Influence of Late Pleistocene climate changes on the Amazon vegetation

• Grant number: 19/19948-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Eduardo de Oliveira
• Grantee: Thomas Kenji Akabane
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/15123-4 - Past perspectives on tipping elements of the climate system: the Amazon Rainforest and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (PPTEAM), AP.PFPMCG.JP2
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/13129-8 - Late Quaternary fire regime in tropical South America, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

During the late Pleistocene, several vegetation shifts occurred in the Amazon in response to the series of climatic oscillations that affected both hemispheres. Since the vegetation intrinsically relates to the climate, past climatic oscillations invariably affected plant communities. However, an open question remains concerning how and to what extent these interactions took place due to the scarcity of high-resolution data. The Amazon River delivers large amounts of pollen to the Atlantic Ocean from the different ecosystems that cover the Amazon Basin. Therefore, adjacent marine deposits potentially register changes in floristic composition over extensive areas of the basin. In the presently proposed project, the palynological, phytolith, and charcoal content of sediment samples from the marine sediment core GeoB16224-1 will be analyzed. This core was retrieved from the continental slope of French Guiana, located northwest of the Amazon River mouth. This study aims to investigate the vegetation response to the climate changes that marked the late Pleistocene, between ca. 47-12.8 ka. In order to evaluate the impact of millennial climate fluctuations, such as Heinrich and Dansgaard-Oeschger events, a resolution of ~250 years will be adopted. Already published data from the GeoB16224-1 will be compared and integrated with the results obtained in this project, which include inorganic and organic geochemistry data that demonstrate the suitability of this file for paleoenvironmental reconstitutions of the Amazon. (AU)

Scientific publications

(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)

BERTASSOLI, D. J., JR.; HAEGGI, C.; CHIESSI, C. M.; SCHEFUSS, E.; HEFTER, J.; AKABANE, T. K.; SAWAKUCHI, A. O.. Controls on the distributions of GDGTs and n-alkane isotopic compositions in sediments of the Amazon River Basin. CHEMICAL GEOLOGY, v. 594, p. 12-pg., 2022-04-05. (16/02656-9, 19/24349-9, 19/24977-0, 16/11141-2, 19/19948-0, 18/15123-4, 18/23899-2, 17/25735-4)

KERN, ANDREA K.; AKABANE, THOMAS KENJI; FERREIRA, JAQUELINE Q.; CHIESSI, CRISTIANO M.; WILLARD, DEBRA A.; FERREIRA, FABRICIO; SANDERS, ALLAN OLIVEIRA; SILVA, CLEVERSON G.; RIGSBY, CATHERINE; CRUZ, FRANCISCO W.; et al. A 1.8 million year history of Amazon vegetation. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, v. 299, p. 18-pg., 2023-01-01. (12/50260-6, 19/24349-9, 18/15123-4, 14/05582-0, 15/18314-7, 19/19948-0)

Academic Publications

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

AKABANE, Thomas Kenji. Vegetation and fire responses to late Quaternary climate changes in the neotropics: a palynological and microcharcoal approach. 2024. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Geociências (IG/BT) São Paulo.