Geochemical records of mudflat sediments from southern Saurashtra, Western India: Implications for Holocene climate and global teleconnection

Abstract

The heat transfer from the low latitudes to high latitudes is responsible for maintaining the earth’s climate dynamics. Thus, deciphering the possible mechanism driving the variability of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) during the Holocene Epoch has been critical to understand the hydroclimatic changes of the low latitudes. Despite several efforts, the teleconnection of ISM with the global climate dynamics remains under-represented and poorly understood. The present study aims to delineate the ISM variability and its possible forcing mechanism from western India (Gujarat). In this study, a sediment core (~65 cm long) was raised from the Jaffrabad mudflat (MIT) in western Gujarat. The sediment samples were subjected to geochemical analysis to investigate paleomonsoon, paleo-sediment source and paleoweathering changes. The results show that, with the addition of intermediate sources, the sediments were principally derived from the hinterland’s Deccan basalts. Further, the study suggested a warm and wet climate due to strong ISM during 10,650−5500 cal yr BP associated with the solar as well as orbital forcings. The weak monsoon during 5500−2700 cal yr BP has been linked with southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) along with the increased El Niño-like conditions. Further, the wavelet analysis revealed that a combined influence of solar, orbital and North Atlantic forcings led to monsoon variability along western India, during the Holocene Epoch. By reconciling the geochemical proxies, the present study has implications in the reconstruction of paleomonsoon and establishing the possible teleconnection with the global climate system.