Vegetation history and monsoonal fluctuations during the last 12,500 years BP inferred from pollen record at Lower Subansiri Basin, Assam, Northeast India

Authors

  • S.K. Bera Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226007, India
  • S.K. Basumatary Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226007, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2013.330

Keywords:

Lower Subansiri Basin, Monsoonal activity, Northeast India, Vegetation

Abstract

A 120 cm sediment profile from 4.5 m deep exposed section of Lower Subansiri River Basin has been pollen analyzed to trace palaeovegetation and climate in relation to monsoonal activity since 12,500 years BP. The study has depicted the existence of tropical mixed tree–savannah type to tropical mixed deciduous type forest under four climatic regimes, viz. cold and dry to warm and relatively dry since 12,500 years BP followed by a palynologically barren zone indicating strong fluvial activity. Four sets of monsoon fluctuations, i.e. relatively low to considerably decline in monsoonal activities have been estimated by using pollen marker taxa during the period. The marker taxa signifying high monsoonal activity are – Dipterocarpaceae, Syzygium cumunii, Arecaceae and Moraceae. Melastoma malabathricum, the only taxa which is marked as low monsoonal activity and dry depositional environment. The consistent occurrences of high land taxa are suggestive of long distance pollen transport from higher elevation via strong wind and water source.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Barboni D & Bonnefille R 2001. Precipitation signal in modern pollen rain from tropical forests of south India. Review of Palaeobotany & Palynol¬ogy 114: 239–258.

Basumatary SK & Bera SK 2007. Modern pollen–spore assemblage from sediment of tropical moist deciduous forest, East Garo Hills, Meghalaya. Journal of Palynology 43: 111–118.

Basumatary SK & Bera SK 2010. Development of vegetation and climate change in West Garo Hills since late Holocene: pollen sequence and anthropogenic impact. Journal of Indian Botanical Society 89: 143–148.

Bera SK 2000. Modern pollen deposition in Mikir Hills, Assam, India. Pal-aeobotanist 49: 325–328.

Bera SK 2003. Early Holocene pollen data from Mikir Hills, Assam, India. Palaeobotanist 52: 121–126.

Bera SK, Dixit S, Basumatary SK & Gogoi R 2008. Evidence of biological degradation in sediments of Deepor Beel Ramsar site, Assam as inferred by degraded palynomorphs and fungal remains. Current Science 95: 178–181.

Bera SK, Basumatary SK, Nautiyal CM, Dixit S, Mao AA & Gogoi R 2010. Late Holocene climate and vegetation change in Dzuko Valley, north east India. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India 56: 143–148.

Bhattacharya K & Chanda S 1986. Quaternary pollen analysis of a peat sample from Gangtok (Sikkim). Science Culture 52: 139–140.

Bhattacharya K & Chanda S 1988. Late Quaternary vegetational history, palaeoecology and biostratigraphy of some deposits of Brahmaputra Basin, Upper Assam, India. Journal of Palynology 23–24: 225–237.

Bhattacharya K & Chanda S 1992. Late–Quaternary vegetational history of Upper Assam, India. Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology 72: 325–333.

Bhattacharyya A, Sharma J, Shah SK & Chaudhury V 2007. Climatic changes last 1800 years BP from Paradise Lake, Sela Pass, Arunachal Pradesh, northeast Himalaya. Current Science 93: 983–987.

Champion HG & Seth SK 1968. A revised Survey of the Forest Type of India, Delhi.

Chauhan MS & Mandaokar BD 2006. Pollen proxy records of vegetation and climate change during recent past in southern Mizoram, India. Gondwana Geological Magazine 21: 115–119.

Chauhan MS & Sharma C 1996. Late Holocene vegetation of Darjeeling (Jore–Pokhari), eastern Himalaya. Palaeobotanist 45: 125–129.

D’ Costa M & Mukharjee BB 1986. Holocene history of ferns in Darjeeling Hills, eastern Himalaya. Phytomorphology 36: 151–163.

Demske D, Tarasov PE, Wunnemann B & Riedel F 2009. Late glacial and Holocene vegetation, Indian Monsoon and westerly circulation in the Trans–Himalaya recorded in the lacustrine pollen sequence from Tso Kar, Ladakh, NW India. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 279: 172–185.

Ely LL, Enzel Y, Baker VR & Cayan DR 1993. A 5000 year record of extreme floods and climate change in southwestern United States. Science 262: 410–412.

Erdtman G 1953. An Introduction to Pollen Analysis, Waltham, Mass; USA.

Faegri K & Iversen J 1964. Text book of Pollen Analysis (IV ed.), Wiley.

Fleitmann D, Burns SJ, Mudelsee M, Neff U, Kramers J, Mangini A & Matter A 2003. Holocene forcing of the Indian Monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from southern Oman, Science 300: 1737–1739.

Goodbred SL Jr. & Kuehl SA 2000. Enormous Ganges–Brahmaputra sediment discharge during strengthened early Holocene Monsoon. Geology 28: 1083–1086.

Goswami AB 1981. Palynological and radiocarbon dating of peat deposits in Tripura. In: Khosla SC & Kacchara RP (Editors)—Proceeding of 9th Indian Colloquium Micropalaeontology Stratigraphy, Udaipur: 192–200.

Goswami DC 1997. Brahmaputra River Basin forestry. In: forestry and key Asian watersheds, Myint AK, Hofer T (Editors). ICIMOD: Katmandu: 32–37.

Goswami U, Sarma JN & Patgiri AD 1990. River channel changes of the Subansiri in Assam, India. Geomorphology 30: 227–244.

Gupta HP 1971. Pollen analysis investigations of some Pleistocene samples from Tocklai, Cinnamara, Assam. Palaeobotanist 18: 234–236.

Gupta HP & Sharma C 1985. Pollen analysis of modern sediments from Khasi and Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, India. Journal of Palynology 21: 167–173.

Gupta AK, Anderson DM & Overpeck JT 2003. Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 421: 354–357.

Gupta AK, Anderson DM, Pandey DN & Singhvi AK 2006. Adaptation and human migration and evidence of agriculture coincident with changes in the Indian Summer Monsoon the Holocene. Current Science 90: 1082–1090.

Karunakaran C 1974. Geology and mineral resources of the states of India. Part IV. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. Geological Society of India, Miscellaneous Publication 30: 1–124.

Kumaran KPN, Nair KM, Shindikar M, Limaye RB & Padmalal D 2005. Stratigraphical and palynological appraisal of the late Quaternary mangrove deposits of the west coast of India. Quaternary Research 64: 418–431.

Mandaokar BD, Chauhan MS & Chatterjee S 2008. Fungal remains from Late Holocene Lake deposit of Demagiri, Mizoram, India and their palaeoclimatic implications. Journal of Palaeontological Society of India 52: 197–205.

Meher–Homji VM & Gupta HP 1999. A critical appraisal of vegetation and climate changes during Quaternary in the Indian region. PINSA B65: 205–244.

Mehrotra RC, Liu, Xiu–Qun Li, Cheng–Sen, Wang Yu–Fei & Chauhan MS 2005. Comparison of the Tertiary flora of southwest China and northeast India and its significance in the antiquity of the modern Himalayan flora. Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology 135: 145–163.

Mehrotra RC, Bera SK, Basumatary SK and Srivastava G 2011. Study of fossil wood from the Middle–Late Miocene sediments of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts of Assam, India and its palaeoecological and palaeophytogeographical implications. Journal of earth system science 120: 681–702.

Nautiyal CM & Chauhan MS 2009. Late Holocene vegetation and climate change in Loktak Lake region, Manipur, based on pollen and chemical evidence. Palaeobotanist 58: 21–28.

Phadtare NR 2000. Sharp decrease in summer monsoon strength 4000–3500 cal yr B. P. in the central higher Himalaya of India based on pollen evi¬dence from Alpine peat. Quaternary Research 53: 122–129.

Prasad MNV & Ramesh NR 1983. Fungal remains from the Holocene sedi-ments of Tripura, India. Current Science 52: 254– 256.

Prasad MNV 1986. Fungal remains from the Holocene peat deposits of Tripura State, north eastern India. Pollen spores 28: 365–390.

Prasad MNV 1988. Ecological and archaeological aspects of Holocene de-posits of Tripura State, north eastern India. Proceeding of Indian National Science Academy 54: 452–460.

Prasad S & Enzel Y 2006. Holocene palaeoclimate of India. Quaternary Research 66: 442–453.

Roy P & Chanda S 1987. Late Quaternary vegetational history and biostratig¬raphy of Loktak Lake of Manipur, India. Transactions of Bose Research Institute 50: 73–80.

Sharma C & Chauhan MS 2001. Late Holocene vegetation and climate of Kupur (Sikkim) Eastern Himalaya, India. Journal of Palaeontological Society of India 46: 51–58.

Singh G, Joshi RD, Chopra SK & Singh AB 1974. Late Quaternary history of vegetation and climate of the Rajasthan Desert, India. Philosophical Trans¬actions of the Royal Society, London (Biological Science) 267: 467–501.

Singh G, Wasson RJ & Agarwal DP 1990. Vegetational and seasonal climatic changes since the last full glacial in the Thar Desert, northwestern India. Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology 64: 351–358.

Staubwasser M 2006. An overview of Holocene South Asian Monsoon records–Monsoon domains and regional contrasts. Journal of Geological Society of India 68: 433–446.

Swain AM, Kutzbach JE & Hastenraths S 1983. Estimates of Holocene precipitation for Rajasthan, India, based on pollen and Lake–Level data. Quaternary Research 19: 1–17.

Zhang M, Yuan D, Lin Y, Qin J, Bin L, Cheng H & Edwards L 2004. A 6000–year high–resolution climatic record from a stalagmite in Xiangshui Cave, Guilin, China. The Holocene 14: 697–702.

Downloads

Published

2013-12-31

How to Cite

Bera, S., & Basumatary, S. (2013). Vegetation history and monsoonal fluctuations during the last 12,500 years BP inferred from pollen record at Lower Subansiri Basin, Assam, Northeast India. Journal of Palaeosciences, 62((1-2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2013.330

Issue

Section

Research Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>