Abstract
A marked change in vegetation of the Western Ghats at ca. 3500 yr BP (uncalibrated14C yr) has been observed from a study of two marine cores taken from the inner shelf off Karwar (Karataka, western India), near the mouth of the Kalinadi River. This change is indicated by decrease in tree pollen, particularly those of evergreen forests, reduction of mangrove derived pollen, and by corresponding increase of savanna grass pollen. At the same time, the stable carbon isotopic ratios of organic matter increased abruptly, indicating a higher contribution of organic matter of marine origin and consequently reduced input of terrestrial organic matter due to reduced flow of the Kalinadi River. All these changes point to a less humid climate and shorter rainy season in the region, and are unlikely to result from human activity. The pattern of drier climate associated with forest reduction, increase of savanna elements, decrease of the mangrove vegetation, lower fresh water runoff of the Kalinadi River, continued up to ca. 2200 yr BP. Since then, the pollen assemblages have remained uniform up to the present day. We conclude that the climate similar to the present one was established in the studied area about 2200 yr ago.
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Bentaleb, I., Caratini, C., Fontugne, M., Morzadec-Kerfourn, M.T., Pascal, J.P., Tissot, C. (1997). Monsoon Regime Variations During the Late Holocene in the Southwestern India. In: Dalfes, H.N., Kukla, G., Weiss, H. (eds) Third Millennium BC Climate Change and Old World Collapse. NATO ASI Series, vol 49. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60616-8_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60616-8_20
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