Holocene vegetation and climate history of central Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Pollen analysis and oxygen isotope measurements on a sediment core recovered from Lake Tzib, revealed the vegetation and climate history of central Quintana Roo, southeast Mexico for the last similar to 7900 cal yr. During the early Holocene (7900-7000 cal yr BP), vegetation changed from medium- and low-stature forest with nearby mangroves, to medium-stature forest. Between 6500 and 4700 cal yr BP, climate proxies indicate a transition from relatively moist to drier environmental conditions. Around 3500 cal yr BP, even drier conditions prevailed. These dry conditions correspond to the onset of dry phases identified elsewhere in Mexico and Central America. An inferred dry event at 1200 cal yr BP is correlated temporally with dry conditions inferred from a marine core taken in the Cariaco Basin, north of Venezuela. The dry episode falls within the ancient Maya Terminal Classic archaeological period. We found evidence for strong forest disturbance during that period. Around 700 cal yr BP (1200 AD), sediment variables indicate moister environmental conditions that fall within the period of the medieval climate optimum. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.