Deciphering the Past Climate and Monsoon Variability from Lake Sediment Archives of India: A Review

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kumar, Om^{a; b; *} | Devrani, Rahul^a | Ramanathan, AL.^a

Affiliations: [a] School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi – 110067 | [b] Department of Geology, Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi – 110007

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding Author. omkrs007@gmail.com

Abstract: With a view to get a broader picture of paleoclimate/paleomonsoon variability we have selected 30 lakes with reliable chronologies from the climatically sensitive regions of India. An integrated review of different climate proxies i.e. grain size, C/N ratio, pollen, δ13C and δ18O and mineral magnetism on a radiocarbon dated sediment cores is carried out for present study. Here we present a climate-proxy record of monsoon variability over the past ~50,000 yr from monsoon and non-monsoon dominated regions. Our results based on multiproxy sediment records of lakes reveal that India experienced different climate and monsoon variability throughout geological past. Paleorecords give an insight of two climatically significant periods in this study area. A high monsoon activity has been noticed during the time resolution of 13 ka to 8 ka while a short dry period has prevailed during 5 ka-4 ka that is concurrent to the offset of Harappa civilization. Importantly, majority of paleoclimate records demonstrate that a Younger Dryas (12.9 ka-11.5 ka) records are not well preserved in lacustrine archives.

Keywords: Monsoon variability, Paleoclimate, Non-Himalayan lakes, India

DOI: 10.3233/JCC-170011

Journal: Journal of Climate Change, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 11-23, 2017