Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations
The Indian monsoon affects the livelihood of over one billion people. Despite the importance of climate to society, knowledge of long-term monsoon variability is limited. This thesis provides Holocene records of monsoon variability, using sediment cores from river-dominated margins of the Bay of Ben...
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ftdtic:ADA565372 2023-05-15T18:00:46+02:00 Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations Paton, Camilo WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA 2012-06 text/html http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA565372 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA565372 en eng http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA565372 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. DTIC Meteorology *MONSOONS ARID LAND BASINS(GEOGRAPHIC) CARBON CLIMATE EVOLUTION(GENERAL) FORAMINIFERA ISOTOPES PLANTS(BOTANY) SEDIMENTS TERRAIN THESES CARBON CYCLE CARBON ISOTOPES Text 2012 ftdtic 2016-02-24T08:38:52Z The Indian monsoon affects the livelihood of over one billion people. Despite the importance of climate to society, knowledge of long-term monsoon variability is limited. This thesis provides Holocene records of monsoon variability, using sediment cores from river-dominated margins of the Bay of Bengal (off the Godavari River) and the Arabian Sea (off the Indus River). Carbon isotopes of terrestrial plant leaf waxes (delta 13Cwax) preserved in sediment provide integrated and regionally extensive records of flora for both sites. For the Godavari River basin the delta 13Cwax record shows a gradual increase in aridity-adapted vegetation from 4,000 until 1,700 years ago followed by the persistence of aridity-adapted plants to the present. The oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera from this site indicates drought-prone conditions began as early as 3,000 years BP. The aridity record also allowed examination of relationships between hydroclimate and terrestrial carbon discharge to the ocean. Comparison of radiocarbon measurements of sedimentary plant waxes with planktonic foraminifera reveal increasing age offsets starting 4,000 yrs BP, suggesting that increased aridity slows carbon cycling and/or transport rates. At the second site, a seismic survey of the Indus River subaqueous delta describes the morphology and Holocene sedimentation of the Pakistani shelf and identified suitable coring locations for paleoclimate reconstructions. The delta 13Cwax record shows a stable arid climate over the dry regions of the Indus plain and a terrestrial biome dominated by C4 vegetation for the last 6,000 years. As the climate became more arid 4,000 years, sedentary agriculture took hold in central and south India while the urban Harappan civilization collapsed in the already arid Indus basin. The original document contains color images. Contract no: OCE-0841736 and OCE-0928582. Prepared in cooperation with Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, Mass. Text Planktonic foraminifera Defense Technical Information Center: DTIC Technical Reports database Indian |
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Defense Technical Information Center: DTIC Technical Reports database |
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ftdtic |
language |
English |
topic |
Meteorology *MONSOONS ARID LAND BASINS(GEOGRAPHIC) CARBON CLIMATE EVOLUTION(GENERAL) FORAMINIFERA ISOTOPES PLANTS(BOTANY) SEDIMENTS TERRAIN THESES CARBON CYCLE CARBON ISOTOPES |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology *MONSOONS ARID LAND BASINS(GEOGRAPHIC) CARBON CLIMATE EVOLUTION(GENERAL) FORAMINIFERA ISOTOPES PLANTS(BOTANY) SEDIMENTS TERRAIN THESES CARBON CYCLE CARBON ISOTOPES Paton, Camilo Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations |
topic_facet |
Meteorology *MONSOONS ARID LAND BASINS(GEOGRAPHIC) CARBON CLIMATE EVOLUTION(GENERAL) FORAMINIFERA ISOTOPES PLANTS(BOTANY) SEDIMENTS TERRAIN THESES CARBON CYCLE CARBON ISOTOPES |
description |
The Indian monsoon affects the livelihood of over one billion people. Despite the importance of climate to society, knowledge of long-term monsoon variability is limited. This thesis provides Holocene records of monsoon variability, using sediment cores from river-dominated margins of the Bay of Bengal (off the Godavari River) and the Arabian Sea (off the Indus River). Carbon isotopes of terrestrial plant leaf waxes (delta 13Cwax) preserved in sediment provide integrated and regionally extensive records of flora for both sites. For the Godavari River basin the delta 13Cwax record shows a gradual increase in aridity-adapted vegetation from 4,000 until 1,700 years ago followed by the persistence of aridity-adapted plants to the present. The oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera from this site indicates drought-prone conditions began as early as 3,000 years BP. The aridity record also allowed examination of relationships between hydroclimate and terrestrial carbon discharge to the ocean. Comparison of radiocarbon measurements of sedimentary plant waxes with planktonic foraminifera reveal increasing age offsets starting 4,000 yrs BP, suggesting that increased aridity slows carbon cycling and/or transport rates. At the second site, a seismic survey of the Indus River subaqueous delta describes the morphology and Holocene sedimentation of the Pakistani shelf and identified suitable coring locations for paleoclimate reconstructions. The delta 13Cwax record shows a stable arid climate over the dry regions of the Indus plain and a terrestrial biome dominated by C4 vegetation for the last 6,000 years. As the climate became more arid 4,000 years, sedentary agriculture took hold in central and south India while the urban Harappan civilization collapsed in the already arid Indus basin. The original document contains color images. Contract no: OCE-0841736 and OCE-0928582. Prepared in cooperation with Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, Mass. |
author2 |
WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA |
format |
Text |
author |
Paton, Camilo |
author_facet |
Paton, Camilo |
author_sort |
Paton, Camilo |
title |
Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations |
title_short |
Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations |
title_full |
Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations |
title_fullStr |
Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Aridification of the Indian Subcontinent during the Holocene: Implications for Landscape Evolution, Sedimentation, Carbon Cycle, and Human Civilizations |
title_sort |
aridification of the indian subcontinent during the holocene: implications for landscape evolution, sedimentation, carbon cycle, and human civilizations |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA565372 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA565372 |
geographic |
Indian |
geographic_facet |
Indian |
genre |
Planktonic foraminifera |
genre_facet |
Planktonic foraminifera |
op_source |
DTIC |
op_relation |
http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA565372 |
op_rights |
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
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1766169979276754944 |