Paleovegetation seesaw in Brazil since the Late Pleistocene: A multiproxy study of two biomes

Paleovegetation studies in Brazil have been mostly based on pollen analysis and geochemical proxies in lacustrine and soil records. These records, however, are sparsely located in the continent and, in most of the cases, centered over the Holocene, giving a minor picture of past vegetation since the Last Glacial Maximum. Stalagmites have been long used as recorders of paleoprecipitation and monsoon activity over time in tropical and subtropical South America by using δ¹⁸O analyses, but recently they also showed the potential to record past vegetation and soil changes through the combined use of δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. We utilize this new approach to determine the periods of paleovegetation transition and soil development in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) biome from central Brazil. Our results show a coherent period of transition from sparser vegetation and shallower soil above the cave to denser vegetation and thicker soil since the last deglaciation circa 15 ka BP. The timing of this transition is different from the multiproxy evidence found in the Caatinga (dry forest) biome, in northeastern Brazil, circa 4.2 ka BP, resulting in a period of paleovegetation seesaw pattern between central and northeastern regions of Brazil. Additionally, atmospheric pCO₂ and temperature variations may have played a major role on the paleovegetation transition in the Cerrado region whereas precipitation linked to the Intertropical Convergence Zone was the major modulator of paleovegetation in the Caatinga.