Activity 4 – Climate variability and landscape responses in selected transects of NW and NE Himalaya
The pre- collisional record (i.e. the Proterozoic sediments of Lesser Himalaya) can help (i) in understanding the nature (i.e. arc/passive margin) of the extended north Indian cratonic margin (which got consumed in due course) and refinement of ‘Supercontinent architecture’ in Columbia and Rodinia, (ii) address the nuances of the Proterozoic climate, in particular, basin hosted carbonates can act as a proxy how the changes in ocean chemistry led to the evolution of life. In contrary, the syn and post collisional basins like the Siwalik and Indus molasses bear testimony to landscape changes as Asia and India collided and thrust sheet loading in Himalaya progressed. The younger (Late Pleistocene-Holocene) phenomenon is archived in the landscape of the rivers draining this mountain chain. The tectonics that may have an overarching role in shaping the landscape and evolving the sedimentary basins. The climate variability is an integral part of it as well. The temporal record of climate-tectonics as variable is archived in sediments and landscape. This project therefore aims to (i) reconstructing the past climate and extremes and responses using lake, peat, speleothem and paleoglacial records (ii) delineating Quaternary signatures of tectono-climatic evolution of Himalaya and its foreland, (iii) building the syn and post collision landscape using sedimentary archive, (iv) understanding sedimentary pattern and basin evolution of pre- Himalayan sedimentary basins and (v) work out how the changes in ocean water chemistry led to the evolution and proliferation of life on Earth.
Ecology and climate dynamics of the Himalaya – Cenozoic to Present
Study of past climate of the Earth is pivotal in understanding the future dynamics of climate. This purpose of this research activity is to reconstruct the past climate/monsoon and establish its ecological linkage through proxy records (sedimentology, geochemistry, environmental magnetism, stable isotope, clay mineralogy, grain size pollens and diatoms) from various geo-archival settings (Tree ring, Lake sediments, peat, fluvial deposits, speleothems and glacial deposits) of the Himalaya and its depositional basins (Indo-Gangetic Plain and Indian Ocean). Tree-rings continuously preserve temporal changes in environmental variables and provide precise dating to several centuries/millennia. On the other hand, the lake/peat and fluvial records are able to provide decadal to centennial scale up to late-Quaternary time period. The marine records are also able to provide information on the continental-scale impact of the climate and tectonics for Cenozoic era as well. The multi-archival and multi-proxy climate records may be used to understand the behavior of climate and bridge the local data gap in establishment of regional and global climatic linkages.
Team Members:
 Dr. Jayendra Singh (Activity In-charge) Scientist ‘E’ Phone No: +01352525271 Email:jayendrasingh’AT’wihg[dot]res[dot]in |  Som Dutt Scientist ‘D’ Phone No: 01352525212 Email:somdutt’AT’wihg[dot]res[dot]in |  Anil Kumar Scientist ‘D’ Phone No: 01352525213 Email:akumar’AT’wihg[dot]res[dot]in |
 Chhavi Pandey Scientist ‘D’ Phone No: 01352525456 Email:chhavi’AT’wihg[dot]res[dot]in |  Sudipta Sarkar Scientist ‘C’ Phone No: 01352525264 Email:sarkar’AT’wihg[dot]res[dot]in |  Subhojit Saha Scientist ‘C’ Phone No: 01352525267 Email: subhojit’AT’wihg[dot]res[dot]in |
 Prakasam M. Scientist ‘B’ Phone No: 01352525265 Email:prakasam’AT’wihg[dot]res[dot]in |