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Luminescence dating of fluvial and coastal red sediments in the SE Coast, India, and implications for paleoenvironmental changes and dune reddening

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

R. Jayangondaperumal ,
M.K. Murari ,
P. Sivasubramanian ,
N. Chandrasekar  and
A.K. Singhvi
R. Jayangondaperumal*
Affiliation:
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India
M.K. Murari
Affiliation:
Physical Research Laboratory, EPSD, OSL lab, Ahmadabad, India
P. Sivasubramanian
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, VOC College , Tuticorin, India
N. Chandrasekar
Affiliation:
Centre for Geo Technology, M.S. University, Tamil Nadu, India
A.K. Singhvi
Affiliation:
Physical Research Laboratory, EPSD, OSL lab, Ahmadabad, India
*
*Corresponding author at: #33 GMS Road, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India. E-mail address:ramperu.jayan@gmail.com (R. Jayangondaperumal).
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Abstract

The Holocene and late Pleistocene environmental history of the teri ('sandy waste' in local parlance) red sands in the southeast coastal Tamil Nadu was examined using remote sensing, stratigraphy, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Geomorphological surveys enabled the classification of the teri red sands as, 1) inland fluvial teri, 2) coastal teri and 3) near-coastal teri dunes. The inland teri sediments have higher clay and silty-sand component than the coastal and near-coastal teri, suggesting that these sediments were deposited by the fluvial process during a stronger winter monsoon around ≫ 15 ka. The coastal teri dunes were deposited prior to 11.4 ± 0.9 ka, and the near-coastal dunes aggraded at around 5.6 ± 0.4 ka. We; interpret that the coastal dunes were formed during a period of lower relative sea level and the near-coastal dunes formed during a period of higher sea level. Dune reddening is post deposition occurred after 11.4 ± 0.9 ka for the coastal teri dunes and after 5.6 ± 0.4 ka for the near-coastal teri dunes. Presence of microlithic sites associated with the coastal dunes suggest that the cultures existed in the region during 11.4 ± 0.9 ka and 5.6 ± 0.4 ka.

Keywords

Teri red sand dunesSea levelCoastal dunesWinter monsoonReddeningMicrolithic industryEnvironmental changes
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , May 2012 , pp. 468 - 481
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

1 Presently at Department of Geosciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, USA.

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