High-resolution Holocene environmental changes in the Thar Desert, northwestern India
Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Geological Sciences
Publication Date
4-2-1999
Abstract
Sediments from Lunkaransar dry lake in northwestern India reveal regional water table and lake level fluctuations over decades to centuries during the Holocene that are attributed to changes in the southwestern Indian monsoon rains. The lake levels were very shallow and fluctuated often in the early Holocene and then rose abruptly around 6300 carbon-14 years before the present (14C yr B.P.). The lake completely desiccated around 4800 14C yr B.P. The end of this 1500-year wet period coincided with a period of intense dune destabilization. The major Harrapan-Indus civilization began and flourished in this region 1000 years after desiccation of the lake during arid climate and was not synchronous with the lacustral phase.
Recommended Citation
Enzel, Y., Ely, L. L., Mishra, S., Ramesh, R., Amit, R., Lazar, B., Rajaguru, S. N., Baker, V. R., & Sandler, A. (1999). High-Resolution Holocene Environmental Changes in the Thar Desert, Northwestern India. Science, 284(5411), 125–128. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.284.5411.125
Journal
Science
Rights
Copyright © 1999, The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Comments
This article was originally published in Science. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.
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