Blowin' in the Wind: Mapping the Dispersion of Metal(loid)s From Atacama Mining.

The Atacama Desert's naturally elevated metal(loid)s pose a unique challenge for assessing the environmental impact of mining, particularly for indigenous communities residing in these areas. This study investigates how copper mining influences the dispersion of these elements in the wind-transportable fraction (<75 μm) of surface sediments across an 80 km radius. We employed a multi-pronged approach, utilizing spatial modeling to map element distributions, exponential decay analysis to quantify concentration decline with distance, regime shift modeling to identify dispersion pattern variations, and pollution assessment to evaluate impact.

The first peoples of the Atacama Desert lived among the trees: A 11,600- to 11,200-year-old grove and congregation site.

In deserts, water has been singled out as the most important factor for choosing where to settle, but trees were likely an important part of the landscape for hunter-gatherers beyond merely constituting an economic resource. Yet, this critical aspect has not been considered archaeologically. Here, we present the results of mapping and radiocarbon dating of a truly unique archaeological record.

When another one bites the dust: Environmental impact of global copper demand on local communities in the Atacama mining hotspot as registered by tree rings.

Assessing the impact of mining activity on the availability of environmental pollutants is crucial for informing health policies in anticipation of future production scenarios of critical minerals essential for the transition to a net-zero carbon society. However, temporal and spatial monitoring is often sparse, and measurements may not extend far enough back in time. In this study, we utilize variations of chemical elements contained in tree-rings collected in local villages from an area heavily affected by copper mining in the Atacama Desert since the early 20th century to evaluate the temporal distribution of pollutants and their relationship with local drivers.

1000 years of population, warfare, and climate change in pre-Columbian societies of the Central Andes.

Different Andean societies underwent processes of expansion and collapse during propitious or adverse climate conditions, resource boost or depletion along with population variations. Previous studies have emphasized that demographic collapses of polities in the Central Andes Area were triggered by warfare and the negative impacts of fluctuating climate (droughts) on crop productivity. Nevertheless, the interactions between climatic variability, demography and warfare have been less thoroughly evaluated.

Positive feedbacks in deep-time transitions of human populations.

Abrupt and rapid changes in human societies are among the most exciting population phenomena. Human populations tend to show rapid expansions from low to high population density along with increased social complexity in just a few generations. Such demographic transitions appear as a remarkable feature of population dynamics, most likely fuelled by the ability to accumulate cultural/technological innovations that actively modify their environment.

Towards understanding human-environment feedback loops: the Atacama Desert case.

The overall trajectory for the human-environment interaction has been punctuated by demographic boom-and-bust cycles, phases of growth/overshooting as well as of expansion/contraction in productivity. Although this pattern has been explained in terms of an interplay between population growth, social upscaling, ecosystem engineering and climate variability, the evoked demographic-resource-complexity mechanisms have not been empirically tested. By integrating proxy data for population sizes, palaeoclimate and internal societal factors into empirical modelling approaches from the population dynamic theory, we evaluated how endogenous (population sizes, warfare and social upscaling) and exogenous (climate) variables module the dynamic in past agrarian societies.

Impact of mining on the metal content of dust in indigenous villages of northern Chile.

Indigenous communities from northern Chile have historically been exposed to the impacts of massive copper industrial activities conducted in the region. Some of the communities belonging to the Alto El Loa Indigenous Development Area are located less than 10 km from the "Talabre'' tailings dam, which contains residues from copper production and other metals that can be toxic to human health (e.g.

p3k14c, a synthetic global database of archaeological radiocarbon dates.

Archaeologists increasingly use large radiocarbon databases to model prehistoric human demography (also termed paleo-demography). Numerous independent projects, funded over the past decade, have assembled such databases from multiple regions of the world. These data provide unprecedented potential for comparative research on human population ecology and the evolution of social-ecological systems across the Earth.

Synchronization of energy consumption by human societies throughout the Holocene.

We conduct a global comparison of the consumption of energy by human populations throughout the Holocene and statistically quantify coincident changes in the consumption of energy over space and time-an ecological phenomenon known as synchrony. When populations synchronize, adverse changes in ecosystems and social systems may cascade from society to society. Thus, to develop policies that favor the sustained use of resources, we must understand the processes that cause the synchrony of human populations.

The pre-Columbian introduction and dispersal of Algarrobo (Prosopis, Section Algarobia) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.

Archaeological and palaeoecological studies throughout the Americas have documented widespread landscape and environmental transformation during the pre-Columbian era. The highly dynamic Formative (or Neolithic) period in northern Chile (ca. 3700-1550 yr BP) brought about the local establishment of agriculture, introduction of new crops (maize, quinoa, manioc, beans, etc.

Perennial stream discharge in the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile during the latest Pleistocene.

A large fraction of the vital groundwater in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile is likely composed of "fossil" or "ancient" reserves that receive little or no recharge in today's hyperarid climate. Here, we present evidence for latest Pleistocene perennial streamflow in canyons from the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Fluvial terraces in the Pampa del Tamarugal (PdT) basin (21 degrees S) contain widespread fossil wood, in situ roots, and well preserved leaf litter deposits indicative of perennial surface flow currently absent in these channels.