The changing course of the Amazon River in the Neogene: center stage for Neotropical diversification

Albert, James S.; Val, Pedro; Hoorn, Carina

doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20180033

James S. Albert

Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette. LA 70504, USA. jalbert@louisiana.edu, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5477-1749 (corresponding author).

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5477-1749

Pedro Val

Geosciences Research Division, University of California, San Diego, CA La Jolla 92093, USA. pval@ufop.edu.br

Departamento de Geologia, Escola de Minas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto 35400-000, MG, Brazil.

Carina Hoorn

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. M.C.Hoorn@uva.nl

Edited by

Brian Sidlauskas

Figures (7)
Tables (1)

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Fig. 1
Geological map of northern South America. a. Geological units that formed the provenance area for the sediment input into the Amazon subaqueous delta and submarine fan (adapted from Hoorn et al., 2017Hoorn CM, Bogotá-A GR, Romero-Baez M, Lammertsma EI, Flantua SGA, Dantas EL, Dino R, do Carmo DA, Chemale F Jr. The Amazon at sea: Onset and stages of the Amazon River from a marine record, with special reference to Neogene plant turnover in the drainage basin. Glob Planet Change [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 153:51-65. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.02.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017... ). FAB, Foz do Amazonas Basin. b. Schematic longitudinal section (orange bar) of the Amazon river basin showing sedimentary basins and structural arches (adapted from Wanderley‐Filho et al., 2010Wanderley‐Filho JR, Eiras JF, da Cruz Cunha PR, van der Ven PH. The Paleozoic Solimões and Amazonas basins and the Acre foreland basin of Brazil. In: Hoorn CM, Wesselingh FP, editors. Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution: A look into the past. New York: John Wiley & Sons ; 2010. p.29-37.; Caputo, Soares 2016Caputo MV, Soares EAA. Eustatic and tectonic change effects in the reversion of the transcontinental Amazon River drainage system. Braz J Geol . 2016; 46(2):301-28. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-4889201620160066
https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-48892016201... ).

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Fig. 2
Summary of terrigenous signals from drilling cores near the mouth of the Amazon River. Sediment dating of cores in the Amazon Fan (red; Hoorn et al., 2017Hoorn CM, Bogotá-A GR, Romero-Baez M, Lammertsma EI, Flantua SGA, Dantas EL, Dino R, do Carmo DA, Chemale F Jr. The Amazon at sea: Onset and stages of the Amazon River from a marine record, with special reference to Neogene plant turnover in the drainage basin. Glob Planet Change [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 153:51-65. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.02.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017... ) and Ceará Rise (blue; van Soelen et al., 2017van Soelen EE, Kim J-H, Santos RV, Dantas EL, de Almeida FV, Pires JP, Roddaz M, Damsté JSS. A 30 Ma history of the Amazon River inferred from terrigenous sediments and organic matter on the Ceará Rise. Earth Planet Sci Lett [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 474:40-48. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.0... ). a. Ratios of stable Neodymium isotopes expressed in epsilon notation: eNd(0). b. Crustal residence times (𝝉DM). Note values of both parameters change through time according to the provenance of the preserved terrigenous material. eNd(0)<-15 and a 𝝉DM>1.67 Ga reflect a primarily cratonic source. Both the Amazon Fan and Ceará Rise record significant changes away from a cratonic source (towards an Andean source) by c. 9-7 Ma.

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Fig. 3
Principle landforms controlling basin connectivity in northern South America. Structural arches (dashed lines) of diverse geological origins partially bounding sedimentary basins. Sedimentary basins in orange draining to the Caribbean; in yellow to the Atlantic. Structural arches and sedimentary basins from Costa Menegazzo et al. (2016Menegazzo MC, Catuneanu O, Chang HK. The South American retroarc foreland system: the development of the Bauru Basin in the back-bulge province. Mar Petrol Geol. 2016; 73:131-56.) and Jaramillo et al. (2017Jaramillo C, Romero I, D’Apolito C, Bayona G, Duarte E, Louwye S, Escobar J, Luque J, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Zapata V, Mora A, Schouten S, Zavada M, Harrington G, Ortiz J, Wesselingh FP. Miocene flooding events of western Amazonia. Sci Adv [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 3(5):e16016932017. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601693
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601693... ). Note the Guiana Shield is composed mostly of the northern Amazon Craton, the Brazilian Shield by the southern Amazon craton, and the Atlantic Shield by the São Luís, São Francisco, Luís Alves and Río de la Plata cratons, all overlaid in parts with Paleozoic sedimentary formations.

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Fig. 4
The changing courses of rivers in northern South America through the Neogene. Reconstructions based on paleogeographic history of major sedimentary basins. a. Early and Middle Miocene (20.4-9.0 Ma). North-trending Sub-Andean river basin orange; east-trending Eastern Amazon river basin yellow. b. Late Miocene (9.0-5.3 Ma). East-trending transcontinental Amazon river basin (Stage 1). c. Middle Pliocene - Recent (c. 4.5-0 Ma). East-trending transcontinental Amazon river (Stage 2).

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Fig. 5
Summary of hydrological connections among major sedimentary basins of northern South America through the Neogene. Caribbean-draining Andean foreland basins in orange. Atlantic-draining basins contributing to transcontinental Amazon in yellow. Other north Atlantic-draining basins in shades of green. South Atlantic-draining (La Plata) basins in blue. Connectivity as a block-design landscape evolution model at right preserving general spatial relationships. Red arrows depict predominant direction of sediment and water flow. Double-headed arrow indicates bidirectional connections during that time interval. Vicariance events when basins of the same color change to different colors between time intervals; geodispersal events when basins with different colors change to same color. Connections of basins in grey are poorly constrained by available data. Basin in white is entirely marine. “W. Amazon” refers to the combined Putumayo, Napo, Marañón and Ucayali sedimentary basins, “Llanos” to the combined Llanos, and Barinas/Apure basins, “Amazonas” to the combined Amazonas and Marajo basins, and “Essequibo” to the Proto-Berbice basin. Sedimentary basins with four letter abbreviations at left in top panel. Base-maps with modern coastlines and topography to facilitate orientation.

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Fig. 6
Mega-wetland systems of modern tropical South America. a. Mean number of months of inundation (from Miguez-Macho, Fan, 2012Miguez‐Macho G, Fan Y. The role of groundwater in the Amazon water cycle: 1. Influence on seasonal streamflow, flooding and wetlands. J Geophys Res Atmos [serial on the Internet]. 2012; 117(D15):1-30. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JD017539
https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JD017539... ). Simulated flooding frequency as number of months per year over the 10-year period, 2001-2010. b. Schematic depiction of 15 largest mega-wetlands (>10,000 km²); intensity of blue shading proportional to average annual duration of inundation. Cartographic conventions as in . Note highly fragmented distribution of mega-wetlands on the modern landscape, and localization of mega-wetlands towards center of larger sedimentary basins.

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Fig. 7
Growth of mega-wetlands in northern South America. Geological time scale at top. Eustatic sea-level estimates from Zachos et al. (2001Zachos J, Pagani M, Sloan L, Thomas E, Billups K. Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present. Science . 2001; 292(5517):686-93.). Area estimates of for Atlantic and Caribbean draining mega-wetlands from paleogeographic reconstructions in Wesselingh, Hoorn (2010Wesselingh FP, Hoorn C, Kroonenberg SB, Antonelli A, Lundberg JG, Vonhof HB, Hooghiemstra H. On the origin of Amazonian landscapes and biodiversity: A synthesis. In: Hoorn C, Wesselingh FP (Eds). Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution: A look into the past ; 2010. p.421-31. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.) and Hoorn et al. (2017Hoorn CM, Bogotá-A GR, Romero-Baez M, Lammertsma EI, Flantua SGA, Dantas EL, Dino R, do Carmo DA, Chemale F Jr. The Amazon at sea: Onset and stages of the Amazon River from a marine record, with special reference to Neogene plant turnover in the drainage basin. Glob Planet Change [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 153:51-65. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.02.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017... ), and for the Orinoco basin by Jaramillo et al. (2017Jaramillo C, Romero I, D’Apolito C, Bayona G, Duarte E, Louwye S, Escobar J, Luque J, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Zapata V, Mora A, Schouten S, Zavada M, Harrington G, Ortiz J, Wesselingh FP. Miocene flooding events of western Amazonia. Sci Adv [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 3(5):e16016932017. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601693
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601693... ). Caribbean- draining Andean foreland basins in orange; Atlantic-draining basins contributing to transcontinental Amazon in yellow. Areas estimated using ImageJ (Abràmoff et al., 2004Abràmoff MD, Magalhães PJ, Ram SJ. Image processing with ImageJ. Biophotonics Intern. 2004; 11(7):36-42.). Curves smoothed using a third-order Bezier Spline.

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Tab. 1
Summary of literature age estimates for onset of transcontinental Amazon river. Studies arranged by descending order of estimated mega-river capture date. Data types: Geophysics includes data from fission track (FT), radiometric (RM), stable isotopes (SI), and optical luminescence (OL). Sedimentology includes sediment provenance from stratigraphy, lithology, and chemistry (ST), structural mapping (SM), sonic or seismic logging (SL), and sedimentation or subsidence rates (SR). Biostratigraphy includes planktonic microfossils (PM), pollen (PO), and macrofossils (MF). Regions: Ama, Amazonas basin; Atl, Atlantic (Amazon fan, Ceará rise); Lla, Llanos basin; NSA, Northern South America; Sol, Solimões basin; Wam, Western Amazon basins. Data sources are terrestrial (Ter) or marine (Mar).

Epoch	Dates (Ma)	Reference	Data type(s)			Region(s)	Source(s)
Epoch	Dates (Ma)	Reference	Geochronology	Sedimentol.	Biostrat.	Region(s)	Source(s)
Upper Miocene	12.6	Jaramillo et al., 2017Jaramillo C, Romero I, D’Apolito C, Bayona G, Duarte E, Louwye S, Escobar J, Luque J, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Zapata V, Mora A, Schouten S, Zavada M, Harrington G, Ortiz J, Wesselingh FP. Miocene flooding events of western Amazonia. Sci Adv [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 3(5):e16016932017. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601693 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601693...	SI (13C)	ST, SL	PM, PO, MF	Lla, Wam	Mar. & Ter.
	11.6 - 11.2	Heinrich, Zonneveld, 2013Heinrich S, Zonneveld KAF. Influence of the Amazon River development and constriction of the Central American Seaway on Middle/late Miocene oceanic conditions at the Ceará Rise. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol [serial on the Internet]. 2013; 386:599-606. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.06.026 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.06...		ST, SR	PM	Atl	Mar.
	10.5	Figueiredo et al., 2010Figueiredo J, Hoorn C, Van der Ven P, Soares E. Late Miocene onset of the Amazon River and the Amazon deep-sea fan: Evidence from the Foz do Amazonas Basin: Reply. Geology [serial on the Internet]. 2010; 38(7):e213. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1130/G31057Y.1 https://doi.org/10.1130/G31057Y.1...	RM, SI (Sm-Nd)	ST, SL	PM	Atl	Mar.
	10.1	Caputo, Soares, 2016Caputo MV, Soares EAA. Eustatic and tectonic change effects in the reversion of the transcontinental Amazon River drainage system. Braz J Geol . 2016; 46(2):301-28. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-4889201620160066 https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-48892016201...	ST, SL, SI* (U-Pb)	ST, SM		NSA	Mar. & Ter.
	10.1	Mora et al., 2010Mora A, Baby P, Roddaz M, Parra M, Brusset S, Hermoza W, Espurt N. Tectonic History of the Andes and Sub‐Andean Zones: Implications for the Development of the Amazon Drainage Basin. In: Hoorn CM, Wesselingh FP, editors. Amazonia, Landscape, and Species Evolution: A look into the past. New York: John Wiley & Sons ; 2010. p.38-60.	FT, RM, SL*	ST, SM	PO*	Wam	Ter.
	10.1	*Hoorn et al., 2010*Horbe AMC, Motta MB, de Almeida CM, Dantas EL, Vieira LC. Provenance of Pliocene and recent sedimentary deposits in western Amazônia Brazil: Consequences for the paleodrainage of the Solimões-Amazonas River. Sedimentary Geology [serial on the Internet]. 2013; 296:9-20. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.07.007 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.07...	FT, RM, SL*	ST, SM	PO, MF	NSA	Mar. & Ter.
	9.0 - 10.0	Dobson et al., 1997Dobson DM, Dickens GR, Rea DK. Terrigenous sediment at Ceará Rise In: Shackleton NJ, Curry WB, Richter C, Bralower TJ, editors. Proceeding of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results. Texas: Ocean Drilling Program, College Station; 1997. p.465-473.; 2001Dobson DM, Dickens GR, Rea DK. Terrigenous sediment on Ceará Rise: a Cenozoic record of South American orogeny and erosion. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol [serial on the Internet]. 2001; 165(3-4):215-29. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00161-9 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00...		ST		Atl	Mar.
	9.5 - 8.3	Gorini et al., 2014Gorini C, Haq BU, dos Reis AT, Silva CG, Cruz A, Soares E, Grangeon D. Late Neogene sequence stratigraphic evolution of the Foz do Amazonas Basin Brazil. Terra Nova [serial on the Internet]. 2014; 26(3):179-85. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12083 https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12083...	RM, SL	ST	PM	Atl	Mar.
	9.0 - 9.4	Hoorn et al., 2017Hoorn CM, Bogotá-A GR, Romero-Baez M, Lammertsma EI, Flantua SGA, Dantas EL, Dino R, do Carmo DA, Chemale F Jr. The Amazon at sea: Onset and stages of the Amazon River from a marine record, with special reference to Neogene plant turnover in the drainage basin. Glob Planet Change [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 153:51-65. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.02.005 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017...	SL	SI	PO	Atl	Mar.
	8.7	van Soelen et al., 2017van Soelen EE, Kim J-H, Santos RV, Dantas EL, de Almeida FV, Pires JP, Roddaz M, Damsté JSS. A 30 Ma history of the Amazon River inferred from terrigenous sediments and organic matter on the Ceará Rise. Earth Planet Sci Lett [serial on the Internet]. 2017; 474:40-48. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.025 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.0...	SI (13C, Sm-Nd)	ST		Atl	Mar.
Pliocene	5.3 - 3.6	Latrubesse et al., 2010Latrubesse EM, Cozzuol M, da Silva-Caminha SAF, Rigsby CA, Absy ML, Jaramillo C. The late Miocene paleogeography of the Amazon Basin and the evolution of the Amazon River system. Earth Sci Rev [serial on the Internet]. 2010; 99(3-4):99-124. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.02.005 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2010...		ST, SM	MF	Wam, Sol	Ter.
	3.0	Nogueira et al., 2013Nogueira ACR, Silveira R, Guimarães JTF. Neogene-Quaternary sedimentary and paleovegetation history of the eastern Solimões Basin, central Amazon region. J South Am Earth Sci [serial on the Internet]. 2013; 46:89-99. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2013.05.004 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2013.05...		ST, SM	PO	Sol, Ama	Ter.
Pleistocene	2.5	Campbell et al., 2001Campbell KE Jr, Heizler M, Frailey CD, Romero-Pittman L, Prothero DR. Upper Cenozoic chronostratigraphy of the southwestern Amazon Basin. Geology [serial on the Internet]. 2001; 29(7):595-98. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0595:UCCOTS>2.0.CO;2 https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)0... ; 2006		ST, SM, SR*	MF	Wam, Sol, Alt*	Ter. Mar.*
	< 1.0	Frailey et al., 1988Frailey CD, Lavina EL, Rancy A, Souza Filho JP. A proposed Pleistocene/Holocene lake in the Amazon Basin and its significance to Amazonian geology and biogeography. Acta Amazon [serial on the Internet]. 1988; 18(3-4):119-43. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-43921988183143 https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-43921988183...		ST		Wam
	< 0.78	Rossetti et al., 2015Rossetti DF, Cohen MCL, Tatumi SH, Sawakuchi AO, Cremon ÉH, Mittani JCR, Bertani TC, Munita CJAS, Tudela DRG, Yee M, Moya G. Mid-Late Pleistocene OSL chronology in western Amazonia and implications for the transcontinental Amazon pathway. Sediment Geol [serial on the Internet]. 2015; 330:1-15. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2015.10.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2015.10...	OL	ST		Sol, Ama
	0.019	Cremon et al., 2016Cremon ÉH, Rossetti DF, Sawakuchi AO, Cohen MCL. The role of tectonics and climate in the late Quaternary evolution of a northern Amazonian River. Geomorphology [serial on the Internet]. 2016; 271:22-39. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.07.030 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016....	OL SI (14C)	ST		Sol, Ama
Total		16	11	16	12	16	13

[1] Edited by

Brian Sidlauskas

Brasil

Brasil

The changing course of the Amazon River in the Neogene: center stage for Neotropical diversification

ABSTRACT