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Implications for catchment weathering, provenance, and climatic records from a late Pleistocene to present sedimentary sequence in Gujarat, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2022

Kamlesh Kumar ,
Anupam Sharma ,
Pradeep Srivastava  and
Biswajeet Thakur
Kamlesh Kumar*
Affiliation:
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences 53, University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
Anupam Sharma
Affiliation:
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences 53, University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
Pradeep Srivastava
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, 247667, India
Biswajeet Thakur
Affiliation:
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences 53, University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India
*
*Corresponding author email address: kamleshk2508@gmail.com
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Abstract

To ascertain weathering, provenance, and paleoclimate of the last ca. 29 ka in mainland Gujarat, western India, a sedimentary profile of ~7.5 m was measured, described, and sampled at Pratappura and a multiproxy analysis was conducted. To determine weathering, silty-sand and sandy-silt facies were analyzed, and log Na2O/K2O versus log SiO2/Al2O3 was plotted, which shows clustering in the quartz arenite and sub-litharenite categories, indicating low to moderate weathering. The chemical index of alteration (CIA) is 55–74, and was plotted versus the index of chemical variability (ICV) of 1.50, with samples clustered mainly between subalkali basalt and picrite, indicating the dominance of a mafic component. While depleted chondrite normalized light rare earth element (REE) (La/Yb <1) levels suggest the prevalence of a mafic source in the catchment, identical chondrite normalized REE patterns indicate that sediments were well homogenized. Using multiple proxies, the measured profile was subdivided into five paleoclimatic zones. Zone-I (29–18 ka) exhibits decreasing moisture, Corg, χlf, Al2O3, TiO2, and Fe2O3 trends, while higher values of CO3−2 and δ13C indicate a change from a warm-humid to semiarid climate. Zone-II (18–11 ka) shows signs of the beginning of aridity ca. 18 ka during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Several proxies in zone-III show wetter climatic conditions from the early Holocene (ca. 11–4 ka) due to the onset of the SW monsoon, with the trend continuing in zone-IV (4–2 ka). In zone-V, the climate appears to have been similar to the modern conditions in the area from 2 ka–present.

Keywords

GeochemistryPaleoclimateLate PleistoceneProvenanceMultiproxy analysisREEMagnetic susceptibilityPhytoliths
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 111 , January 2023 , pp. 148 - 165
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Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2022

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