Dune morphogenesis in the SE Pacific record south shifted southern westerlies during the Antarctic Isotope Maxima (AIM) interstadials

Reconciliation of the southern and northern mechanisms of abrupt climate change is challenging, but the Southern Westerly Winds (SWW) variability stands with a main role in deciphering interhemispheric teleconnections. Normally focused as a polar interhemispheric debate, the southern middle latitudes are usually ignored in the millennial scale climate oscillations problem, despite they record the mobility of northern margin of SWW precipitation bearing belt in association with Antarctic and Southern Ocean variability. The SWW plays a central role for redistributing the Southern Ocean – atmosphere heat interchange globally through their role in atmospheric CO2, Antarctic circumpolar circulation and meridional overturning Circulation (AMOC) intensity in association with Southern Ocean front’s location. Nonetheless, we lack fundamental understanding of the SWW variability through the last glacial cycle and their linkage to the global climate system. Here, we produced a luminescence chronology in the paleodune and paleosol record of Ventanas II in the SE coastal Pacific (Chile, 32ºS) that track the latitudinal variability of the SWW in association with the high-latitude oscillations. Our findings consistently show dune morphogenesis occurs tied to Antarctic Isotope Maxima (AIM) interstadials that disrupt the otherwise stable southern glacial humid climate mode encompassed by long duration (multi-millennial) soil development. This record provides better insights into the interhemispheric mechanisms of climate change and the role of the SWW in driving the observed climate patterns during the ice age.