Reconstituição paleoambiental da vegetação costeira na foz dos rios Santa Maria da Vitória e Jucu durante o holoceno médio e tardio, Estado do Espírito Santo, Brasil

Abstract

Climate and sea level changes may have caused significant alterations in coastal morphology and mangrove distribution on the central coast of Espírito Santo State, Brazil. Therefore, this study aims to identify the dynamics of coastal vegetation during the middle and late Holocene, in the Santa Maria da Vitória and Jucu rivers. For this purpose, 14C dates, sedimentary data and pollen data were used, obtained from two sedimentary cores, called RSMV (340 cm) and JUCU (190 cm). During the middle Holocene, around 7245-7368 cal years BP, the relative sea level (SSL) was above the current level, resulting in the development of mangroves in the RSMV core region. However, around 2699-2787 cal years BP, with the regression of the SSL, the mangrove area moved to topographically lower regions. Another determining factor for the reduction of these areas during this period to date was human intervention. In the JUCU core region, mangrove forests were identified between 2188-2332 cal yr BP, initially colonized by Laguncularia. Thus, in this context, the dynamics of vegetation and sediments are associated with fluctuations in relative sea level and climate change throughout the Holocene.