Evolution of the cuesta relief: in search of the erosive dynamics before and after human occupation

Abstract

How does a natural system work before and after human intervention? Studies indicate that human action alters the rhythm of natural processes, such as erosion, but the threshold between systemic responses arising from natural dynamics and those arising from human action is still unclear. It is from this assumption that the respective research project is based, which aims to detail the functioning of a geomorphological system based on the analysis of natural and anthropic erosion dynamics. To this end, the cuestiforme sector concerning the upper catchement of the Corumbataí River (SP) was selected, as it presents erosion processes to its formation, but which, since the end of the 19th century, has been showing human intervention through agricultural use. Therefore, it's hypothesized that by delimiting the natural erosive rhythm of the cuesta relief, it will be possible to identify the dysrhythmia caused by external forces, with human activity. If the hypothesis is confirmed, it becomes viable to subsidize paths for the appropriate use of land, enabling the use of uses and techniques that are less harmful to land from an erosion point of view. Therefore, it is assumed that to verify geomorphological dynamics on a geological and human time scale, multiproxy analysis based on OSL and Pb210 dating, combined with the use of bioindicators (phytoliths) and stable isotopes (C and N), constitutes a consistent methodology.