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- Title
Holocene Environmental Changes from the Rio Curuá Record in the Caxiuanã Region, Eastern Amazon Basin.
- Authors
Behling, Hermann; da Costa, Marcondes Lima
- Abstract
Holocene environments have been reconstructed by multiproxy studies of an 850-cm-long core from Rio Curuá dating to >8000 14 C yr B.P. The low-energy river lies in the eastern Amazon rain forest in the Caxiuanã National Forest Reserve, 350 km west of Belém in northern Brazil. Sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical dates demonstrate that the deposits correspond to two different environments, sediments of an active river before 8000 14 C yr B.P. and later a passive river system. The pollen analytical results indicate four different local and regional Holocene paleoenvironmental periods: (1) a transition to a passive fluvial system and a well-drained terra firme (unflooded upland) Amazon rain forest with very limited development of inundated forests (várzea and igapó) (>7990–7030 14 C yr B.P.); (2) a sluggish river with a local Mauritia palm-swamp and similar regional vegetation, as before (7030–5970 14 C yr B.P.); (3) a passive river, forming shallow lake conditions and with still-abundant terra firme forest in the study region (5970–2470 14 C yr B.P.); and (4) a blocked river with high water levels and marked increase of inundated forests during the last 2470 14 C yr B.P. Increased charcoal during this last period suggests the first strong presence of humans in this region. The Atlantic sea level rise was probably the major factor in paleoenvironmental changes, but high water stands might also be due to greater annual rainfall during the late Holocene.
- Publication
Quaternary Research, 2000, Vol 53, Issue 3, p369
- ISSN
0033-5894
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1006/qres.1999.2117