PAGES Colombia

Welcome to PAGES Colombia

   
Glacial lagoon and icecave at Santa Isabel (left) and ice cave El Ruiz (right).
Pictures Andrés Hurtado Garcia

Colombia is located in the northern extreme of South American, thus connects to Central America through the Panama isthmus. The unique geography of Colombia stems from the Andes, which ends in three cordilleras. Here, altitudes reach as high as 5900 m above sea level, with long intermontane valleys, part of the Llanos, and the northwest extreme of the Amazon basin. This continental scenario is complemented by the Panama and Colombia Basins, on the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, respectively. Therefore, the interaction of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) with this geography, at different time scales, offers a unique opportunity for studies of tropical variability.

Paleoenvironmental studies in northern South America are critical for the comprehension of the great American biota interchange, the response of biota to global change in the tropics, ENSO dynamics, and the functioning of the conveyor belt, among others. The importance of Quaternary studies in the region was first appreciated by Dr. Thomas Van Der Hammen 40 years ago, who concentrated his palynological studies on the Sabana de Bogotá, the most complete continental Quaternary succession of the world. The Dutch school grew and trained a number of Colombian scientists who extended their palynological studies to the Western and Central Cordilleras and the lowlands, bringing not only a broader picture of paleoenvironmental conditions in the region, but also exploring the refugia hypothesis and the past position of the ITCZ. Because of the orientation of the Andes and atmospheric dynamics, the Colombian Pacific has one of the highest rainfalls on Earth. Intense precipitation has resulted in thick marine sedimentary successions with a large potential for paleoenvironmental studies. This has started to be explored using micropaleontological, palynological and geochemical techniques in the Panama and Colombia Basins. Together with these studies, palynological and paleolimnological studies in the high mountains of the Western Cordillera and the lowlands, coral records, and tree rings in the Caribbean have continued. All these efforts have been undertaken in collaboration with Dutch, German, Japanese, Australian, Swiss, French, and American scientists. Therefore, ocean-continent correlations, a better understanding of ENSO functioning, and connection with other IGBP projects, are expected in the coming years. This progress is also possible thanks to a better comprehension of present climatologic, hydrologic and ecologic processes from studies leaded by Colombian scientists. A real integration with other IGBP initiatives!