Late quaternary palaeoclimates of western India : A geoarchaeological approach

Western India comprises parts of the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. This region has varied climate and landscape. Northwestern Rajasthan is an area of internal drainage, with dunes, playas and rocky pediments. The Luni, Sabarmati and Mahi basins to the south of this zone show the influence of both aeolian and fluvial processes. Aeolian landforms are absent in the Nrmada, Tapi, Godavari and Bhima basins and fluvial aggradation has alternated with erosion in response to climatic change. Dominance of semi-arid to arid climate throughtout the Quaternary in the entire region has ment that Quaternary geological processes have been weak, preserving many features of the Tertiary in the present landscape. The variation in the geomorphic processes shaping the landscape and the complex links between geomorphic proceses and climate mean that our understanding of palaeoclimates in western India in far from complete. This paper gives an overview of the Late Quaternary palaeoclimate of western India, based primarily on recent work by the authors in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Some issues in the palaeoclimatic interpretation of the geological record are discussed. Signatures of Late Pleistocene aridity, fluctuating climate during the Pleistocene Holocene transitional period, early Holocene humid climate and increased aridity from the middle Holocene onwards are reflected in different ways in the different landscape settings.

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Aggradation history and luminescence chronology of Late Quaternary semi-arid sequences of the Sabarmati basin, Gujarat, Western India

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology ◽

10.1016/s0031-0182(96)00035-1 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 128 (1-4) ◽

pp. 339-357 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

S.K. Tandon ◽

B.K. Sareen ◽

M.Someshwar Rao ◽

A.K. Singhvi

Keyword(s):

Late Quaternary ◽

Western India ◽

Semi Arid

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Late Quaternary glacial advances and equilibrium-line altitude changes in a semi-arid region, Suru Basin, western Himalaya

Quaternary Science Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107100 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 267 ◽

pp. 107100

Author(s):

Vinit Kumar ◽

Manish Mehta ◽

Aparna Shukla ◽

Anil Kumar ◽

Siddhi Garg

Keyword(s):

Arid Region ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Western Himalaya ◽

Equilibrium Line ◽

Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽

Semi Arid Region ◽

Semi Arid

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Phytogeographical patterns of dry forests sensu stricto in northern Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências ◽

10.1590/s0001-37652013000200011 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 85 (2) ◽

pp. 623-634 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

DANIEL M. ARRUDA ◽

WALNIR G. FERREIRA-JUNIOR ◽

REINALDO DUQUE-BRASIL ◽

CARLOS E.R. SCHAEFER

Keyword(s):

Late Quaternary ◽

Sensu Stricto ◽

Minas Gerais ◽

Dry Forest ◽

Floristic Similarity ◽

Humid Forest ◽

Quaternary Climate ◽

Dominant Soil ◽

Minas Gerais State ◽

Semi Arid

The Deciduous Complex that occurs in northern Minas Gerais State, Brazil, raises questions about the floristic affinities of these formations in relation to neighboring phytogeographical domains. Little is known about the identity of the seasonal forest formations that comprise this complex, or about its relationships to abiotic components, such as soils, topography and climate. This study aimed to recognize the patterns of floristic similarity of all studied fragments of dry forest of northern Minas Gerais with soil and climate attributes, based on the available database. Cluster analysis indicated the existence of two floristic groups that had clear associations with either the Koppen's BSh (semi-arid) or Aw (seasonal tropical) climates. Likewise, the subdivisions of these groups showed clear associations with the dominant soil classes in the region. The Red-Yellow Latosol is the dominant soil classes in the BSh climatic domain, seconded by alluvial areas associated with Fluvic Neosols. The Aw domain comprised a much varied set of soils: Nitosols, Argisols, Cambisols and Litholic Neosols, most derived from the Bambuí limestone/slate formation. The ecotonal nature of northern Minas Gerais State provides a complex interaction between the flora of neighboring phytogeographical domains. This, allied to pedogeomorphological factors, allowed a better understanding of the effects of late Quaternary climate changes for the Deciduous Complex evolution. We conclude that the Latosols under present-day semi-arid climates (BSh) are relicts of former wetter climates, during which humid forest (semideciduous) expansion took place. Later, these semideciduous forests were subjected to a much drier climate, when selection for deciduousness led to the present-days Deciduous Complex scenario.

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Demography of a small, isolated tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) population in a semi-arid region of western India

BMC Zoology ◽

10.1186/s40850-017-0025-y ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ayan Sadhu ◽

Peter Prem Chakravarthi Jayam ◽

Qamar Qureshi ◽

Raghuvir Singh Shekhawat ◽

Sudarshan Sharma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Arid Region ◽

Western India ◽

Panthera Tigris ◽

Panthera Tigris Tigris ◽

Semi Arid Region ◽

Semi Arid

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South Morava Basin in the transitional period from the Bronze to the Iron Age

Starinar ◽

10.2298/sta0757057b ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 57-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Aleksandar Bulatovic

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Transitional Period ◽

Cultural Group ◽

Entire Region ◽

The South

Results of the recent investigations of the sites from the Transitional period between the Bronze and Iron Age in the South Morava basin are presented in this paper. On the basis of these results as well as the earlier research in this area a chronology of this period in the South Morava basin has been established. The analysis of the material, particularly pottery shows that channelled pottery of Gava - Belegis II type (Iron Age Ib) was a prevailing feature at the beginning of the Transitional period in the entire region. It is also stated that during the Transitional period a particular culture group formed in the basin of the river Pcinja, the upper course of the Vardar, then in the Kocane-Kratovo area and in the Vranje-Bujanovac valley, which later influenced south-east Kosovo and the Leskovac area. The group was named the Pcinja cultural group, after the central part of the territory.

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Optical dating of late Quaternary carbonate sequences of Saurashtra, western India

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2016.12 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 133-150 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Komal Sharma ◽

Nilesh Bhatt ◽

Anil Dutt Shukla ◽

Dae-Kyo Cheong ◽

Ashok Kumar Singhvi

Keyword(s):

Late Quaternary ◽

Optically Stimulated Luminescence ◽

Western India ◽

Carbonate Sediments ◽

Sampling Strategies ◽

Aeolian Processes ◽

Saurashtra Coast ◽

Recent Deposition ◽

Quartz Grains ◽

Carbonate Deposits

AbstractBioclastic carbonate deposits that formed because of a combination of nearshore marine, fluvial, and aeolian processes, occur along the Saurashtra coast and in the adjacent interior regions of western India. Whether these carbonates formed by marine or aeolian processes has been debated for many decades. The presence of these deposits inland poses questions as to whether they are climate controlled or attributable to postdepositional tectonic uplift. In particular, the debate centres on chronologic issues including (1) appropriate sampling strategies and (2) the use of 230Th/234U and 14C ages on the bulk carbonates. Using traces (<1%) of quartz grains trapped in carbonate matrices, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz grains, deposited along with the carbonate grains, provides ages for the most recent deposition events. The OSL ages range from >165 to 44 ka for the shell limestones, 75–17 ka for the fluvially reworked sheet deposits, and 80–11 ka for miliolites deposited by aeolian processes. These are younger than the 230Th/234U and 14C ages and suggest that the inland carbonate deposits were reworked from older carbonate sediments that were transported during more arid phases.

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