Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy and palaeoclimatic reconstruction at the Thar margin

Abstract

Quaternary alluvial record at the Thar desert margin has been examined using the exposed succession along Mahudi, Sabarmati river, Western India. Different alluvial facies, their associations and granulometry have been studied for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Clay mineral indices smectite/chlorite and smectite/illite of the alluvial palaeosols have been used as proxy indicators of climate change. These indicate wet phases during the OIS 5 and OIS 1. The overall stratigraphic development is discussed in the framework of fluvial response to climate change during the Late Pleistocene.