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Forest changes in the Amazon Basin during the last glacial maximum

Nature volume 318, pages 556–557 (1985)Cite this article

Abstract

We report here the discovery of forest beds in the Amazon Basin radiocarbon dated to the Wisconsin–Würm glaciation. These are the first dates from the last glaciation determined on Amazonian samples. The locality is in Ecuador, at 1,100 m elevation, near the upper limit of the present Amazonian rainforest. Both pollen spectra and Podocarpus wood in the deposits suggest that vegetation comparable to the present Andean forest grew at least 700 m lower than it does now, suggesting a temperature depression of at least 4.5 °C for the Amazon lowlands.

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Author notes

  1. Kam-biu Liu

    Present address: Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, The Ohio State University, 484 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43210, USA

    Kam-biu Liu & P. A. Colinvaux

Authors
  1. Kam-biu Liu
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  2. P. A. Colinvaux
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Liu, Kb., Colinvaux, P. Forest changes in the Amazon Basin during the last glacial maximum. Nature 318, 556–557 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/318556a0

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