A Late Pleistocene record of climate and environmental change from the northern and southern Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Samantha E. Jones, Chris O. Hunt (Collaborator), Paula J. Reimer (Collaborator)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A late Pleistocene vegetation record is presented, using multi-proxy analysis from three palaeochannels in the northern (Bario) and southern (Pa'Dalih) Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Before 50 000 cal a BP and until ∼47 700 cal a BP [marine isotope stage 3 (MIS3)], two of the sites were probably being influenced by energetic fluvial deposition, possibly associated with strong seasonality. Fluvial activity declines between 47 700 and 30 000 cal a BP (MIS3), and may be associated with a reduction in seasonality with overall stability in precipitation. The pollen record between 47 700 and 30 000 cal a BP generally shows much higher representation of upper-montane taxa compared with the Holocene, indicating often significantly reduced temperatures. After 35 000–30 000 cal a BP and until the mid-Holocene, hiatuses appear in two of the records, which could be linked to fluvial down-cutting during the late/mid Holocene. Despite the jump in ages, a pronounced representation of Ericaceae and upper-montane taxa, represented both at Bario and at Pa'Dalih, corresponds to a further lowering of temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS2). Thick charcoal bands in the PDH 210 record also suggest periods of extreme aridity between 30 200 and 12 700 cal a BP. This is followed by energetic fluvial deposition of sands and gravels, and may reflect a significant increase in seasonality.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)105-122
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Quaternary Science
Volume29
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2014

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements

We thank the Sarawak forestry Department and Kuching Herbarium for permission to carry out fieldwork, the extraction of samples and use of facilities at the Sarawak Herbarium (SAR). We are very grateful to Dr Kit Pearce who assisted in the collection and identification of plants for a modern pollen reference collection, Ipoi Datan from the National Museum of Sarawak, Ulum from Bario and Belaan Paran for their assistance in the collection of modern samples, and Reedy in Bario and Henry in Pa'Dalih for their assistance in the field. We also thank everyone from the Cultured Rainforest Project for the assistance and support provided in the field: Professor Graeme Barker, Dr Ian Ewart, Rose Ferraby, Professor Chris Gosden, Dr Huw Barton, Daniel Britton, Dr Ben Davenport, Dr Monica Janowski, Dr Lindsay Lloyd-Smith, Borbála Nyíri, Dr Beth Upex and Dr Lucy Farr. We thank Dr R. Premathilake, Ron Reimer, Prof. Valerie Hall, Prof. Jonathan Pilcher and Dr Maarten Blaauw for advice, and John Davidson who assisted in some of the laboratory preparations. Finally, we would like to thank the AHRC for funding this project through the Cultured Rainforest Project.

Keywords

  • Borneo
  • climate change
  • Kelabit Highlands
  • late Pleistocene
  • LGM
  • Introduction

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Late Pleistocene record of climate and environmental change from the northern and southern Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this