Geochemical and Radiogenic Sr-Nd Isotope Characterization of Widespread Sandy Surface Sediments in the Great Indian Desert, Thar: Implications for Provenance Studies

Abstract

Understanding large desert formation/evolution contributing to regional-to-global dust cycles remains a challenge. This study presents the geochemical and Sr-Nd isotope compositions of 51 surface sediment samples collected from the widespread hyper-arid Thar Desert in northwestern India. The major objective is to determine sediment provenance for a better understanding of the formation/evolution mechanism of this Great Indian Desert as well as downwind dust contributions toward the Himalayas. The compositionally immature sandy Thar sediments (CIA ∼50 ± 4, WIP ∼49 ± 12, and Eu_N/Eu* ∼0.80 ± 0.13) are recycled materials derived from the Himalayan orogen and later modified by quartz addition and heavy mineral depletion/sorting processes. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7259 ± 0.0012 and ε_Nd (−12.5 ± 2.7) in the bulk of these Thar sediments are different from the earlier published compositions of the eolian sand deposits in northwestern India. The subcategories of Thar materials collected from different dune types exposed over different lithologies (Quaternary alluvium vs. Tertiary and Mesozoic sedimentary formations) are geochemically and isotopically indistinguishable, which indicates their cogenetic sources and/or sediment reworking. Thar sediments collected in this study have a predominant Indus origin along with significant contributions from the upwind Ghaggar-Hakra paleochannels. The Indus sediments are most likely wind-eroded from the shelf region exposed during the low sea stand of LGM and afterward deglaciation. Considering the new and published data sets, the Sr-Nd isotope budget of dust deposited in the Himalayan frontal glaciers indicates that atmospheric mineral dust contribution from the upwind Indo-Gangetic Plain proximal to the Himalayas is at par with dust parcels from distant natural deserts.