Comment on "Rapid Uplift of the Altiplano Revealed Through 13C-18O Bonds in Paleosol Carbonates"

Thierry Sempere (1) , A. Hartley , Pierrick Roperch (1, 2)

1 LMTG - Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transfert en Géologie
2 GR - Géosciences Rennes

Based on stable isotope measurements, Ghosh et al. (Reports, 27 January 2006, p. 511) concluded that the Bolivian Altiplano uplifted 3 to 4 kilometers between 10.3 and 6.7 million years ago as a result of gravitational loss of dense lithosphere. This result stands at odds with current geological knowledge of the Central Andes, and we propose a test for the reliability of the paleoaltimetry method.

Domains: Geochemistry; Global Changes; Tectonics

Thierry Sempere, A. Hartley, Pierrick Roperch. Comment on "Rapid Uplift of the Altiplano Revealed Through 13C-18O Bonds in Paleosol Carbonates". Science, 2006, 314 (5800), pp.760. ⟨10.1126/science.1132837⟩. ⟨insu-00261216⟩