Assinatura de paleovegetação em testemunho turfoso no Parna das Araucárias - Ponte Serrada/SC

Abstract

This paper presents the results of palynological and stratigraphic analysis carried out in the Araucárias National Park in Ponte Serrada, Santa Catarina, located in the Araucaria Subtropical Plateau. The objective of this research was to characterize the paleoenvironment of the core area of the Mixed Ombrophilous Forest, located in the Araucárias National Park – Ponte Serrada, Santa Catarina, over the last 34,000 years. Every 10 cm, the color of the material was described using the Munsell Color Chart; wet particle size analysis was performed; organic matter content was determined by H2O2 dispersion and weight loss on ignition; the radiocarbon age was determined by AMS, and an age-depth model was developed using the rbacon package. Palynomorph analyses followed standard chemical processing routine in Quaternary Palynology, and Taxonomic identification of palynomorphs was performed to the lowest possible hierarchical level, within an 8 cm interval. TILIA 3.0.3 and CONISS software were used to analyze the palynological data. The materials presented colors ranging from black to very dark gray, with a high organic matter content. From a granulometric point of view, the sediments were classified as mud, according to the textural classification proposed by Flemming (2000), and the radiocarbon age at the base was 29,470 years BP ± 90 years (34,009 Cal years BP). Therefore, based on cluster analysis, four environmental phases were established. Since the Upper Pleistocene, the climate has been mild with humidity, which has changed to increasing temperatures in the present. The results indicate that the campo forest mosaic has always been present, dominated by the Campos, corroborating research already carried out in other locations in the mid-west and west of Santa Catarina, in the interior of the Araucaria Subtropical Plateau.