Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

10Be/9Be Ratios of Cauvery River Delta Sediments, Southern India:Implications for Palaeo-Denudation Rates in the Catchment and Variation in Summer Monsoon Rainfall During Late Quaternary


Affiliations
1 Department of Physics, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India
2 Department of Earth Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India
3 Inter University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067, India
 

Present and past denudation rates (D) of the Cauvery river catchment determined using meteoric 10Be/9Be on drill-core sediment samples from Uttarangudi and Valangaiman sites in the delta vary from 18.7 ± 1.6 to 48.1 ± 8.3 t/km2/a. The present day denudation rates of 37.7 ± 4.9 t/km2/a and 36.9 ± 5.2 t/km2/a estimated for these sites are higher by a factor of two than that based on solute and suspended load of the Cauvery river. Denudation rates estimated using 10Be/9Be (reactive) is more accurate as it is not affected by damming of rivers. Based on 9Be fraction (reactive + dissolved) and previous studies, we infer that sediments for Valangaiman site were mainly sourced from Western Ghats and Mysore plateau, whereas highlands bordering southwestern margin of the delta mostly supplied sediments to the Uttarangudi site. The Western Ghats and the delta received rainfall mainly during summer monsoon and NE monsoon respectively. Comparison of palaeo-denudation rates with various proxies of the Indian summer monsoon shows inverse relationship between them. Lower denudation rates are estimated for Early to Mid-Holocene period which is characterized by intense rainfall. Drier conditions after 4.5 ka BP caused increase in denudation rates after 2.5 ka BP for the Valangaiman core, consistent with a response time of 2 ka required to change 10Be/9Be in sediments of the Cauvery basin.

Keywords

Cauvery Delta, Denudation Rate, Holocene, Meteoric 10Be/9Be, Sediment Cores, Summer Monsoon.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Raymo, M., Ruddiman, W. and Froelich, P., Influence of late Cenozoic mountain building on ocean geochemical cycles. Geology, 1988, 16, 649–653.

  • Berner, R. A., A model for atmospheric CO2 over phanerozoic time. Am. J. Sci., 1991, 291, 339–376.

  • Gaillardet, J., Dupre, B., Louvat, P. and Allegre, C. J., Global silicate weathering and CO2 consumption rates deduced from the chemistry of large rivers. Chem. Geol., 1999, 159, 3–30.

  • Whipple, K. X. and Meade, B. J., Orogen response to changes in climatic and tectonic forcing. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2006, 243, 218–228.

  • Whipple, K., Bedrock rivers and the geomorphology of active orogens. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 2004, 32, 151–185.

  • Whipple, K. X., The influence of climate on the tectonic evolution of mountain belts. Nat. Geosci., 2009, 2, 97–104.

  • von Blanckenburg, F. and Willenbring, J. K., Cosmogenic nuclides: dates and rates of earth-surface change. Elements, 2014, 10, 341–346.

  • Granger, D. E. and Schaller, M., Cosmogenic nuclides and erosion at the watershed scale. Elements, 2014, 10, 369–373.

  • Monaghan, M. C., Krishnaswami, S. and Turekian, K. K., The global average production rate of 10Be. Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett., 1985–86, 76, 279–287.

  • Nishiizumi, K., Winterer, E. L., Kohl, C. P., Klein, J., Middleton, R., Lal, D. and Arnold, J. R., Cosmic ray production rates of 10Be and 26Al in Quartz from glacially polished rocks. J. Geophys. Res., 1989, 94, 17907–17915.

  • von Blanckenburg, F., Bouchez, J. and Wittmann, H., Earth surface erosion and weathering from the 10Be (meteoric)/9Be ratio. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2012, 351–352, 295–305.

  • von Blanckenburg, F., Bouchez, J., Ibarra, D. E. and Maher, K., Stable runoff and weathering fluxes into the oceans over Quaternary climate cycles. Nat. Geosci., 2015, 8, 538–543.

  • Brown, L., 10Be as a tracer of erosion and sediment transport. Chem. Geol., 1987, 65, 189–196.

  • Brown, L., Pavic, M. J., Hickman, R. E., Klein, J. and Middleton, R., Erosion of the Eastern United States observed with 10Be. Earth Surf. Proc. Landf., 1988, 13, 441–457.

  • You, C. F., Lee, T., Brown, L., Shen, J. J. and Chen, J. C., 10Be study of rapid erosion in Taiwan. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1988, 52, 2687–2691.

  • You, C. F., Lee, T. and Li, Y. H., The partition of Be between soil and water. Chem. Geol., 1989, 77, 105–118.

  • Willenbring, J. K. and von Blanckenburg, F., Meteoric cosmogenic Beryllium-10 adsorbed to river sediment and soil: applications for Earth-surface dynamics. Earth-Sci. Rev., 2010, 98, 105–122.

  • Wittmann, H., von Blanckenburg, F., Bouchez, J., Dannhaus, N., Naumann, R., Christl, M. and Gaillardet, J., The dependence of meteoric 10Be on particle size in Amazon River bed sediment and the extraction of reactive 10Be/9Be ratios. Chem. Geol., 2012, 318– 319, 126–138.

  • von Blanckenburg, F. and Bouchez, J., River fluxes to the sea from the ocean’s 10Be/9Be ratio. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2014, 387, 34–43.

  • Field, C. V., Schmidt, G. A., Koch, D. and Salyk, C., Modeling production and climate related impacts on 10Be concentration in ice cores. J. Geophys. Res., 2006, 111, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006410.

  • Heikkila, U., Beer, J. and Feichter, J., Meridional transport and deposition of atmospheric 10Be. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discus., 2008, 8, 16819–16849.

  • Staudigel, H. et al., Geochemical Earth Reference Model (GERM): description of the initiative. Chem. Geol., 1998, 145, 153–159.

  • Grew, E. S., Beryllium in metamorphic environments (emphasis on aluminous compositions). Rev. Miner. Geochem., 2002, 50, 487–549.

  • Rudnick, R. L. and Gao, S., Composition of the Continental Crust. In Treatise on Geochemistry (eds Heinrich, D. H. and Karl, K. T.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2004, pp. 1–64.

  • Pattanaik, J. K., Balakrishnan, S., Bhutani, R. and Singh, P., Estimation of weathering rates and CO2 drawdown based on solute load: Significance of granulites and gneisses dominated weathering in the Kaveri River basin, Southern India. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2013, 121, 611–636.

  • Somayajulu, B. L. K. et al., Be annual fallout in rains in India. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B, 1984, 5, 398–403.

  • Heikkilä, U. and von Blanckenburg, F., The global distribution of Holocene meteoric 10Be fluxes from atmospheric models. Distribution maps for terrestrial Earth surface applications. GFZ Data Services, 2015, 10.5880/GFZ.3.4.2015.001.

  • Ramanathan, A. L., Subramanian, V. and Das, B. K., Sediment and heavy metal accumulation in the Cauvery Basin. Environ. Geol., 1996, 27(3), 155–163.

  • Singh, P. and Rajamani, V., Geochemistry of the floodplain sediments of the Kaveri river, Southern India. J. Sediment. Res., 2001, 71(1), 50–60.

  • Singh, P. and Rajamani, V., REE Geochemistry of recent clastic sediments from the Kaveri floodplains, southern India: Implications to source area weathering and sedimentary processes. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2001, 65, 3093–3108.

  • Pattanaik, J. K., Balakrishnan, S., Bhutani, R. and Singh, P., Chemical and Sr isotopic composition of Kaveri, Palar and Ponnaiyar rivers: significance to weathering of Granulites and Granitic gneisses of southern Peninsular India. Curr. Sci., 2007, 93(4), 523–531.

  • Storey, M., Mahoney John, J., Saunders, A. D., Duncan, R. A., Kelley, S. P. and Coffin, M. F., Timing of hot spot-related volcanism and the breakup of Madagascar and India. Science, 1995, 267, 852–855.

  • John, M. M., Balakrishnan, S. and Bhadra, B. K., Contrasting metamorphism across Cauvery Shear Zone, South India. J. Earth Syst. Sci., 2005, 114(2), 1–16.

  • Alappat, L., Tsukamoto, S., Singh, P., Srikanth, D., Ramesh, R. and Frechen, M., Chronology of Cauvery delta sediments from shallow subsurface cores using elevated-temperature POST-IR IRSL Dating of feldspar. Geochronometria, 2010, 37, 37–47.

  • Ramasamy, S. M., Holocene tectonics revealed by Tamil Nadu Deltas, India. J. Geol. Soc. India, 2006, 67(5), 637–648.

  • Integrated Hydrological Data Book (Non-classified River Basin), Central Water Commission, New Delhi, October 2007.

  • Venkatesh, B. and Jose, M. K., Identification of homogeneous rainfall regimes in parts of Western Ghats region of Karnataka. J. Earth Syst. Sci., 2007, 116(4), 321–329.

  • www.imdtvm.gov.in

  • Singh, P. et al., Fertile farmlands in Cauvery delta: evolution through LGM. Curr. Sci., 2015, 108, 218–225.

  • Brown, T. A., Nelson, D. E., Southon, J. R. and Vogel, J. S., The extraction of 10Be from lake sediments leaching versus total dissolution. Chem. Geol. (Isotope Geosciences Section), 1985, 52, 375– 378.

  • Graham, I. J., Ditchbum, R. G., Sparks, R. J. and Whitehead, N. E., 10Be investigations of sediments, soils and loess at GNS. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B, 1997, 123, 307–318.

  • Shibata, Y., Tanaka, A., Yoneda, M., Uehiro, T., Kawai, T., Morita, M. and Kobayashi, K., 26Al/10Be method for dating of sediment core samples from Lake Baikal. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B, 2000, 172, 827–831.

  • Balakrishnan, S., Applications of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry in Earth Sciences. Indian association of nuclear chemists and allied scientists bulletin, 2016, vol. xiii, 2, pp. 47–55.

  • Dichburn, R. G. and Whitehead, N. E., The separation of 10Be from silicates. 3rd Workshop of the South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity, 1994, pp. 4–7.

  • Kumar, P. et al., 10Be measurements at IUAC-AMS facility. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem., 2011, 290(1), 179–182.

  • Korschinek, G. et al., A new value for the half-life of 10Be by Heavy-Ion Elastic Recoil Detection and liquid scintillation counting. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B, 2010, 268, 187–191.

  • Chmeleff, J., Blanckenburg, F. V., Kossert, K. and Jakob, D., Determination of the 10Be half-life by multicollector ICP-MS and liquid scintillation counting. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B, 2010, 268, 192–199.

  • Frank, M., Schwarzb, B., Baumann, S., Kubik, P. W., Suter, M. and Mangini, A., A 200 kyr record of cosmogenic radionuclide production rate and geomagnetic field intensity from 10Be in globally stacked deep-sea sediments. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1997, 149, 121–129.

  • Christl, M., Lippold, J., Steinhilber, F., Bernsdorff, F. and Mangini, A., Reconstruction of global 10Be production over the past 250 ka from highly accumulating Atlantic drift sediments. Quat. Sci. Rev., 2010, 29, 2663–2672.

  • Wittmann, H. et al., A test of the cosmogenic 10Be (meteoric)/9Be proxy for simultaneously determining basin-wide erosion rates, denudation rates, and the degree of weathering in the Amazon basin. J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf., 2015, 120, 1–31; doi:10.1002/2015JF003581.

  • Gopinath, S. and Srinivasamoorthy, K., Application of geophysical and hydrogeochemical tracers to investigate salinisation sources in Nagapatinam and Karaikal coastal aquifers, South India. Aquatic Procedia, 2015, 4, 65–71.

  • Sirocko, F., Sarnthein, M., Erlenkeuser, H., Lange, H., Arnold, M. and Duplessy, J. C., Century scale events in monsoon climate over the past 24,000 years. Nature, 1993, 364, 322–324.

  • Overpeck, J., Anderson, D., Trumbore, S. and Prell, W., The southwest Indian monsoon over the last 18,000 years. Clim. Dynam., 1996, 12, 213–225.

  • Zorzi, C, Goni, M. F. S. Anupama, K., Prasad, S., Hanquiez, V., Johnson, J. and Giosan, L., Indian monsoon variations during three contrasting climatic periods: The Holocene, Heinrich Stadial 2 and the last interglacialeglacial transition. Quat. Sci. Rev., 2015, 125, 50–60.

  • Gupta, A. K., Anderson, D. M. and Overpeck, J. T., Abrupt changes in Asian south west monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature, 2003, 421, 354– 356.

  • Dykoski, C. A. et al., A high-resolution, absolute-dated Holocene and deglacial Asian monsoon record from Dongge Cave, China. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2005, 233, 71–86.

  • Sukumar, R., Ramesh, R., Pant, R. K. and Rajagopalan, G., A δ 13C record of Late Quarternary climate change from tropical peats in southern India. Nature, 1993, 364, 703–706.

  • Rajagopalan, G., Sukumar, R., Ramesh, R., Pant, R. K. and Rajagopalan, G., Late Quaternary vegitational and climatic changes from tropical peats in southern India – an extended record up to 40,000 year BP. Curr. Sci., 1997, 73(1), 60–63.


Abstract Views: 193

PDF Views: 75




  • 10Be/9Be Ratios of Cauvery River Delta Sediments, Southern India:Implications for Palaeo-Denudation Rates in the Catchment and Variation in Summer Monsoon Rainfall During Late Quaternary

Abstract Views: 193  |  PDF Views: 75

Authors

Soumya Prakash Dhal
Department of Physics, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India
S. Balakrishnan
Department of Earth Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India
Pankaj Kumar
Inter University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067, India
Pramod Singh
Department of Earth Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India
Alok Sharan
Department of Physics, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605 014, India
Sundeep Chopra
Inter University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067, India

Abstract


Present and past denudation rates (D) of the Cauvery river catchment determined using meteoric 10Be/9Be on drill-core sediment samples from Uttarangudi and Valangaiman sites in the delta vary from 18.7 ± 1.6 to 48.1 ± 8.3 t/km2/a. The present day denudation rates of 37.7 ± 4.9 t/km2/a and 36.9 ± 5.2 t/km2/a estimated for these sites are higher by a factor of two than that based on solute and suspended load of the Cauvery river. Denudation rates estimated using 10Be/9Be (reactive) is more accurate as it is not affected by damming of rivers. Based on 9Be fraction (reactive + dissolved) and previous studies, we infer that sediments for Valangaiman site were mainly sourced from Western Ghats and Mysore plateau, whereas highlands bordering southwestern margin of the delta mostly supplied sediments to the Uttarangudi site. The Western Ghats and the delta received rainfall mainly during summer monsoon and NE monsoon respectively. Comparison of palaeo-denudation rates with various proxies of the Indian summer monsoon shows inverse relationship between them. Lower denudation rates are estimated for Early to Mid-Holocene period which is characterized by intense rainfall. Drier conditions after 4.5 ka BP caused increase in denudation rates after 2.5 ka BP for the Valangaiman core, consistent with a response time of 2 ka required to change 10Be/9Be in sediments of the Cauvery basin.

Keywords


Cauvery Delta, Denudation Rate, Holocene, Meteoric 10Be/9Be, Sediment Cores, Summer Monsoon.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv115%2Fi9%2F1770-1781