干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The palynological analysis of a core collected in a palm swamp, named Lacador Palm Swamp, Buritizeiro, State of Minas Gerais, resulted in the establishment of a paleoenvironmental evolutionary model for the Late Quaternary of the Chapaddo dos Gerais region, in the Cerrado Biome. Two stages of climate colder than the present were recorded, one at the end of the Pleistocene (ca. 13,250 cal. years BP) and the other one between Ca. 11,500 and 10,500 cal. years BP. Interspersed with these colder phases, there were two periods marked by the growth of the palm swamp under a hot and semi-humid climate (similar to the current climate in Chapadao dos Gerais region). In the late Holocene, after ca.7,000 cal. years BP, a hot and dry climate was recorded by an increase in herbs associated with the retraction of the palm swamp and the presence of arboreal elements adapted to semi-arid climates. The comparison with palynological data from previous studies allowed to investigate the influence of regional climate changes.