Morner, N.-A., Rossetti, D. and Mann de Toledo, P. (2001) The Amazonian Rainforest Only Some 6-5 Million Years Old. Biological and Cultural Diversity of Amazonia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, 3-18, Bélem, Pará.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Origin of the Amazonian Rainforest

  AUTHORS: Nils-Axel Mörner

  KEYWORDS: Amazonian Rainforest, Sea Level Changes, Andean Uplift, Messinian Crisis, Late Miocene

  JOURNAL NAME: International Journal of Geosciences, Vol.7 No.4, April 19, 2016

  ABSTRACT: In the last 30 ma, the passive continental margin of South America and the Amazonian basin experienced three periods of major sea level inundation; viz. at around 20 ma, at around 10 ma and at around 3 ma. The establishment of the immense Amazonian rainforest ecosystem covering some 6 million square km can neither have occurred during the periods of high sea level nor at the intermediate periods of arid or semi-arid climatic conditions. Therefore, the origin of the Amazonian rainforest of present-day dimensions must be set at the Late Miocene. The establishment of the Amazonian rainforest implied the withdrawal of enormous quantities of water from the global hydrological cycle. The drastic increase in evaporation leading to the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean occurred at the same time as the Amazonian rainforest (sensu hodierno) establishment suggesting a causal linkage.