Abstract
This chapter summarizes a quantitative assessment of the paleoclimatic evolution and paleoenvironmental processes in western Cuba during the Pleistocene, focusing on the interval from the Wisconsin to the present. The paleoclimatic data obtained are of regional relevance. Most geomorphologic and geodynamic features observed in Cuba are the result of Pleistocene changes in sea level, temperature, humidity, and rainfall, which played a major role in landscape genesis, and evolution. Paleoflow, paleodrainage, and paleorainfall values for the western karst region of Cuba were estimated by using scallop analysis, and fluvial load analysis in active, and inactive galleries of caves. These galleries represent different levels in the cave system that formed in response to sea-level changes during the Pleistocene. The reconstructed paleorainfall values document pluvial phases during the late Pleistocene. Based on the relationship, 0.21% / ° C, the oxygen isotope composition of samples from one stalagmite suggests a temperature increase of about 9.5° C since that time.
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