A mid- to late-Holocene record of vegetation decline and erosion triggered by monsoon weakening and human adaptations in the south-east Indian Peninsula

The Holocene ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 1976-1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Cui ◽  
Zhanghua Wang ◽  
Kakani Nageswara Rao ◽  
S J Sangode ◽  
Yoshiki Saito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Central India ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Sediment Provenance ◽  
C3 Plants ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Mineral Concentration ◽  
Indian Peninsula ◽  
Deccan Plateau

The mid- to late-Holocene monsoon decline led to aridification of the Indian Peninsula impacting the early agricultural practices in the region. Our analysis of organic carbon, mineral magnetic properties and AMS 14C dating of a 54.2-m-long sediment core (CY) from the Godavari Delta, India, showed changes in the organic carbon source and sediment provenance, which are linked to the changes in vegetation and soil/rock erosion caused by widespread aridification and associated human adaptation in central India. Our results show a decline in the concentration of ferrimagnetic minerals, indicating reduced input from the basalts of the Deccan Plateau after ~6.0 cal. ka BP in response to the weaker Indian monsoon. δ13C values show a distinct increase from ~4.9 cal. ka BP, indicating an increase in C4 plant sources under the continued weak monsoon phase, whereas a higher ferrimagnetic mineral concentration in the sediment suggested an increased Deccan basalt source. Abrupt increase in δ13C values and decrease in TOC content accompanied with a significant increase in ferrimagnetic mineral concentration from ~3.2 to 3.1 cal. ka BP reflected a shift of organic carbon and sediment source and a severe decline in vegetation coverage. Such phenomena indicate intensified deforestation and soil/rock erosion in the Deccan Plateau producing higher ferrimagnetic mineral inputs, which is in agreement with significant expansion of agricultural activities in the Deccan Chalcolithic cultural period. In addition, C3 plants recovered and magnetic concentration declined during the wet events (4.6 and 4.0 cal. ka BP) of Neolithic time, while both C3 plants and magnetic parameters increased during the wet events (3.1–2.8 and 2.1 cal. ka BP) of the Chalcolithic cultural period. This implies increased agricultural activity and the onset of human modification of the ecosystem.

scholarly journals SHORT COMMUNICATION: Massive Erosion in Monsoonal Central India Linked to Late Holocene Landcover Degradation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liviu Giosan ◽  
Camilo Ponton ◽  
Muhammed Usman ◽  
Jerzy Blusztajn ◽  
Dorian Fuller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
Central India ◽  
Carbon Export ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Godavari River ◽  
Deccan Plateau

Abstract. Soil erosion plays a crucial role in transferring sediment and carbon from land to sea, yet little is known about the rhythm and rates of soil erosion prior to the most recent few centuries. Here we reconstruct a Holocene erosional history from central India, as integrated by the Godavari River in a sediment core from the Bay of Bengal. We quantify terrigenous fluxes, fingerprint sources for the lithogenic fraction and assess the age of the exported terrigenous carbon. Taken together, our data show that the monsoon decline in the late Holocene, later exacerbated by the Neolithic adoption and Iron Age extensification of agriculture on the Deccan Plateau, significantly increased soil erosion and the age of exported organic carbon. Despite a constantly elevated sea level since the middle Holocene, this erosion acceleration led to rapid continental margin growth. We conclude that in monsoon conditions, aridity boosts rather than supresses sediment and carbon export acting as a veritable monsoon erosional pump modulated by landcover conditions.

scholarly journals Short communication: Massive erosion in monsoonal central India linked to late Holocene land cover degradation

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liviu Giosan ◽  
Camilo Ponton ◽  
Muhammed Usman ◽  
Jerzy Blusztajn ◽  
Dorian Q. Fuller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
Central India ◽  
Carbon Export ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Godavari River ◽  
Deccan Plateau

Abstract. Soil erosion plays a crucial role in transferring sediment and carbon from land to sea, yet little is known about the rhythm and rates of soil erosion prior to the most recent few centuries. Here we reconstruct a Holocene erosional history from central India, as integrated by the Godavari River in a sediment core from the Bay of Bengal. We quantify terrigenous fluxes, fingerprint sources for the lithogenic fraction and assess the age of the exported terrigenous carbon. Taken together, our data show that the monsoon decline in the late Holocene significantly increased soil erosion and the age of exported organic carbon. This acceleration of natural erosion was later exacerbated by the Neolithic adoption and Iron Age extensification of agriculture on the Deccan Plateau. Despite a constantly elevated sea level since the middle Holocene, this erosion acceleration led to a rapid growth of the continental margin. We conclude that in monsoon conditions aridity boosts rather than suppresses sediment and carbon export, acting as a monsoon erosional pump modulated by land cover conditions.

The benthic geochemical record of late Holocene carbon flux in the northeast Atlantic

1995 ◽  
Vol 348 (1324) ◽  
pp. 221-227 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Carbon Flux ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Euphotic Zone ◽  
Natural Uranium ◽  
Water Interface ◽  
Northeast Atlantic ◽  
Organic Carbon Flux ◽  
Organic Carbon Burial

This study centered around a transect of high-resolution (multi) cores from the 20° W meridian, 60-18° N in the northeast Atlantic. It spans a range of primary productivity zones, and was used to quantify and examine the vertical flux of organic carbon from the euphotic zone (50 m deep) to the sediment—water interface, through the sediment mixed layer, to burial in late Holocene sediment. The disequilibrium between members of the natural uranium decay series ( 226 Ra, 210 Pb and 210 Po) - which track the biogenic flux through scavenging of the particle-reactive nuclides —was employed. Together with experimentally and observationally derived factors, these data were used to convert nuclide flux to organic carbon flux resulting in an estimate of the water column flux of organic carbon. At the sediment-water interface micro-oxygen electrodes were used to quantify the consumption of organic carbon by aerobic respiration. It was noted that the estimated organic carbon flux is strongly dependent on the intensity of bioturbation. The late Holocene organic carbon burial flux was calculated for selected cores from measured organic carbon profiles and sediment accumulation rates over approximately the last 10000 years. This combined approach reveals a strong spatial and temporal signal in the flux of organic carbon through the deep sea in the northeast Atlantic, and provides additional insight into the fate of carbon in this area of the ocean.

Mechanism and geochemical implications of the Late Holocene organic carbon burial event: an example from the southwest coast of India

2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 1409-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Ajaykumar ◽  
Mahesh Mohan ◽  
M. S. Shylesh Chandran ◽  
K. K. Jayasooryan ◽  
K. S. Unni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Southwest Coast Of India ◽  
Southwest Coast ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
Organic Carbon Burial

Microlithic occurrences associated with sediments dated to terminal Pleistocene-late Holocene in the central Narmada basin, Madhya Pradesh, India

2021 ◽  
pp. SP515-2020-216
Author(s):  
Nupur Tiwari ◽  
P. Morthekai ◽  
K. Krishnan ◽  
Parth R. Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Central India ◽  
Madhya Pradesh ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene

AbstractThe earliest occurrence of microliths in South Asia dates back to the Late Pleistocene at Mehtakheri (45 ka) and Dhaba (48 ka) in Central India, Jwalapuram 9 in Southern India (38 ka), Kana and Mahadebbara in Northeastern India (42-25 ka) and Batadomba-Lena (35-36 ka) and Fa Hien Lena (48 ka) in Sri Lanka. Microlithic technology is distributed across the entire Indian Subcontinent and chronologically continues up to the Iron Age and Early Historic periods. This paper discusses new data acquired from the first author's doctoral research in the two districts of Madhya Pradesh (Hoshangabad and Sehore), which fall within the central part of the Narmada Basin in central India. We present here the preliminary dates from key areas of distribution to understand the geo-chronological contexts of microliths at Pilikarar, Morpani, and Gurla-Sukkarwada. Initial dates from these respective occurrences range between 12.5 ka and 2.3 ka.

Long-term Conservation Tillage Effect on Soil Organic Carbon and Available Phosphorous Content in Vertisols of Central India

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Kushwa ◽  
K. M. Hati ◽  
Nishant K. Sinha ◽  
R. K. Singh ◽  
M. Mohanty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Central India ◽  
Phosphorous Content

scholarly journals Evaluation of Forest Conversion Effects on Soil Erosion, Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Based on 137Cs Tracer Technique

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Zhu ◽  
Jie Lin ◽  
Qiao Dai ◽  
Yanying Xu ◽  
Haidong Li
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Nutrient Loss ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Forest Conversion ◽  
Tracer Technique ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Average Annual Loss

Soil erosion can affect the horizontal and the vertical distribution of soil carbon at the landscape scale. The 137Cs tracer technique can overcome the shortcomings of traditional erosion research and has proven to be the best method to study soil erosion. To understand the responses of soil organic carbon and nitrogen to soil erosion and forest conversion in the development of slope economic forests in rocky mountain areas, three representative types of economic forests that were all formed after clear-cutting and afforestation on the basis of CBF (coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests) were selected: CF (chestnut forests) with small human disturbance intensity, AF (apple forests), and HF (hawthorn forests) with high interference intensity. The results showed that all land use types have significantly eroded since 1950; the average annual loss of soil was 0.79 mm in the CBF, 2.31 mm in the AF, 1.84 mm in the HF, and 0.87 mm in the CF. The results indicated aggravation of soil erosion after the transformation of the CBF into an economic forest. The economic forest management reduced the average carbon storage and accelerated nutrient loss. The better vegetation coverage and litter coverage of CF made them stand out among the three economic forest varieties. Therefore, when developing economic forests, we should select species that can produce litter to ensure as much soil conservation as possible to reduce the risk of soil erosion.

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