THE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATIC CONDITIONS BASED ON SPOROMORPH DISTRIBUTION IN CIREBON WATERS

• Main Author: Christanti Agusta, Vera
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/70959
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Analysis of pollen and spores from marine sediments has been widely used to understand vegetation, climatic conditions, and environmental changes. The study of pollen and spores in the Cirebon region is still not widely done. The dynamics of environment in Cirebon Waters are interesting to study because of the geographical conditions of the waters affected by river flows and ocean currents. This study aims to determine the characteristics of pollen and spores in sediments in Cirebon Waters and their relation to environmental and climate conditions in Cirebon Waters. A total of 32 samples of marine sediments from Cirebon waters taken in the survey on November 31 – December 1, 2021, were used in this study. Palynological analysis is carried out by creating pollen diagrams and grouping taxa using the TILIA program, as well as calculating the diversity and similarity indices using the PAleontological STatistics (PAST) program. The Surfer program is used to visualize and spatially analyze the distribution of pollen and spores. From the analysis of pollen and spores, 52 pollen and spore taxon are identified which consist of 29 taxon of trees and shrubs, 14 taxon of terrestrial herbs, 3 taxon of open landscape, 3 taxon of fern, and 3 taxon of aquatic plants. Sediment samples were grouped based on pollen characteristics into three zones, namely Zone 1 (Samples 1-13) in the west part of Cirebon Waters, Zone 2 (Samples 14-19) in the middle of the study area, and Zone 3 (Samples 20-32) in the eastern part of Cirebon Waters. Zone 1 is dominated by NAP at 70.5%, Zone 2 is dominated by AP at 63.2%, and Zone 3 is dominated by AP at 70.1%. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index value is characterized as the moderate diversity category, while the Evenness similarity index value is characterized as the high uniformity category. The results of palynological analysis found 5 types of vegetation, namely mountain vegetation, lowland vegetation, mangrove vegetation (mangroves), herbaceous vegetation and flowers, and pteridophyte. Mountain vegetation is dominated by Castanopsis, Cupressaceae, and Pinus. Lowland vegetation is dominated by Moracaeae and Arecaceae. Rhizophora, Avicennia, and Sonneratia caseolaris iv pollen are the dominating pollen of mangrove forest vegetation. Poaceae, Cerealia, and Cyperaceae are the dominating pollen for herbaceous vegetation. Pollen Castanopsis, Moraceae and spores have a good response to environmental conditions with high rainfall intensity. Rainfall intensity in the northwest monsoon period affects the development of vegetation in the study area. Environmental and climatic factors such as river discharge, wind direction, and ocean currents have an influence on the distribution of pollen and spores into the Cirebon Waters. River discharge influences the distribution of pollen Castanopsis, Moraceae, Arecaceae, Pinus and spores. The winds carried Cerealia, Poaceae and Cyperaceae pollen to the waters. Ocean currents are influential in the distribution of Pinus and Rhizophora pollen in Cirebon Waters. Grain size analysis shows the influence of river discharge and ocean currents. From the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that the characteristics of pollen and spores found in Cirebon Waters are related to environmental and climatic conditions around the Cirebon Waters area.