A delta13C record of late Quaternary climate change from tropical peats in southern India

Sukumar, R and Ramesh, R and Pant, RK and Rajagopalan, G (1993) A delta13C record of late Quaternary climate change from tropical peats in southern India. In: Nature, 364 (6439). pp. 703-706.

PDF Record.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (493kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

STABLE-ISOTOPE ratios of carbon in soils or lake sediments1-3 and of oxygen and hydrogen in peats4,5 have been found to reflect past moisture variations and hence to provide valuable palaeoclimate records. Previous applications of the technique to peat have been restricted to temperate regions, largely because tropical climate variations are less pronounced, making them harder to resolve. Here we present a deltaC-13 record spanning the past 20 kyr from peats in the Nilgiri hills, southern India. Because the site is at high altitude (>2,000 m above sea level), it is possible to resolve a clear climate signal. We observe the key climate shifts that are already known to have occurred during the last glacial maximum (18 kyr ago) and the subsequent deglaciation. In addition, we observe an arid phase from 6 to 3.5 kyr ago, and a short, wet phase about 600 years ago. The latter appears to correspond to the Mediaeval Warm Period, which previously was believed to be confined to Europe and North America6,7. Our results therefore suggest that this event may have extended over the entire Northern Hemisphere.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Nature
Publisher:	Nature Publishing Group
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Nature Publishing Group.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2011 12:30
Last Modified:	31 Jan 2011 12:30
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/35273

Actions (login required)

View Item