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Actualistic Taphonomy in South America pp 111–138Cite as

Actualistic Taphonomy of Plant Remains in Tropical Forests of Southeastern Brazil

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Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 48))

Abstract

Studies in the accumulation of plants developed in tropical forests promote understanding the origin of elements that integrate the accumulation time of layers, and the physical and chemical processes that interfere in their formation. Thus, studies were conducted in meandering rivers located in the state of São Paulo. Accumulations of leaves found in point bars were collected in the Mogi-Guaçu, Capivari and Itanhaém (Branco, and Preto rivers) hydrographic basins and 14C dated. The leaves were classified in morphotypes and taxonomically organized. In all assemblages, the leaves belong to arboreal vegetation near the deposit with well-preserved leaves, being in decimetric thickness layers deposited along the 1950s, and possibly trend associated with years of high precipitation. The preservation of the assemblages is related to changes in the level of the water table and the chemical composition of water.

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Acknowledgements

The authors of the current chapter thank the São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP for the funding support provided to carry out the researches presented through FAPESP Processes 01/09881-2. “Environmental Study in the Itanhaém River estuary, South Coast of the State of São Paulo”; FAPESP 2007/07190-9. “Characterization of accumulations of plant remains in Rio Preto, Itanhaém, SP: elaboration of a distribution model using geotechnology tools“; FAPESP 2010/20379-6. “Quaternary paleoenvironmental analysis of the Cerrado/Atlantic Forest in the Municipality of Mogi-Guaçú, SP”; FAPESP 2013/22729-2. “Evolution of the quaternary plain and groundwater dynamics of the Mogi-Guaçu river, SP”, and FAPESP 2016/20927-0 “Studies of modern accumulations and bioclast fossils in continental and coastal environments”. We are also grateful for the collaboration of the Forestry Institute for the research at the Mogi-Guaçu Experimental Station (MGES), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for granting research fellowships (303527/2017-0), and the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for the doctoral fellowship awarded. Finally we would like to thank the referees for their suggestions that helped to improve this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Geociências Universidade Estadual de Campinas-UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    Fresia Ricardi-Branco, Francisco Santiago Rios & Sueli Yoshinaga Pereira

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  1. Fresia Ricardi-Branco
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  2. Francisco Santiago Rios
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  3. Sueli Yoshinaga Pereira
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Correspondence to Fresia Ricardi-Branco .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Sergio Martínez

  2. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Alejandra Rojas

  3. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Fernanda Cabrera

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Ricardi-Branco, F., Rios, F.S., Pereira, S.Y. (2020). Actualistic Taphonomy of Plant Remains in Tropical Forests of Southeastern Brazil. In: Martínez, S., Rojas, A., Cabrera, F. (eds) Actualistic Taphonomy in South America. Topics in Geobiology, vol 48. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20625-3_7

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