark-yellowish-orange (10YR 6/6) limonite fills fissile part-
ings and coats clasts and clast sockets; weathering rinds
on volcanic clasts average 1.9 mm thick 200
Intertill sediments
6 Silt, laminated, dusky-yellowish-brown (IOYR 2/2) and gray-
ish-orange (IOYR 714) to dark-yellowish-orange (1OYR
6/6); mottled with MnO* 25
Rio Llico Drift (?)
7 Clay, pebbly, dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 4/2); clasts
weathered to core; mottled with MnO, 70
8 Gravel, mostly pebbles and small cobbles of volcanic lithol-
ogies; weathering rinds 2-5 mm thick O-200 +
Base of exposure
* Roadcut at 100-m altitude on north side Route V-50 directly beneath San Ambrosio cemetery on Tepual
1:50,000 scale topographic map.

APPENDIX Id: REFERENCE SECTION OF PRE-LLANQUIHUE, POST-SANTA MARiA

INTERDRIFT SEDIMENTS’
Thickness
Unit Description (cm)
1 Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/6) 100
Llanquihue Drift
2 Till, stony, dark-yellowish-brown (1OYR 4J2) 200
Interdrift sediments
3 Silty clay, mottled dark-yellowish brown (IOYR 3/2) to mod-
erate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/4) 30
4 Cobble-pebble gravel, light-brown (5YR 5/6) 10
5 Organic silts, dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 3/2), sandy and
pebbly near base 140
6 Peat, dark-brown (IOYR 3/3); wood in unit dates
57,800 Z&9” yr (QL-1336) 10
7 Silt, possibly tephra, dark-yellowish-orange (IOYR 6/6) 10
8 Sandy clayey silt, probably loess; mottled dark yellowish
brown (IOYR 4/2) to light brown (5YR 5/6) 70
9 Silt, possibly tephra, dark-yellowish-orange (IOYR 6/6);
MnO* concentrations near base 5
IO Sandy, clayey silt, like Unit 7; moderate-yellowish-brown
(IOYR 5/4) 65
Santa Maria Drift
11 Till, stony; contains granite boulders as large as 130 cm 130 +
Base of exposure
* Section measured on south side of Route V-50 about 50 m west of junction with Route 5. Units pinch and
swell laterally, and vary considerably in thickness. Tepual 1:50,000 scale topographic map.
288
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION IN CHILE 289

APPENDIX le: TYPE SECTION OF LLANQUIHUE DRIFT’

Thickness
Unit Description km)
-
I Loess, loamy, with scattered pebbles; moderate-yellowish-
brown (IOYR 5/6); stony in lower part; probably contains
admixed tephra; depth of solum = 75 cm 100
Llanquihue Driff
2 Till, compact, stony, with sandy silty matrix; dark-yellow-
ish-brown (IOYR 4/2); pronounced horizontal fissility;
78% of clasts are volcanic rocks (andesite, basalt, dacite),
the remainder being granite and gneiss; largest boulder 60-
cm diameter; clasts mostly rounded to subrounded, and
probably are reworked outwash gravel; weathering rinds
on volcanic clasts are ~0.5 mm thick; limonite stain on
base of clasts and clast sockets; discontinuous MnOZ
staining on some clasts; a few local lenses of cross-strati-
tied sand and silt; unit is probably a meltout till 170
3 Till, massive, stony, compact; dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR
6/2); higher percentage of cobbles and boulders than in
Unit 2; largest boulder 150 cm in diameter; rare limonite
and MnO* staining on undersides of some clasts; rinds on
volcanic clasts mostly CO.5 mm; fissility not as pro-
nounced as in Unit 2; large number of wood fragments in
basal 30 cm (>40,000 yr B.P.; UW-420) probably derived
from gyttja of underlying unit; this unit interpreted as a
basal till 250
Intertill sediments
4 Peat and organic silts with wood fragments 30
5 Silt, probably mostly weathered tephra 70
Santa Maria Drift
6 Till, compact, stony; hard, sandy matrix; grayish-brown
(2.5Y 5/2); clasts mainly cobbles, but some boulders up to
80-cm diameter; limonite encrusts clasts and clast sockets,
and tills voids in matrix; discontinuous MnO* staining;
rinds on volcanic clasts 2-4 mm thick 220
Rio Llico Drif
7 Till, stony, olive-brown (2.5Y 4/4); matrix weathered to
clay and mottled with MnO*; unit typically weathers flush
to face of exposure; rinds on volcanic clasts average 10
mm and tend to spall off when stones are removed from
exposure; clasts and clast sockets coasted with MnQ loo t
Base of exposure
* Roadcut along south side of Route V-50 300 m east of junction with Pan American Highway (Route 5).
Tepual 1:50,000 scale topographic map.
 290 STEPHEN C. PORTER

APPENDIX If: REFERENCE SECTION OF LLANQUIHUE II DRIFT’

Thickness
Unit Description (cm)
1 Loess, loamy, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 514) 70
2 Colluvium, stony, moderate-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/6) 25
Lianquihue II Drift
3 Lacustrine sand, silt, and clay; sheared and locally folded;
contains dropstones up to 20-cm diameter (to 50 cm in
nearby sections); sediments dip vertically in outcrops up-
slope; medium-gray (N5) weathering to light-gray (N7),
and to light-brown (5YR 5/6) or moderate-yellowish-
brown (IOYR 5/4) along shear surfaces 200
4 Pebble-cobble gravel, yellowish-orange (IOYR 8/6); unit is
discontinuous; contains one boulder 1.5 m in diameter o-100
Llanquihue I Drifr
5 Till, hard, compact, stony, olive-gray (5Y 4/l); contains
granite boulders to 2-m diameter; clasts of dark-brown
peat up to 30 x 250 cm in size date 30,700 f 1300 (UW-419),
and 31,700 2 1000 (UW-430) yr B.P. 40-200
6 Pebble-cobble gravel, cross-stratified, dark-yellowish-
brown (IOYR 4/2); moderately well sorted 300 +
Base of exposure,
* Roadcut at about 125 m altitude on south side of Route V-25 0.9 km west of Lago Llanquihue on Frutillar
1:50,000 scale topographic map.

APPENDIX lg: REFERENCE SECTION OF LLANQUIHUE 111SEDIMENTS

AT BELLA VISTA PARK, PUERTO VARAS
Thickness
Unit Description km)
1 Loess, loamy, dark-yellowish-brown (IOYR 4/4) 150-200
2 Tephra, sandy, light-yellowish-brown (IOYR 5/7); probably
same unit dated ca. 10,000 yr B.P. in nearby bogs by
Heusser (1966) 15
Llanquihue sediments and interstratijied lahars
3 Lahar, sandy; crude vertical grading 170
4 Lahar, sandy; pebbles and cobbles at base; erosional chan-
nels s2-m deep in unit 5 mostly tilled by this lahar O-90
5 Lahar, sandy, pebbly; contains medium-gray pumice lapilli,
especially near base; fine silt loam at top oxidized moder-
ate yellowish brown (IOYR 5/4) 190
6 Lahar, sandy, pebbly; like unit 5 110
7 Rhythmites, laminated, medium- to light-gray (NS-N7); rip-
ples and locally cross-stratified; dark-gray (N3) cross-
stratified coarse sand locally appears at base (at RR sec-
tion (Fig. 8) a lens of pebble-cobble gravel ~1 m thick at
this level) 85- 140
8 Lahar, sandy, dark-gray (N4); angular andesite clasts,
especially near base, to 20 cm in diameter; vertically
graded, with well-sorted, medium-coarse sand at top 200-300
9 Rhythmites, even-laminated, light- to dark-gray (N3-N7) 60- 150
10 Peat and peaty silts; very dusky red purple (5RP 212); abrupt
contact at top, gradational at base; peat dated at 15,715 -C
 PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION IN CHILE 291

APPENDIX Ig-Continued
Thickness
Unit Description (cm)

440 yr B.P. (GX-5275) at park, 13,965 + 235 (UW-481) at

bluff to south 4-20
11 Sand, medium to coarse, dark-gray (N3) 100
12 Rhythmites, even-laminated; light- to dark-gray (N3-N7);
unit contains dropstones at railroad section 350 +
Base of exposure (strongly deformed lake sediments are visible to east in shallow water (~50 cm deep) near
margin of Lago Llanquihue)
* Upper part of section exposed in main part of Bella Vista Park above and to south of monument: lower
part of section (below unit 10) measured in bluff about 75 m farther south. Puerto Montt 1:50,000 scale topo-
graphic map.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Flint, R. F.. and Fidalgo, F. (1964). Glacial geology of

This study was supported by the National Science
Foundation under grant EAR7602655 to New York
University. I am indebted to Carlos Mordojovich K.
and the Empresa National de1 Petroleo (ENAP) for
arranging logistic support in Chile. Calvin J. Heusser,
Linda E. Heusser, Mario Marino P., and Anne H.
Porter aided in the collection and evaluation of
geologic data. Eleven new 14Cdates were provided by
Arthur W. Fairhall and four by Minze Stuiver, both of
the University of Washington. George Kukla (Colum-
bia University) and Ronald T. Merrill (University of
Washington) conducted the paleomagnetic analyses of
intertill silt samples. This report was completed while I
was a Visiting Scholar at Scott Polar Research Insti-
tute and a Visiting Fellow in Clare Hall, University of
Cambridge. Chalmers M. Clapperton, Calvin J. Heus-
ser, and John H. Mercer kindly reviewed a draft of this
paper and provided helpful recommendations.
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