Subject: Re: Amazon grasses etc:ID
From: [email-masked] (Michael W Slattery)
Date: 17 Jun 1994 02:22:44 GMT
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.plant,bionet.plants,bionet.biology.grasses

Hello all, 

I would appreciate an appraisal of the following idea:
 	If the scarce, but existent bits of grass leaf, pollen grains
and other associated tidbits of flora archived in glacial ice at the crest
of the Andes could be convincingly identified (in time-series), what are
the prospects of using this info to discuss the paleoclimate of the
Amazon Basin?

     The ice is at ~6000 masl, and records at *least* the last 13 ka.

We would need:
	1) confimation that the material indeed comes from the forest
floor, i.e., provenance. This might entail looking at the difference
between high altitude grasses and those from the foot hills/forest.
	2) info on the paleobotony of the area
	
 I guess *my* qustions are: what indicators are required to id the
material? Could this be done by an experienced person using SEM, or
would chemical analysis be required? If so, what type? Are the biota 
of say, 8000 BP distict enough to be separated convincingly?       

The goal here is to talk about the Amazonian paleoclimate, but even if
the material turns out to be completely local, it should still be
enlightning...

Ideas anyone?

Mike "wishing i were paleobotanist"

        

-- 
Mike Slattery                      [email-masked]
Byrd Polar Research Center         [email-masked]
The Ohio State University          Toba, where are you?
Columbus OH 43210                  "Morning is the long way home"