Integrated quantitative models for quaternary fluvial sedimentation and the distribution of the varzea and terra firme biomes in Western and central Amazonia

• Grant number: 18/02197-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2018
• End date: February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Renato Paes de Almeida
• Grantee: Ariel Henrique Do Prado
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The cause of the great Biodiversity of vertebrates in the Amazon is still a matter of discussion. The understanding of evolutionary models for the physiographic environments and their influence on the evolution of biogeographic patterns can help to clear the subject. Established models for the geology of the Amazonian plain support the idea that the stable transcontinental drainage system was formed about 10 Ma ago. However, a geogenomic approach based on age estimates for Terra Firme vertebrate speciation episodes reveals a picture of successive emergence of large tributaries of the Amazon River as barriers from the last 5 Ma to the present. This hypothesis contradicts the view of stability previously proposed and raises a question of extreme relevance: what geological processes can explain this genetic evidence? In this context, models of physiographic evolution may indirectly explain the evolution of biogeography and clarify which external factors exert greater controls in the distribution of biomes and in the isolation of populations. For this evaluation, a numerical model will be used to reconstruct the relationships among the drainage systems at the regional scale, erosional and depositional processes, climatic and eustatic controls, adapted for the evaluation of the influences of these processes in the aggradation of the alluvial plains, incision of valleys and formation of river terraces. Thus, it is possible to indirectly reconstruct the evolution of areas with different types of environments in different scenarios, allowing for the evaluation of external controls in the dynamics of physiographic environments and biomes. This innovative approach brings potential impacts to a range of disciplines and can help solving key issues in the sedimentary geology and biogeography of the Amazon. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(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)

DO PRADO, ARIEL HENRIQUE; DE ALMEIDA, RENATO PAES; TAMURA, LARISSA NATSUMI; GALEAZZI, CRISTIANO PADALINO; IANNIRUBERTO, MARCO. Interpretation software applied to the evaluation of shallow seismic data processing routines in fluvial deposits. BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY, v. 49, n. 2, 2019. (17/06874-3, 14/16739-8, 16/03091-5, 18/02197-0, 12/50260-6)

TAMURA, LARISSA N.; ALMEIDA, RENATO P.; GALEAZZI, CRISTIANO P.; FREITAS, BERNARDO T.; IANNIRUBERTO, MARCO; PRADO, ARIEL H.. Upper-bar deposits in large Amazon rivers: Occurrence, morphology and internal structure. SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY, v. 387, p. 1-17, JUN 1 2019. (16/19736-5, 14/16739-8, 18/02197-0, 17/06874-3, 16/03091-5, 12/50260-6)

GALEAZZI, C. P.; ALMEIDA, R. P.; DO PRADO, A. H.. Linking rivers to the rock record: Channel patterns and paleocurrent circular variance. GEOLOGY, v. 49, n. 11, p. 1402-1407, NOV 1 2021. (18/23899-2, 16/03091-5, 18/02197-0, 17/06874-3)

DO PRADO, ARIEL HENRIQUE; DE ALMEIDA, RENATO PAES; GALEAZZI, CRISTIANO PADALINO; SACEK, VICTOR; SCHLUNEGGER, FRITZ. Climate changes and the formation of fluvial terraces in central Amazonia inferred from landscape evolution modeling. EARTH SURFACE DYNAMICS, v. 10, n. 3, p. 15-pg., 2022-06-02. (18/02197-0, 18/23899-2, 17/06874-3, 16/03091-5)

Academic Publications

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

PRADO, Ariel Henrique Do. Numerical model of alluvial terrace and valley evolution applied to the Quaternary of Central Amazonia. 2020. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Geociências (IG/BT) São Paulo.