A continuous paleoclimatic history for the past 14,000 years is presented based on palynological records from south of latitude 50-degrees-S in South America. Prior to 12,500 yr B.P. dry Empetrum heathlands, not mesic tundra, dominated throughout the high southern latitudes, indicating high winds, annual precipitation of less than 300 mm, and freezing temperatures year-round. After 12,500 yr B.P. steppe replaced the heathlands, suggesting decrease in wind intensity, increase in effective moisture, and increase in temperatures. When forests expanded at 9000 yr B.P. along the rainward side, and at 8000 yr B.P. in the rainshadow side of the Andes, precipitation reached Holocene levels. Judging from the greater openness of the early Holocene forests, including those in the rainward part of the region precipitation levels probably ranged between 500 and 800 mm, comparable to those from today's forest/steppe transition. After a pronounced mid-Holocene dry event, the late Holocene forests appeared more closed than the early Holocene forests, suggesting greater effective moisture, probably related to cooler temperatures. The high latitude paleoclimatic history differs from that of lower latitudes as far as the actual amplitude of change and the climatic signal is concerned. Low moisture levels prior to 12,500 yr B.P. between latitudes 45-degrees and 55-degrees-S suggest that the westerly stormtracks responsible for precipitation patterns in southern South America may have been located year-round closer to the equator than today. The precipitation increase at 12,500 yr B.P. that extended only as far south as 50-degrees-S, indicates that the stormtracks had shifted poleward, but did not reach Tierra del Fuego. By 9000 yr B.P. the stormtracks had shifted to the high southern latitudes, but the large seasonal latitudinal shift comparable to the modem situation - equatorwards in winter and polewards in summer - did not develop until after 4500 yr B.P.
