Hydrologic variability and sediment supply of the Xingu and Tapajós rivers: climate change and anthropogenic impacts in eastern Amazon rivers during Holocene

• Grant number: 16/11141-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): September 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: André Oliveira Sawakuchi
• Grantee: Dailson José Bertassoli Junior
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/50180-5 - Xingu: integrating land use planning and water governance in Amazonia: towards improved freshwater security, AP.PFPMCG.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 17/25735-4 - Organic geochemistry analysis to reconstruct hydroclimate changes across eastern and western Amazon during the last 4,000 years, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The Amazon Rainforest and the Amazon River System are unique ecosystems supporting the world´s largest terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. Those ecosystems also have an important role for the global climate system and precipitation distributionin South America. The Xingu and Tapajós Rivers are the largest clear water tributaries of the Amazon River. Both rivers stand out due to their specific biodiversity, unique landscape and as the main sources of surface water for agriculture and energy generation in eastern Amazon. Due to their socioeconomic importance, the Xingu andTapajós basins are threatened by the increasing anthropogenic impacts associated with the planning or building of hydropower dams and expansion of agropastoral activities. Future climate scenarios projected for eastern Amazon indicate increasing frequency of severe droughts and reduction of water availability. Thus, there construction of Holocene hydroclimate in the Xingu and Tapajós basins is a critical issue to understand the response of clear water Amazon rivers to future climate and anthropogenic changes. Severe hydroclimate and vegetation changes can threat surface water availability as well as promote shifts in sedimentation and carbon cycling, affecting ecosystems. This project will use sediment cores to reconstruct the Holocene hydroclimate in the Xingu and Tapajós watersheds through the application of proxies based on isotope analysis of organic specific-compounds, luminescence of minerals and inorganic geochemistry (major elements). These proxies will allow reconstructing changes in precipitation, vegetation and sediment supply. Age models will be constrained by radiocarbon and luminescence ages. Changes in precipitation, vegetation and sediment supply will be compared to global climate events and changes in the South American Monsoon System recorded by other climate records. Changes in the last century will be compared to deforestation rates in the Xingu and Tapajós Basins. (AU)

Scientific publications

(6)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

HAGGI, CHRISTOPH; SCHEFUSS, ENNO; SAWAKUCHI, ANDRE O.; CHIESSI, CRISTIANO M.; MULITZA, STEFAN; BERTASSOLI JR, DAILSON J.; HEFTER, JENS; ZABEL, MATTHIAS; BAKER, PAUL A.; SCHOUTEN, STEFAN. Modern and late Pleistocene particulate organic carbon transport by the Amazon River: Insights from long-chain alkyl diols. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, v. 262, p. 1-19, OCT 1 2019. (16/11141-2, 12/17517-3, 12/50260-6)

PUPIM, F. N.; SAWAKUCHI, A. O.; ALMEIDA, R. P.; RIBAS, C. C.; KERN, A. K.; HARTMANN, G. A.; CHIESSI, C. M.; TAMURA, L. N.; MINELI, T. D.; SAVIAN, J. F.; et al. Chronology of Terra Firme formation in Amazonian lowlands reveals a dynamic Quaternary landscape. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, v. 210, p. 154-163, APR 15 2019. (14/23334-4, 16/11141-2, 15/18314-7, 14/05582-0, 12/17517-3, 16/09293-9, 12/50260-6)

NIYONZIMA, P.; SAWAKUCHI, A. O.; BERTASSOLI JR, D. J.; PUPIM, F. N.; PORAT, N.; FREIRE, M. P.; GOES, A. M.; RODRIGUES, F. C. G.. Luminescence dating of quartz from ironstones of the Xingu River, Eastern Amazonia. QUATERNARY GEOCHRONOLOGY, v. 67, FEB 2022. (16/02656-9, 19/04059-6, 19/24349-9, 19/24977-0, 18/15123-4, 16/11141-2, 18/12472-8)

DE ARAUJO, KLEITON R.; SAWAKUCHI, HENRIQUE O.; BERTASSOLI, JR., DAILSON J.; SAWAKUCHI, ANDRE O.; DA SILVA, KARINA D.; VIEIRA, THIAGO B.; WARD, NICHOLAS D.; PEREIRA, TATIANA S.. Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and emission in the newly constructed Belo Monte hydropower complex in the Xingu River, Amazonia. BIOGEOSCIENCES, v. 16, n. 18, p. 3527-3542, SEP 18 2019. (16/11141-2, 16/02656-9)

BERTASSOLI, JR., DAILSON J.; SAWAKUCHI, HENRIQUE O.; DE ARAUJO, KLEITON R.; DE CAMARGO, MARCELO G. P.; ALEM, VICTOR A. T.; PEREIRA, TATIANA S.; KRUSCHE, V, ALEX; BASTVIKEN, DAVID; RICHEY, JEFFREY E.; SAWAKUCHI, ANDRE O.. How green can Amazon hydropower be? Net carbon emission from the largest hydropower plant in Amazonia. SCIENCE ADVANCES, v. 7, n. 26, JUN 2021. (19/24977-0, 18/18491-4, 16/02656-9, 19/24349-9, 11/14502-2, 14/21564-2, 15/09187-1, 18/15123-4, 16/11141-2)

BERTASSOLI, JR., D. J.; SAWAKUCHI, A. O.; CHIESSI, C. M.; SCHEFUSS, E.; HARTMANN, G. A.; HAEGGI, C.; CRUZ, F. W.; ZABEL, M.; MCGLUE, M. M.; SANTOS, R. A.; et al. Spatiotemporal Variations of Riverine Discharge Within the Amazon Basin During the Late Holocene Coincide With Extratropical Temperature Anomalies. Geophysical Research Letters, v. 46, n. 15, p. 9013-9022, AUG 16 2019. (16/11141-2, 17/25735-4, 17/50085-3, 14/23334-4, 16/02656-9)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

BERTASSOLI JUNIOR, Dailson José. Mudanças climá¡ticas e antrópicas no leste da Amazônia durante o Holoceno tardio. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Geociências (IG/BT) São Paulo.