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Surface hydrographic variations in the western Arabian Sea through the last 172 kyr

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Abstract

To understand the long-term-seasonal surface hydrographic variation in the Western Arabian Sea (WAS) during the last ~ 172 kyr, we have used the oxygen isotope record of planktonic foraminifera (δ18OG.ruber) from marine sediment core (VM3504-PC). The core chronology was established using five radiocarbon 14C and δ18OG.ruber with global isostack LR04. The stable isotope record of G. ruber marked the glacial-interglacial variation. The significant variation in δ18OG.ruber mostly towards positive excursion, which shows the cooler period during MIS6, 4, and 2. In contrast, MIS5, mid-MIS4 (~ 65.6 to ~ 60.3 kyr), MIS3, and MIS1 mark negative excursion in δ18OG.ruber representing the warmer period. The mid-MIS4 is warmer due to Southwest monsoon (SWM) and Northeast monsoon (NEM) superimpositions in the WAS. Interestingly, the δ18OG.ruber with more positive excursion during MIS6 suggests more cooling than MIS2. In our record (WAS), the MIS4 is warmer than MIS6 and MIS2. Furthermore, mid-MIS4 (~ 65.6 to ~ 60.3 kyr) is warmer than MIS3. During MIS5, δ18OG.ruber signatures suggested significant changes in the surface hydrography of the WAS due to SWM intensification. The values ~  − 0.7 (‰) correspond to ~ 12.5 kyr, marking the MIS2 shift towards the onset of MIS1, attributed to intensified monsoonal precipitation. The comparison between δ18O records of the studied core (VM3504-PC) to five δ18O records from a different region of the Indian Ocean shows coherency except mid-MIS4.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Director, BSIP, Lucknow for providing the required facilities to carry out this work and allowing us to publish the same. HK is grateful to the DST, New Delhi, for awarding the INSPIRE Fellowship (IF 170933). The authors are thankful to the International Core Repository at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), Columbia University, USA for providing the samples. The authors are grateful to IUAC for extending the AMS facility for 14C dates funded by the Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), Government of India, with reference number MoES 16/07/11(i)-RDEAS and MoES P.S. (Seismic)8(09)-Geochron/2012. The BSIP manuscript no. is BSIP/RDCC/Publication no. 71/2021-2022.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, 226007, India

    Hidayatullah Khan, Pawan Govil & Shailesh Agrawal

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Gaziabad, 201002, India

    Hidayatullah Khan & Pawan Govil

  3. Department of Environmental Science, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411 007, India

    Rajani Panchang

  4. Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Pankaj Kumar

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  1. Hidayatullah Khan
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  2. Pawan Govil
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Correspondence to Pawan Govil.

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Khan, H., Govil, P., Panchang, R. et al. Surface hydrographic variations in the western Arabian Sea through the last 172 kyr. Geo-Mar Lett 42, 10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-022-00733-y

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