The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Paleoenvironmental trends in Venezuela during the last glacial cycle

Paleoenvironmental trends in Venezuela during the last glacial cycle
Paleoenvironmental trends in Venezuela during the last glacial cycle

This chapter summarizes and updates the main Quaternary paleoclimatic and sea-level trends recorded in Venezuela, and provides a paleoenvironmental framework for studies addressing biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary topics. Venezuela has a number of localities that have provided paleoenvironmental sequences in the neotropical, circum-Caribbean domain, such as the Cariaco basin, Lake Valencia, the Mérida Andes, and the Guayana region (e.g., Markgraf 2001). Venezuela encompasses a wide range of physiographic, climatic, and biogeographic conditions because of its geographic location. This spatial heterogeneity has led to complex, but interesting, paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Previous paleoenvironmental reviews (Rull 1996, 1999a) identified several thematic areas that needed further attention: modern analog studies with numerical calibrations, consistent evidence for the period before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), high-resolution records for the last millennium, and coordinated multiproxy studies. This review is focused on recent advances in these topics carried out during the last decade. This is not an exhaustive review, containing all the published paleoenvironmental studies, but is an attempt to identify the significant, welldocumented climate/environment events and trends. The time frame considered is from the last glacial cycle, ca. 70,000 years onward, which is the period with more reliable, well-dated paleoclimatic evidence. Paleoenvironmental interpretations from poorly dated records are not considered here. Whenever possible, ages are presented as calibrated (or calendar) years or kiloyears before present (cal yr BP or ka BP); otherwise, radiocarbon years or kiloyears before present (14C yr or ka BP) are used. The review begins with a section on present-day environmental conditions, with emphasis on the relationship between climate and vegetation, a necessary aspect for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. This review is far from exhaustive, but provides the information necessary to understand the sections that follow. The second section is an account of the available paleoenvironmental evidence discussed by region. This basic information has been written by researchers currently working on the paleoecology and paleoclimatology of each area. The final section summarizes and organizes the information in a chronological perspective, from the last glaciation to the present, to identify events that are well established, as well as those that need additional research.

52-83
Indiana University Press
Rull, Valentí
afd31aba-0540-4788-abea-f5f9e3ec3021
Abbott, Mark B.
3cc55c60-688c-4438-86af-896856f75e07
Vegas-Vilarrúbia, Teresa
f1a5df04-58b9-4d16-823c-47c193f63f01
Bezada, Maximiliano
75487058-24ac-48b3-9c1e-2b4abd0d89e4
Montoya, Encarni
7f93c60f-cc9c-4c5f-bb43-e42a38872e8e
Nogué, Sandra
5b464cff-a158-481f-8b7f-647c93d7a034
González, Catalina
c06f7251-17fe-47c2-9565-93bb94782fd8
Rull, Valentí
afd31aba-0540-4788-abea-f5f9e3ec3021
Abbott, Mark B.
3cc55c60-688c-4438-86af-896856f75e07
Vegas-Vilarrúbia, Teresa
f1a5df04-58b9-4d16-823c-47c193f63f01
Bezada, Maximiliano
75487058-24ac-48b3-9c1e-2b4abd0d89e4
Montoya, Encarni
7f93c60f-cc9c-4c5f-bb43-e42a38872e8e
Nogué, Sandra
5b464cff-a158-481f-8b7f-647c93d7a034
González, Catalina
c06f7251-17fe-47c2-9565-93bb94782fd8

Rull, Valentí, Abbott, Mark B., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, Teresa, Bezada, Maximiliano, Montoya, Encarni, Nogué, Sandra and González, Catalina (2010) Paleoenvironmental trends in Venezuela during the last glacial cycle. In, Urumaco and Venezuelan Paleontology: The Fossil Record of the Northern Neotropics. Indiana University Press, pp. 52-83.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

This chapter summarizes and updates the main Quaternary paleoclimatic and sea-level trends recorded in Venezuela, and provides a paleoenvironmental framework for studies addressing biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary topics. Venezuela has a number of localities that have provided paleoenvironmental sequences in the neotropical, circum-Caribbean domain, such as the Cariaco basin, Lake Valencia, the Mérida Andes, and the Guayana region (e.g., Markgraf 2001). Venezuela encompasses a wide range of physiographic, climatic, and biogeographic conditions because of its geographic location. This spatial heterogeneity has led to complex, but interesting, paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Previous paleoenvironmental reviews (Rull 1996, 1999a) identified several thematic areas that needed further attention: modern analog studies with numerical calibrations, consistent evidence for the period before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), high-resolution records for the last millennium, and coordinated multiproxy studies. This review is focused on recent advances in these topics carried out during the last decade. This is not an exhaustive review, containing all the published paleoenvironmental studies, but is an attempt to identify the significant, welldocumented climate/environment events and trends. The time frame considered is from the last glacial cycle, ca. 70,000 years onward, which is the period with more reliable, well-dated paleoclimatic evidence. Paleoenvironmental interpretations from poorly dated records are not considered here. Whenever possible, ages are presented as calibrated (or calendar) years or kiloyears before present (cal yr BP or ka BP); otherwise, radiocarbon years or kiloyears before present (14C yr or ka BP) are used. The review begins with a section on present-day environmental conditions, with emphasis on the relationship between climate and vegetation, a necessary aspect for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. This review is far from exhaustive, but provides the information necessary to understand the sections that follow. The second section is an account of the available paleoenvironmental evidence discussed by region. This basic information has been written by researchers currently working on the paleoecology and paleoclimatology of each area. The final section summarizes and organizes the information in a chronological perspective, from the last glaciation to the present, to identify events that are well established, as well as those that need additional research.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 1 December 2010

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 445888
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/445888
PURE UUID: 2e1ba682-f914-4e3a-8962-8e27e70aac21
ORCID for Sandra Nogué: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0093-4252

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 13 Jan 2021 17:31
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:54

Export record

Contributors

Author: Valentí Rull
Author: Mark B. Abbott
Author: Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia
Author: Maximiliano Bezada
Author: Encarni Montoya
Author: Sandra Nogué ORCID iD
Author: Catalina González

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×