Palaeoecology of the Rajasthan desert during the last 10,000 years

Authors

  • Vishnu-Mittre Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53, University Road, Lucknow 226007, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.1976.1043

Abstract

In the light of fresh and exhaustive information now available on the ecology of vegetation of the Rajasthan desert, the reinterpretation of the published pollen diagrams reveals that there was increasing trend towards dryness until 5,000 years ago and thereafter between 5,000-3,000 years ago the environment was characterized by maximum warmth and dryness and by high velocity winds and dust storms. The precipitation which was within the range of 150-400 mm showed a gradient from the extreme west of the desert to its east. The renewed sand dune activity during the hypsithermal period had encroached upon the eastern tracts of the desert.

The salt lakes which had originated about 10,000 years ago had already high salt content in their waters and during a continuous phase of recession in the entire Holocene rose once between 6,000-5,000 years B.P.

The vegetation had comprised of Calligonum series and Prosopis-Capparis-Ziziphus series in the vicinities of Lunkaransar, Didwana and Sambhar and of Anogeissus-Acacia series in the vicinity of Pushkar lake.

The earliest farming episode did not precede 5,000 years B.P. though inexplicable evidence of burning and disturbance of vegetation preceded it perhaps caused by natural means and grazing of animals.

The subsequent desertification was caused by combined effect of climatic and biotic factors.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Aggarwal SC 1951. The Sambhar Lake Salt Sources. Delhi.

Blagoveschenkiy EN 1968. The dry Savannah of north-west India. Soviet Geogr. & Translation, 9: 519-537. Rev.

Chapman VJ 1960. Salt Marshes and Salt Deserts of the World. London.

Gaussen H, Meher-Homji VM, Legris P, Blasco F, Delacourt A, Gupta RK & Troy JP 1972. Notice de la Feuille Rajasthan. Trav. Sect. Sci. Tech., Inst. Francais de Pondichery, Hors Ser. No. 12: 1-154.

Joshi MC 1956. Plant ecology of Bikaner and its adjacent areas in comparison with the rest of western Rajasthan. J. Indian bot. Soc., 35 (4): 495-571.

Joshi MC 1957. A comparative study of vegetation of sandy areas in Jaipur division. J. Indian bot. Soc., 36 (3): 272-291.

Khandelwal NM 1975. On the occurrence of halite in Didwana salt lake area. Curr. Sci., 44 (1): 13-14.

Krinsley Daniel B 1972. The palaeoclimatic significance of the Iranian Playas. Palaeoecology of Africa & of the surroundings Islands & Antarctica, E. M. Zinderen Bakker), (Ed.), 6: 114-120.

Lal BB 1970-71. Perhaps the earliest ploughed field so far excavated anywhere in the world. Purtattva V. D. Krishnaswami Comm. Vol., 4: 1-3.

Misra VN 1970. Evidence for a Neo-Chalcolithic culture in South Rajasthan. Sankalia Felicit. Vol. Indian Antiquary, 4: 85-95.

Misra VN 1971. Two late Mesolithic settlements in Rajasthan a brief review of investigations. J. Poona Univ., 35: 39-77.

Olausson E 1972. Evidences in Indian Ocean cores of late Pleistocene climatic changes. Palaeoecology of Africa, E. M. Van Zinderen Bakker (Ed.), 6: 41-44.

Saxena AK & Vishnu-Mittre 1976. Palynology of Mimosa rubicaulis and M. hamata. Geophytology, 7(2): 217-221.

Sinha BP, Singh GS, Bakhohi AR & Bhatnagar GC 1973. A note on the occurrence of halite in Bikaner area, Rajasthan. Curr. Sci., 42: 874.

Singh G 1971. The Indus Valley culture seen in the context of Postglacial climatic and ecological studies in north-west India. Archael Phys. anthrop. Oceania, 6 (2): 177.

Singh G, Chopra SK & Singh AB 1973. Pollen-rain from the vegetation of north-west India. New Phytol., 72: 191-206.

Singh G, Joshi RD, Chopra SK & Singh AB 1974. Late Quaternary history of vegetation and climate of the Rajasthan desert, India. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B 267 (889): 467-501.

Van Zeist W 1967. Late Quaternary vegetation history of Western Iran. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 2: 301-311.

Van Zinderen Bakker, Sr EH 1972. Late Quaternary lacustrine phases in the south- eastern Sahara and East Africa. Palaeoecology of Africa, 6: 15-27.

Vavilov NI 1951. The Origin, Variation, Immunity and Breeding of Cultivated Plants. New York.

Vishnu-Mittre 1973. Cereal vs. noncereal grass pollen in India and the inference of past agriculture. In: Pollen and Spore Morphology of Recent Plants. Proc. III Int. Palynol. Conf., Novosibirsk, U.S.S.R.: 24-32 (1971).

Vishnu-Mittre 1974a. Plant remains and climate from the late Harappan and other chalcolithic cultures of India - a study in interrelationships. Geophytology, 4 (1): 46-53.

Vishnu-Mittre 1974b. Late Quaternary palaeobotany and palynology in India an appraisement. In: Late Quaternary Vegetational Developments in extra-European areas, Vishnu-Mittre (Ed.) Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, Spl. Publ., 5: 16-51.

Vishnu-Mittre 1974c. The beginnings of agriculture-palaeobotanical evidence from India. In : Evolutionary studies in world crops: diversity and change in the Indian subcontinent, Prof. Sir Joseph Hutchinson, (Ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: 3-30.

Walter H 1964. Productivity of vegetation in arid countries, the savannah problem and bush encroachment after overgrazing. In Impact of Man on the Tropical Environment IUCN Publ. N.S., 4: 221-229. : The

Wasylikowa, Krystyna 1967. Late Quaternary macrofossils from Lake Zeribar in Western Iran. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 2: 313-318.

Wendland Wyne M & Bryson Reid A 1974. Dating climatic episodes of the Holocene. Quat. Res., 4: 9-24.

Downloads

Published

1976-12-31

How to Cite

Vishnu-Mittre. (1976). Palaeoecology of the Rajasthan desert during the last 10,000 years. Journal of Palaeosciences, 25(1-3), 549–558. https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.1976.1043

Issue

Section

Research Articles