The breakdown of minerals by chemical weathering supplies rock-derived nutrients that fuel biological productivity (e.g., Porder et al., 2007). Changes in weathering may consequently shape ecosystem evolution and biodiversity over time, particularly in a system such as the Amazon where spatial patterns in present-day forest productivity have been linked to weathering-derived nutrient supply (Quesada et al., 2012). Reconstruction of past weathering conditions also holds promise for independently testing inferences about changes in erosional and climate regime within the Amazon basin.
The contrast between the actively eroding Andes, where weathering is “kinetically limited,” and lowland Amazon, where weathering is “supply limited,” represents one of the most iconic gradients in weathering (Stallard and Edmond, 1982; Dellinger et al., 2015). We expect that any onset (or increase) in the delivery of Andean material to the Amazon River will be evident in the sedimentary record and should coincide with independent proxies for changes in Andean connectivity to the Amazon.
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