Monsoonal Fluctuations vs Marine Productivity during Past 10,000 Yrs

21

CHAPTER

2
Monsoonal Fluctuations vs Marine
Productivity during Past 10,000
Years A Study Based on Sediment
Core Retrieved from Southeastern
Arabian Sea
V. Yoganandan, C. Krishnaiah 1, K. Selvaraj2,
G.V. Ravi Prasad and Koushik Dutta3
Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University
Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
1Ocean and Atmospheric Science & Technology Cell
Department of Marine Geology, Mangalore University
Mangalagangotri 574199, India
2Institute of Marine Geology and Chemistry
National Sun Yat-sen University
Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan, R.O.C.
3Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar 751005, India
yoganandan1@rediffmail.com

INTRODUCTION
The intensity of the Indian monsoon has varied greatly over the past glacialinterglacial cycles as well as on shorter time scales (Duplessy, 1982; Van
Campo, 1986; Clemens et al., 1991; Sirocko et al., 1993; Reichart et al.,
1998; Von Red et al., 1999). It is well known that seasonal variation in the
heating of the southern Asian continent produces a semiannual reversal in
wind direction over the northern Indian Ocean (Wyrtki, 1973). In summer
(June-September), the intense SW monsoon winds cause strong mixing of
the water column and upwelling which eventually promotes high productivity
J. Sundaresan et al. (eds.), Climate Change and Island and Coastal Vulnerability,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6016-5_2, 2013 Capital Publishing Company

21

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V. Yoganandan et al.

in the Arabian Sea. In contrast, during winter, reversal of weak and NW

wind direction relatively lowers the productivity in the Arabian Sea (Quasim,
1977). It was demonstrated that biological productivity and terrigenous supply
in the Arabian Sea is strongly linked to the intensity of the monsoon, although
the lowest biological productivity was noticed during inter-monsoon period
in the Arabian Sea. These strong seasonal contrasts during summer, winter
and inter-monsoons also reflect in water column productivity in the Arabian
Sea and therefore, considered as an excellent natural laboratory to study the
paleomonsoon and associated productivity fluctuations. So carbonate and
organic matter percentage of the undisturbed marine sediment core can be
used to unravel the paleomonsoon and paleoproductivity fluctuation of the
particular region.
Detailed studies have been carried out in the western and northeastern
Arabian Sea to understand the productivity variation and terrigenous supply
in relation to the strength of the SW monsoon during the Late Quaternary
(Shimmield et al., 1990; Clemens et al., 1991; Anderson et al., 1993; Naidu
et al., 1995). Nonetheless, limited studies have been made from the western
continental margin of India with a main focus on the solid phase productivity
indicators, calcium carbonate and organic matter, especially in terms of
paleomonsoon fluctuations (Naidu, 1991; Paropkari et al., 1991; Thamban
et al., 2001; Sarkar et al., 2000; Bhushan et al., 2001; Pattan et al., 2003).
In this paper we present the paleproductivity and paleomonsoon
fluctuations based on the sedimentary calcium carbonate and organic carbon
down sediment core variations (4.2 m long gravity core raised from the
upper continental slope of southeastern Arabian Sea). Down-core variations
of both parameters as well as textural parameters show productivity changes
from late glacial through Holocene period.

MODERN CLIMATE AND OCEANOGRAPHY

The Arabian Sea experiences extremes in atmospheric forcing that lead to
the greatest seasonal variability. Modern surface circulation in the Arabian
Sea is modulated by the seasonal variation of the monsoonal wind system.
This seasonal reversal of wind direction drives a strong southwest (SW)
monsoon during the summer (June-September) and a moderate, dry northeast
(NE) monsoon during the winter (December-February). Much of the intensity
of the SW monsoon is derived from direct heating of the troposphere above
Asia and through latent heat collected over southern subtropical Indian Ocean,
which is transported across the equator and released by precipitation over
South Asia (Clemens et al., 1991). The precipitation pattern over the Indian
peninsula is controlled by the Western Ghats, the major physiographic feature
along the west coast of India with elevations above 1000 m.
The region off southwestern India is characterized by a weak upwelling
system during the summer monsoon. It has been observed that the upwelling
along this coast begins as early as February, well before the onset of favourable

Monsoonal Fluctuations vs Marine Productivity during Past 10,000 Yrs

23

Fig. 2.1: Study area and location of the sediment core SK-215/5 and the Core GC5.

southwest monsoon winds (Shetye, 1984). Recent studies have demonstrated

that this early upwelling is a consequence of remote forcing by winds in the
Bay of Bengal and southwest coast of India via the poleward propagation of
Kelvin waves along the west coast of India, which propagates rossby waves
(Mc Mcreary et al., 1993; Shanker and Shetye, 1997). With the onset of the
SW monsoon, the enhanced local winds intensify the upwelling effect.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A 4.2 m long gravity core was collected from the southeastern part of the
Arabian Sea (1030 N and 7522 E; Fig. 2.1) at the water depth of 460 m
during the 215th Cruise of O.R.V. Sagar Kanya which has been used for this
study. The core was sub-sampled onboard at 2 cm intervals for the top 1 m
and 5 cm interval for the rest of the core. All the sub-samples were oven
dried at 55C. Textural analysis of the sediments was carried out on 60
representative sub-samples as per the standard procedure (Folk, 1968). All
the sub-samples were finely powdered using an agate pestle and mortar for
organic carbon and carbonate determinations. Organic matter was determined
as readily oxidizable organic carbon by acid dichromate digestion and
subsequent titration with ferrous ammonium sulphate (Gaudette et al., 1974).
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was determined as Ca by EDTA titration using
P&R as internal indicator (Shapero and Brannock, 1962). Specimens of
planktonic foraminifera were picked from the >250 m sediment fraction at
five selected depth intervals in core SK215/5 (Table 2.1) for 14C dating.

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V. Yoganandan et al.

These specimens were dated with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at

the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India. Age model was then obtained
by applying a reservoir age correction of 'R138 64 years to the 14C dates
assumed for the core location (SE Arabian Sea off Malabar coast) (Southon
et al., 2002). The conventional AMS 14C dates were calibrated into calendar
ages using the latest database of CALIB rev 5.0.2 program (modified from
the version CALIB 5.0) (Stuiver and Braziunas., 1993) and linearly
interpolated to provide a continuous age scale.
Table 2.1: Details of AMS 14C ages and calibrated calendar ages of
selected depth intervals of the core SK-215/5
Lab ID

Sample ID

Depth
Interval
(cm bsf)

693
694
695
696
697

SK-215/5
SK-215/5
SK-215/5
SK-215/5
SK-215/5

44
98
145
215
360

14

C age
(BP)

Cal 14C
age (BP)

Cal age
(kyr BP)

3392 112
6029 112
7530 210
8924 131
10,929 122

3068 302
6299 299
7885 419
9468 392
12,244 509

2.90
6.36
7.89
9.35
12.27

RESULTS
Texture Profile
Sand content of the core SK-215/5 fluctuates between 1% and 13% for the
last ~13.5 kyr. Depth profile of sand shows low contents; maximum ~2%
was recorded in sediments deposited between ~13.5 and 8 kyr BP (Fig. 2.2),
indicating less terrigenous input into the study area. An abrupt increasing
trend of sand was evident around 8 kyr BP and reaches its maximum (13%)
at ~6.4 kyr BP, suggesting increased terrigenous input between these time
intervals. The profile reveals that terrigenous input was more or less constant
during the middle and latter part of the Holocene. Similar to sand, very low
clay contents between 4% and 10% suggest an unchanged chemical weathering
of continental rocks in the western part of India during the last 13.5 kyr. In
the entire core, the dominant textural fraction of the sediment is silt, which
varies between 80% and 96%. In general, minimum clay and maximum silt
characterise the sediments of Late Glacial Maximum and early Holocene,
whereas the maximum sand characterises the mid and late Holocene, indicating
enhanced detrital input.

Carbonate Profile
Carbonate content varies between 34% and 7% (Fig. 2.2). Sediments deposited
between ~13.5 and 8 kyr BP show low CaCO3 content of around 7%.

Monsoonal Fluctuations vs Marine Productivity during Past 10,000 Yrs

25

Sediments of mid-Holocene show as high as 34% of CaCO3. Late Holocene

sediments show an average carbonate content of 29% with significant
variations that is two highest percentage (34%) peaks at mid-Holocene at
~6.3 kyr BP (98 cm of the core) and again at ~3 kyr BP (44 cm of the core).
The reduced percentage (29%) at ~4.2 kyr BP (68 cm of the core) and again
the reduced values we could see after ~2 kyr BP. Clear increasing trend of
CaCO3 from 7% to 30% very consistent to sand increase and silt decrease
between ~8 and 6 kyr BP indicating an enhanced supply of terrigenous input
into the Seas.

Organic Carbon Profile

Down-core Corg variation of the core SK-215/5 fluctuates between 4% and
2% (Fig. 2.2) with a Holocene average Corg content of 3.6%. The profile
shows in general a decreasing trend since ~10 kyr BP with minimum values
of Corg prior to the Holocene. This trend as well as a steady increase from
early to mid-Holocene periods that reaches the highest percentage of Corg 4.6
at ~3.8 kyr BP around 58 cm of the core and reduces to 3.6% at ~3 kyr BP
(46 cm of the core) and again shows an increased value of 4% occuring at
1.8 kyr BP.

Fig. 2.2: Down-core profiles of sand, silt, clay, CaCO3 and organic carbon in sediment
core SK-215/5. All values are given in percentages. Gray bar highlights
mid to late Holocene increased productivity.

DISCUSSION
The core SK-215/5 extends up to the late Glacial period (13.5 kyr BP) and
this core has five age control points which reveal different sedimentation
rates: late Holocene 15.4 cm/kyr, early Holocene 24.8 cm/kyr and late Glacial
period records 31.16 cm/kyr. This record is comparable with sedimentation

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V. Yoganandan et al.

rate of shallow depth sediment core GC-5 (water depth: 280 m) studied by
Thamban et al. (2001). The major difference between these two records is
SK-215/5 shows an abrupt increase of sedimentation rate from the late Glacial
to the early Holocene period which is not evident in GC-5 records. This
increased sedimentation rate of SK-215/5 during late Glacial and early
Holocene period may be due to high intensity monsoon/arid conditions in
the hinterlands that might have increased the sediment depositional rate of
SK-215/5 when compared to the shallow depth core GC-5.
Down-core profiles (Fig. 2.2) show reduced % of CaCO3, Corg and
reduced sand content and subsequent increased % of silt and clay between
~13.5 and ~8 kyr BP. This observation indicates reduced productivity during
late Glacial to early Holocene period. This reduced productivity may be due
to dilution of water column by fresh water input when the monsoon was
intense, that might have altered the physico-chemical properties of the water
column that favours the growth of the marine organisms. This interpretation
is comparable with modern conditions along the southeastern Arabian Sea
which gives supporting evidence to this argument. During intense monsoon
low saline water column was observed in southeastern Arabian Sea (Naqvi,
1991; Stramma et al., 1996). Previous paleomonsoonal studies from the
eastern Arabian Sea suggesting that intense precipitation had occurred during
late Glacial to early Holocene period on the Indian subcontinent, which is
coinciding with the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation maxima (Prell,
1984; Van Campo, 1986; Sirocko et al., 1993). Several workers have reported
the major climatic, hydrographic and circulation change in the Indian monsoon
regime immediately after ~16 kyr BP (Van Campo, 1986; Naqvi and
Fairbanks, 1996; Overpeck et al., 1996; Thamban et al., 2001). The G13C
record of peat from the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats (South India)
revealed that following dry LGM, moist conditions started at ~16 kyr BP
(Sukumar et al., 1993). The recent multi proxy studies from Arabian Sea has
proved that the summer monsoon, in general, was strongest in the early
Holocene marked by high amplitude shifts between dry and wet phases
(Guptha et al., 2005; Thamban et al., 2007; Tiwari and Ramesh, 2007;
Yoganandan et al., 2009). The increased content of silt and clay and relatively
high sedimentation rate are characteristic of late Glacial to early Holocene
sediments from this region which was same as recorded in the earlier study
(Thamban et al., 1997).
After this reduced productivity period all these proxies of the present
studied core show distinct shift from low to high values between ~8.1 and
6.3 kyr BP. This shift indicates a major change in monsoonal rains from
strong to weak Indian summer monsoon. The recent study from Arabian Sea
also suggests gradual weakening of summer monsoon starting from ~8.2 kyr
BP and this climate shift event is recorded in even other parts of the world
(Guptha et al., 2005). Our data further shows that a significant shift (abrupt

Monsoonal Fluctuations vs Marine Productivity during Past 10,000 Yrs

27

increasing trend) in carbonate % occurs between ~7 and 6.3 kyr BP, correlating
with strong to weak summer monsoon transition during the mid-Holocene in
India. A combination of archaeological and other land records in the Indian
subcontinent also supports a substantial weakening of the summer monsoon
at ~7 kyr BP (Gupta et al., 2006). After this major shift the increased % of
CaCO3, Corg during the entire late Holocene period shows an increased
productivity. This increased productivity may be due to weakening of summer
monsoon which might have reduced fresh water input to the core site which
might have favoured the marine organism to get suitable water column. This
made the water column to become highly productive. This similar productivity
trend was recorded by Thamban et al. (2001) and Pratima et al. (2010). The
observed textural variation i.e. increased percentages of sand and silt after
~8.1 kyr BP may be due to rapid sea level rise which might have delivered
the coarser grains to the core site due to coastal terrain erosion to maintain
a dynamic equilibrium with static sea level.
The interesting observation from late Holocene section is the reduction
of CaCO3 and increase of Corg at ~4.2 kyr BP and ~2 kyr BP. This reduced
productivity during these periods is due to the high intensity fresh water
input resulting in dilution effect. This interpretation is supported by Indus
river increased discharge events at ~4 kyr BP, revealed from the varve
sediments record (Von Red et al., 1999). High intensity monsoon event at ~2
kyr BP is also recorded in an earlier study from the present study area
(Thamban et al., 2001; Yoganandan et al., 2009). This reduced productivity
events recorded from the present studied sediment core revealed that
productivity of the southeastern Arabian Sea is highly influenced by
paleomonsoon intensity of this region.

CONCLUSION
Texture, CaCO3 and OC data of the present studied core recorded late Glacial
to early Holocene reduced productivity and gradual increasing trend after
~8 kyr BP and reaches maximum ~6 kyr BP. Thereafter the increased
productivity is continued till present except two major reduced productivity
events. The interesting observation from this study shows that the water
column productivity of the southeastern Arabian Sea, particularly southwest
continental margin of India, is influenced by the paleoclimatic/paleomonsoon
condition of the region, which is proved by the reduced productivity record
of late Glacial to early Holocene; and ~4.2 kyr BP and ~2 kyr BP were
the periods which injected large amount of fresh water to the southeastern
Arabian sea due to high intensity of the monsoon. These high intensity
monsoon periods were recorded very well in paleoclimatic studies from
Indian continent.

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V. Yoganandan et al.

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