Open Access
Subscription Access
Open Access
Subscription Access
Holocene Vegetation and Climate Fluctuations in Northwest Himalaya, Based on Pollen Evidence from Surinsar Lake, Jammu Region, India
Subscribe/Renew Journal
Pollen analysis of a 33.21 m deep sediment core from Surinsar lake in Jammu region has revealed that between 9,500 and 7,700 yr BP (Pollen zone SL-I), the mixed oak-broad-leaved/chirpine forest occurred in the region under a warm and humid climate. The record of aquatic plants viz. Potamogeton, Typha and freshwater alga Botryococcus in appreciable numbers denotes the existence of the lake since the Early Holocene. Subsequently, mixed chirpine/oakbroad- leaved forests appeared in the area around 7,700 to 6,125 yr BP (Pollen zone SL-II) with the dominance of chirpine (Pinus cf. roxburghii) by the onset of cool and dry climate, attributed to decrease in monsoon rainfall. The expansion of oak and its broad-leaved associates between 6,125 and 4,330 yr BP (Pollen zone SL-III) suggests that the climate turned moderately humid and warm, presumably due to enhanced monsoonal effect. The region has witnessed a brief spell of pluvial environment between 4,330 and 4,000 yr BP (Pollen zone SL-IV) as evidenced by the presence of sandy layer at 15.4-14 m depths. The period of 4,000 to 2,100 yr BP (Pollen zone SL-V) is marked by the prevalence of cool and dry climate as depicted by a sharp decline in oak (Quercus cf. incana) and other broad-leaved taxa and a concurrent increase in chirpine. From 2,100 to 800 yr BP (Pollen zone SL-VI) no palaeofloristic inferences could be drawn due to paucity of pollen, however, the presence of sandy deposit at the corresponding level in lithocolumn implies a pluvial episode by this time. Since 800 yr BP to Present (Pollen zone SL-VII) the slight advance in the oak reflects the ameliorating trend of climate, despite the existing cool and dry climate.
Keywords
Pollen Analysis, Palaeovegetation, Palaeoclimate, Holocene, Surinsar Lake, Jammu.
Subscription
Login to verify subscription
User
Font Size
Information
- BHATTACHARYYA, A. (1989) Vegetation and climate during the last 30,000 years in Ladakh. Palaeogeo. Palaeoclimat. Palaeoeco., v.73, pp.25-38.
- CHAMPION, H.G. and SETH, S.K. (1968) A Revised Survey of Forest Types of India. New Delhi, 397p.
- CHAUHAN, M.S. and SHARMA, C. (1993) Modern pollen deposition in subtropical zone of Kumaon Himalaya. Geophytology, v.23, No.1, pp.147-153.
- DODIA, R. (1988) Climate of Kashmir during the last 700,000 years: The Baltal pollen profile. Proc. natn. Sci. Acad., v.54A, No.3, pp.481-489.
- ERDTMAN, G. (1943) An Introduction to Pollen Analysis. Waltham Mass., USA, 239p.
- GUPTA, H. P. (1991) Changing pattern of vegetation in the intermontane basin of Kashmir since 4 Ma: A palynological approach. Palaeobotanist, v.40, pp.354-373.
- GUPTA, H.P. and SHARMA, C. (1989) Vegetational history and palaeoenvironment of Hirpur Loc. I, Lower Karewa. Palaeobotanist, v.37, No.2, pp.155-158.
- GUPTA, H.P., SHARMA, C., DODIA, R., MANDAVIA, C. and VORA, A.B. (1984) A palynological interpretation of climate changes in Kashmir (India) during the past three million years. Proceedings of Palaeoenvironment of East Asia from Mid-Tertiary II, Hong Kong, pp.553-568.
- GUPTA, H. P., SHARMA, C., DODIA, R., MANDAVIA, C. and VORA, A. B. (1988) Palynostratigraphy and palaeoenvironment of Kashmir, Hirpur Loc. III. Climate and Geology of Kashmir (Publ.), pp.75-90.
- PURI, G.S. (1947) The occurrence of tropical fig (Ficus cunia Buch- Ham.) in the Karewa beds at Liddarmarg, Pir Panjal Range, Kashmir with remarks on the sub-tropical forests of the Kashmir Valley during the Pleistocene. Jour. Indian Bot. Soc., v.26, No.3, pp.131-135.
- PURI, G.S. (1948) The flora of the Karewa series of Kashmir and its phytogeographical affinities with chapter on the method used in identification. Indian Forester, v.74, no.3, pp.105-122.
- SEKHAR, B. (2000) Interpretation of past climatic changes around Tsokar Lake, Ladakh for the last 33 ka on the basis of chemical data. Palaeobotanist, v.49, pp.519-527.
- SHARMA, B.D. and VISHNU-MITTRE (1969) Studies of Postglacial vegetational history from the Kashmir Valley-2. Babarishi and Yusmaidan. Palaeobotanist, v.17, pp.231-243.
- SHARMA, C. and GUPTA, H.P. (1984) Past and present distribution of Larix griffithiana Hort. ex. Carr. in the Indian subcontinent as evidence by palynology. Zfa. Z. Archaeol. Berlin, v.18, pp.239-246.
- SHARMA, C., GUPTA, H. P., DODIA, R. and MANDAVIA, C. (1985) Palynostratigraphy and palaeoenvironment, Dubjan, Lower Karewa, Kashmir. Climate and Geology of Kashmir, pp.69-73.
- SHARMA, C., TRIVEDI, A. and MALIK, M.A. (2001) Modern pollen/ spore rain in Surinsar and Mansar lakes, Jammu. Geophytology, v.31, Nos.1&2, pp.9-17.
- SINGH, G. (1964) A preliminary survey of the Postglacial vegetational history of the Kashmir Valley. Palaeobotanist, v.12, No.1, pp.73-108.
- TANDON, S.K. (1972) Heavy minerals and quartz axial ratios as provenance indicators in the Siwalik sediments around Ramnagar, Kumaun Himalaya. Himalayan Geol., v.2, pp.206-221.
- TRIVEDI, A. and CHAUHAN, M.S. (2008) Pollen proxy records of Holocene vegetation and climate change from Mansar Lake, Jammu region, India. Curr. Sci., v. 95, No.9, pp.1347-1354.
- VISHNU-MITTRE and SHARMA, B. D. (1966) Studies of Post glacial vegetational history from the Kashmir Valley-1, Haigam Lake. Palaeobotanist, v.15, No.12, pp.185-212.
- VISHNU-MITTRE and ROBERT, R.D. (1973) Pollen analysis and palaeobotany of impressions bearing sediments in the Lower Karewa. Palaeobotanist, v.20, No.3, pp.344-355.
Abstract Views: 210
PDF Views: 0