Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences
Title : | Northern Indian Ocean Holocene eustatic sea-level record (Lakshadweep Archipelago) |
Area of research : | Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Pankaj Khanna, Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, Gujarat |
Timeline Start Year : | 2022 |
Timeline End Year : | 2024 |
Contact info : | pankaj.khanna@iitgn.ac.in |
Equipments : | Workstation
Hand Held Drill |
Details
Executive Summary : | The overall objective of this project is to sample, drill, and date the Holocene sediments on the islands and the attached shallow lagoons of the Lakshadweep archipelago, in order to analyze and reconstruct the Holocene sea-level fluctuations (eustatic) in the northern Indian Ocean. The geologic record provides a window of opportunity to quantify the timing, amplitudes, rates, mechanisms/controls, and effects (stratigraphic response) of the past eustatic sea-level changes. Specifically, the shallow-water carbonate systems (coral reefs systems) correspond to excellent sea-level markers because they are depth-dependent owing to the importance of sunlight to many carbonate-secreting organisms. These carbonate systems will be studied systematically, which would provide information on geometry, mineralogy, as well as their textural composition that is critical to study the impact of sea-level fluctuations on these shallow marine systems. Lakshadweep archipelago is specifically well-suited for the reconstruction of glacial-eustatic sea-level changes due to its great distance (“far-field”) to former polar ice sheets. At present, the sea-level records derived from coral reefs are concentrated in the Pacific and the tropical Atlantic and are representative of those areas, however, these sea-level records are extremely sparse in the Indian Ocean (limited to Western Australia). Sea-level records of eustatic sea-level change are required from the northern Indian Ocean to understand the signature of sea-level rise history in the Holocene to better inform modelers predicting future sea-level rise along Indian Peninsula and the Indian Islands. Thus, the Lakshadweep archipelago represents a first-order target in evaluating past sea-level fluctuations (eustatic) that could be used to characterize sea-level history along the Indian Peninsula (specifically the western margin). This project will also provide a first-order dataset to carry out modern carbonates research field trips in Lakshadweep in the future that will be India’s first of its kind and will support revenue generation (for the local community). |
Total Budget (INR): | 25,65,816 |
Organizations involved