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Amazonian Paleodunes Provide Evidence for Drier Climate Phases during the Late Pleistocene–Holocene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Arnaldo Carneiro Filho*
Affiliation:
INPA-CPEC, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Coordenação de Ecologia, Laboratório de Paleoecologia e Ecologia da Paisagem, cx. postal 478, Manaus, AM, 69011-830, Brazil
Dominique Schwartz
Affiliation:
Université Louis Pasteur, Faculté de Géographie, 3, Rue de l'Argonne, Strasbourg, 67000, France
Sonia H. Tatumi
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Vidros e Datações, FATEC, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 01124-060, Brazil
Thierry Rosique
Affiliation:
Université Louis Pasteur, Faculté de Géographie, 3, Rue de l'Argonne, Strasbourg, 67000, France
*
1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: carneiro@inpa.gov.br.

Abstract

Recent studies on relict eolian dunes in the Rio Negro basin, northern Amazon, Brazil (00°35′N, 63°14′W), indicate a drier climate regime during the Late Pleistocene–Holocene transition that is different from the present humid climate. The eolian sands form long chains of linear dunes bordering the Rio Negro River and some tributaries. Here, we present thermoluminescence (TL) ages spanning the period 32,000–8000 yr B.P. The final dune stabilization took place after 8,000 yr B.P. and now the bases of the dunes are fixed by vegetation. Clustering of the TL dates suggests that the dry climate in the Amazon Basin occurred in distinct episodes and argues against current opinions that drastic ecological changes did not affect in the Amazon during the last global glaciation.

Type
Short Paper
Copyright
University of Washington

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