Paleoclimate

Study of past climate of the Earth is pivotal in understanding the future dynamics of climate. This purpose of this research activity is to reconstruct the past climate/monsoon and establish its ecological linkage through proxy records (sedimentology, geochemistry, environmental magnetism, stable isotope, clay mineralogy, grain size pollens and diatoms) from various geo-archival settings (Tree ring, Lake sediments, peat, fluvial deposits, speleothems and glacial deposits) of the Himalaya and its depositional basins (Indo-Gangetic Plain and Indian Ocean).

Tree-rings continuously preserve temporal changes in environmental variables and provide precise dating to several centuries/millennia. On the other hand, the lake/peat and fluvial records are able to provide decadal to centennial scale up to late-Quaternary time period. The marine records are also able to provide information on the continental-scale impact of the climate and tectonics for Cenozoic era as well. The multi-archival and multi-proxy climate records may be used to understand the behavior of climate and bridge the local data gap in establishment of regional and global climatic linkages.