Miocene Landscape, Temperature and Plant Biodiversity in the Neotropics

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Miocene Landscape, Temperature and Plant Biodiversity in the NeotropicsCarlos Jaramillo, Smithsonian Institution Understanding the Neogene history of Amazonia is essential for understanding the evolution of the rainforest. This is one of the most species diverse areas on Earth. The PI seeks a better understanding about the paleogeography of the Amazon. He wishes to determine if during the Miocene (25-5 Ma) the Amazon was a shallow sea inundated from the north by the Caribbean Sea, or whether it was a giant freshwater lake. The PI also wishes to determine if the temperature 17-14 Ma was 3-4° Celsius higher than today as it was at higher latitudes. Commensurate with these hypotheses is whether plant diversity was greater in the Miocene than today. The PI will study two areas in the Llanos (with 4500 meters of stratigraphy) and one site in Urumaco (with 9000 meters of stratigraphy), Colombia. The PI wishes to determine whether the Amazon was flooded by the Caribbean Sea from the north, or alternatively if the Amazon was a giant freshwater lake during various intervals of the Miocene Epoch. Palynology and sedimentology will be used as a proxy to identify a shallow sea or freshwater lake. There will likewise be a study of Middle Miocene (17-14 Ma) temperature to determine if it was tied to a major global warming event using the TEX86 method. Oxygen isotope analysis of coexisting mammalian tooth enamel and fish scales will also be evaluated. This project includes a well-developed international collaboration involving scientists from the USA, Colombia, Panama, Brazil, and Holland. Training of a graduate student and a postdoctoral researcher represents important components of this grant. Their careers will greatly benefit from international networking opportunities and the extended exchange of ideas with PI and collaborators of this grant. This research will be useful for biologists working in the Amazon, climate modelers, plant physiologists, conservationists and evolutionary biologists. Chronostratigraphic results of this project will improve the geological community?s understanding of the regional structural geology and tectonics.