Quaternary tufa in the Serra da Bodoquena Karst, West-Central Brazil: Evidence of wet period

The Serra da Bodoquena is one of the most extensive continuous karst areas in Brazil, located in the Mato Grosso do Sul State, in the central western part of Brazil, on the southern edge of the Pantanal wetland region. It consists of a north-south plateau that extends for approximately 200 km, which forms an important water divide with an altitude of approximately 800 m. The area has a humid tropical climate with average temperatures between 22 and 24oC and an average annual rainfall of 1,419 mm, with 1-3 dry months. In the Serra da Bodoquena karst occurs the best examples of present-day deposition of tufa, along most of the rivers of the region, in the river beds and along their margins, forming dams (Figure 1).