The Chita tuff was deposited in Lake Tauca at altitude approximately 15,650 years BP, when the lake may have been regressing. Another tuff of uncertain age was deposited above Tauca-age sediments and tufas at the southeastern Salar de Coipasa. Data from Tunupa indicate that lake levels stabilized between 17,000 and 16,000 years ago. A lake-level drop occurred by 14,500 BP, with the lake drying between then and 13,800 years ago. Rising temperatures and a drop in precipitation were the likely triggers of lake and glacial retreat at the end of Heinrich event One. In contrast, data from the Uyuni-Coipasa basin indicate that water levels peaked 13,000 years ago. The drying of Lake Tauca has been linked to the Bølling-Allerød climate period and increased wildfires on the Altiplano; Lake Titicaca may have dropped beneath its outflow, cutting off the water supply to Lake Tauca. Glacial retreat at the beginning of the Holocene may also have been a contributing factor. As the lake receded, decreased evaporation (and cloud cover) would have enabled sunlight to increase the evaporation rate, further contributing to a decline in lake surface area.