Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T08:55:07.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Luminescence chronology of the inland sand dunes from SE India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Dontireddy Venkat Reddy*
Affiliation:
CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500007, India
Vuddaraju Singaraju
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, Bandlaguda, Hyderabad 500068, India
Rakesh Mishra
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, Bandlaguda, Hyderabad 500068, India
Devender Kumar
Affiliation:
CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500007, India
Puthusserry Joseph Thomas
Affiliation:
CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500007, India
Karra Kameshwa Rao
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, Bandlaguda, Hyderabad 500068, India
Ashok Kumar Singhvi
Affiliation:
Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380009, India
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:dvreddy.ngri@gmail.com (D.V. Reddy).

Abstract

Records of past climate changes have been preserved variously on the earth's surface. Sand dunes are one such prominent imprint, and it is suggested that their presence is an indicator of periods of transition from arid to less arid phases. We report inland sand dunes from Andhra Pradesh (SE India) spread over an area of ~ 500 km2, ~ 75 km inland from the east coast. The dune sands are examined to understand their provenance, transportation, timing of sand aggradation and their relationship to past climates. The dune distribution, grain morphology and the grain-size studies on sands suggest an aeolian origin. Physiography of the study area, heavy mineral assemblage, and abundance of quartz in the parent rocks indicate that the dune sands are largely derived from first-order streams emanating from hills in the region and from weathering of the Nellore schist belt. It appears that the geomorphology and wind direction pattern both facilitated and restricted the dune aggradation and preservation to a limited area. OSL dating of 47 dune samples ranged from the present to ~ 50 ka, thereby suggesting a long duration of sand-dune aggradation and/or reworking history.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahlbrandt, T.S., (1979). Textural parameters in aeolian deposits. McKee, E. A Study of Global Sand Seas. U.S. Geological Survey Paper 1052 USGS, Washington.2152.Google Scholar
Aitken, M.J., (1998). An introduction to optical dating. The Dating of Quaternary Sediments by the Use of Photon-Stimulated Luminescence. Oxford University Press, Oxford.(267 pp.).Google Scholar
Blott, S.J., (2000). A grain size distribution and statistics package for the analysis of unconsolidated sediments by sieving or laser granulometer. www.geo.mtu.edu/raman/Ashfall/.../6/.../GRADISTAT.xls .Google Scholar
B"tter-Jensen, L., Andersen, C.E., Duller, G.A.T., Murray, A.S., (2003). Developments in radiation, stimulation and observation facilities in luminescence measurements. Radiation Measurements 37, 535541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, J.M., Jones, R., An, Z.S., (1995). Climatic change in Asia and Western Pacific: its significance for greenhouse scenarios. Memoir Geological Society of India 32, 121.Google Scholar
Bui, E.N., Mazullo, J., Wilding, L.P., (1989). Using quartz grain size and shape analysis to distinguish between aeolian and fluvial deposits in the Dallol Bosso of Niger (West Africa). Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 14, 157166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, C.M., Folk, R.L., (1958). Differentiation of beach, dune, and aeolian flat environments by size analysis, Mustang Island, Texas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 28, 2 211226.Google Scholar
Folk, R.L., Ward, W.C., (1957). Brazos River bar: a study in the significance of grain size parameters. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 27, 326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, G.M., (1961). Distinction between dune, beach, and river sands from their textural characteristics. Journal of Sedimentary Research 31, 514529.Google Scholar
Friedman, G.M., (1979). Differences in size distributions of populations of particles among sands of various origins. Sedimentology 26, 332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fryberger, S., Ahlbrandt, T., (1979). Mechanisms for the formation of eolian sand seas. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie 23, 4 440460.Google Scholar
Indian Meteorological Department, (1960). Climatological Tables of Observatories in India (1931-1960). Govt. of India, New Delhi, India.Google Scholar
Jain, M., Tandon, S.K., (2003). Fluvial response to Late Quaternary climate changes, western India. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, 22232235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Juyal, N., Chamyal, L.S., Bhandari, S., Bhushan, R., Singhvi, A.K., (2006). Continental record of the southwest monsoon during the last 130 ka: evidence from the southern margin of the Thar Desert, India. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 19"20 26322650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kocurek, G., (1999). The aeolian rock record. Goudie, A.S., Livingstone, I., Stokes, S. Aeolian Environments, Sediments and Landforms. Wiley, Chichester.239259.Google Scholar
Krinsley, D.H., Doormkamp, F.C., (1973). Atlas of Quartz Sand Surface Textures. University of Cambridge Press, Cambridge.191.Google Scholar
Lancaster, N., Kocurek, G., Singhvi, A.K., Pandey, V., Deynoux, M., Ghienne, J.-P., Lo, K., (2002). Late Pleistocene and Holocene dune activity and wind regimes in the western Sahara Desert of Mauritania. Geology 30, 11 991994.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKee, E., (1979). An introduction to the study of global sand seas. McKee, E. A Study of Global Sand Seas. U. S. Geological Survey Paper 1052 USGS, Washington.120.Google Scholar
McKee, E., Singaraju, V., (2004-05). Quaternary geological studies of inland dunes of Prakasham district, Andhra Pradesh. Unpublished GSI Progress report for the Field season 2004-2005.Google Scholar
Morton, A.C., (1985). Heavy minerals in provenance studies. Zuffa, G.G. Provenance of Arenites. Reidel Publish, Dordrecht.249277.Google Scholar
Morton, A.C., Hallsworth, C., (1994). Identifying provenance-specific features of detrital heavy mineral assemblages in sandstones. Sedimentary Geology 90, 241256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, A.S., Wintle, A.G., (2000). Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol. Radiation Measurements 32, 5773.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prescott, J.R., Hutton, J.T., (1994). Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: large depths and long-term time variations. Radiation Measurements 23, 497500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarkar, A., Ramesh, R., Somayajulu, B.L.K., Agnihotri, R., Jull, A.J.T., Burr, G.S., (2000). High resolution Holocene monsoon record from the eastern Arabian Sea. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 177, 209218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singhvi, A.K., Porat, N., (2008). Impact of luminescence dating on geomorphological and palaeoclimate research in drylands. Boreas 0300-9483 37, 536558. .CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, R., Williams, M.A.J., Rajaguru, S.N., Misra, V.N., Chawla, S., Stokes, S., Chauhan, N., Francis, T., Ganjoo, R.K., Humphreys, G.S., (2010). A 200 ka record of climatic change and dune activity in the Thar Desert, India. Quaternary Science Reviews 29, 30953105.Google Scholar
Sukhija, B.S., Reddy, D.V., Nagabhushanam, P., (1998). Isotopic fingerprints of paleoclimates during last 30,000 years in deep confined groundwaters of Southern India. Quaternary Research 50, 252260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sukumar, R., Ramesh, R., Pant, R.K., Rajagopalan, G., (1993). 13C of tropical peats in southern India records post-glacial climate change. Nature 364, 703706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, D.S.G., (1987). Discrimination of depositional environments using sedimentary characteristics in the Mega Kalahari, central southern Africa. Frostick, L., Reid, I. Desert Sediments: Ancient and Modern. Geological Society Special Publication No. 35 293306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, J.V., Kar, A., Kailath, A.J., Juyal, N., Rajaguru, S.N., Singhvi, A.K., (1999). Late Pleistocene"Holocene history of Aeolian accumulation in the Thar Desert, India. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie N.F. Supplementband 116, 181194.Google Scholar
Udayaganesan, P., Angusamy, N., Gujar, A.R., Rajamanickam, G.V., (2011). Surface microtextures of quartz grains from the central coast of Tamil Nadu. Journal of Geological Society of India 77, 2634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zubillaga, J.J.K., Ruiz, H.Z., (2007). Grain size, mineralogical and geochemical studies of coastal and inland dune sands from El Vizcaíno Desert, Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas 24, 423438.Google Scholar