Publications:
Tripathi, S., Thakur, B., Sharma, A., Phartiyal, B., Basumatary, S. K., Ghosh, R., ... & Bose, T. (2023). Modern biotic and abiotic analogues from the surface soil of Ganga-Ghaghara-Gandak interfluves of the Central Ganga Plain (CGP), India: Implications for the palaeoecological reconstructions. Catena, 224, 106975.
The distinct topographical and geographical features of
the Indian subcontinent provide varying climatic zones
together with diverse vegetation types governed by the
southwest and the northeast monsoon, depending upon the
season. These monsoonal winds exhibit a rich variety of
natural variations on different timescales ranging
across sub-seasonal/intra-seasonal, interannual
(year-to-year), multi-decadal and centennial timescales,
which are evident from instrumental records and
paleoclimate reconstructions, commonly known as monsoon
variability. The frequency of extreme Indian summer
monsoon (ISM) events has increased in recent decades,
and there is significant spatial heterogeneity in the
occurrence of extreme events. Moreover, the duration and
intensity of ISM have altered during the past few years
and is unpredictable, causing tremendous agricultural
and economic loss. Future climate modelling requires
rigorous and accurate palaeoclimatic data, which is yet
to be generated, especially from the Ganga Plain (GP)
and Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ), mainly comprising Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh states.
To fill these information gaps in regard to ISM, the
Quaternary Lake Drilling Project (QLDP) project aims to
reconstruct the monsoon-driven climatic history of the
terrestrial environment in the aforementioned regions to
study major impacts on society.
Lakes are considerably the best recorders of climate
variability on terrestrial ecosystems as sediments
accumulated from the surrounding environment and
microorganisms produced within provide high-resolution
histories of local environmental conditions, lake water
chemistry, temperature and lake productivity in the
past. A modern analogue of biotic and abiotic records
from the
surface samples procured in and around the lake offers a
quantifiable interpretation of past climate from the
sedimentary archives of the lake. Additionally,
generating tree ring width and isotope datasets can
reconstruct climatic parameters with the annual
resolution, pushing calibration periods further from
instrumental observations. Further, Species distribution
models (SDMs) identify species ecological niches as
geographic space, which, in combination with species
distributions in past and present as mapped in QLDP,
will provide future projections of vegetation dynamics
under the anticipated global warming and climate change
scenarios.
The QLDP project has the following objectives:
- To reconstruct the palaeo-climate and -hydroclimate variability during the late Quaternary using multi-proxy records and spatiotemporal mapping of abrupt and extreme climate events
- To access chronological lag and disparity in long-term records and ascertain the causal mechanisms of climate vs. vegetation
- To study climate-culture interaction in this region and social response variables
- Palaeoclimate modelling
- Creation of awareness and outreach for dissemination of knowledge to society
The project's first stage focuses on
- Northwest India - Haryana, Rajasthan, western Uttar Pradesh
- Central Ganga plains - central and western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar
- Core monsoon zone - Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh