Forests of the tropical eastern Andean flank during the middle Pleistocene

Inter-bedded volcanic and organic sediments from Erazo (Ecuador) indicate the presence of four different forest assemblages on the eastern Andean flank during the middle Pleistocene. Radiometric dates (40Ar–39Ar) obtained from the volcanic ash indicate that deposition occurred between 620,000 and 19...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, 2014-01, Vol.393, p.76-89
Main Authors: Cárdenas, Macarena L., Gosling, William D., Pennington, R. Toby, Poole, Imogen, Sherlock, Sarah C., Mothes, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amazon
Ecuador
Fire
Neotropics
No analogue
Pollen
Woodland
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Summary:Inter-bedded volcanic and organic sediments from Erazo (Ecuador) indicate the presence of four different forest assemblages on the eastern Andean flank during the middle Pleistocene. Radiometric dates (40Ar–39Ar) obtained from the volcanic ash indicate that deposition occurred between 620,000 and 192,000years ago. Examination of the organic sediment composition and the fossil pollen, wood and charcoal it contains provides insight into depositional environment, vegetation assemblage and fire history. The high organic content and abundance of macro fossils found throughout the sediment suggest that during the period of deposition the local environment was either a swamp or a shallow water body. The correlation of fire activity (peaks in charcoal abundance) with volcanic ash deposits through most of the record suggests that volcanoes were the main source of ignition. The low abundance of grass (typically
ISSN:0031-0182
1872-616X
DOI:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.10.009