Search

Abstract: An approach to deriving the transfer time of sediments within alluvial plains by using the variation of the U-series nuclides in sediments collected along rivers is presented in this article and discussed in the light of new data from samples from different locations within the Ganges watershed and its outlet. These data indicate that the upstream-downstream variation of 238U-234U-230Th disequilibria in the sediments, with different variation trends for suspended and coarse-grained sediments, is probably a general feature of all Himalayan rivers flowing across the Indo-Gangetic plain. The data therefore confirm the occurrence of very different transfer times within the plain, depending on the sediments granulometry, with much shorter transfer time for the fine-grained (a few ky or less) than for the coarse-grained sediments (100 ky or more). A new solving approach, using a parallel stochastic Quantum-behaved Particle Swarm Optimization (p-QPSO), has been developed for identifying the unknown parameters of the model necessary for the determination of the transfer time. The data of sediments collected at the Ganges outlet show significant variations of the 234U/230Th activity ratios for the fine-grained sediment end-member collected in 2004 and 2008. Such variations indicate that the fine-grained sediments transit quickly (a year or less) within the plain. The highly variable activity ratios might be the result of quickly changing weathering intensities. Conversely, the U-Th variations observed for the 2004 and 2008 bedload from the Ganges basin cannot result from a short sedimentary transfer time. They probably result from the dredge sampling procedure, which might be influenced by local placer effects controlling the abundance of U and Th carrying minerals. Dredging may not allow the sampling of a representative bedload, hence it may cause an artificial mineralogical and, therefore, an U-Th variability for bedload sediments collected at different periods. At this stage, the transfer time uncertainty induced by this variability is difficult to assess. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: 238U–234U–230Th radioactive disequilibria were analyzed in suspended sediments (collected at different depths) from the Ganges River and one of its main tributaries: the Narayani–Gandak River. Results associated with bedload sediment data suggest that uranium-series (U-series) disequilibria in river sediments of the Ganges basin vary with grain size and sampling location. The range of observed U-series disequilibria is explained by a mixing model between a coarse-grained sediment end-member, represented by bedload and bank sediments, and a fine-grained end-member that both originate from Himalaya but undergo different transfer histories within the plain. The coarse-grained sediment end-member transits slowly (i.e. >several 100’sky) in the plain whereas the fine-grained sediment end-member is transferred much faster (<20–25ky), as indicated by the absence of significant variations in Th isotope composition of the fine-grained sediment end-members. These results show that U-series isotopes can be used to quantify the various transfer times of river sediments of different sizes and infer that there can be an order of magnitude of difference, or more, between the transfer time of suspended and bedload sediments. This underlines that a good knowledge of the proportion of suspended vs. bedload sediments transported in the river is required to accurately assess how fast erosion products are transferred in a catchment and how fast a catchment is likely to respond to external forcing factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sedimentology, carbon isotope and sequence stratigraphic analysis of subsurface sediments from western part of Ganges–Brahmaputra (GB) delta plain shows that a Late Quaternary marine clay and fluvial channel-overbank sediments of MIS 5 and 3 highstands are traceable below the Holocene strata. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) sea-level lowering of >100m produced a regional unconformity (type 1), represented by palaeosols and incised valley. C4 vegetation expanded on exposed lowstand surface in an ambient dry glacial climate. At ∼9ka transgression inundated the lowstand surface pushing the coastline and mangrove front ∼100km inland. Simultaneous intensification of monsoon and very high sediment discharge (∼4–8 times than modern) caused a rapid aggradation of both floodplain and estuarine valley fill deposits between 8 and 7ka. The Hoogli River remaining along its present drainage possibly acted as the main conduit for transgression and sediment discharge that was subsequently abandoned. C3 vegetation dominated the delta plain during this time. From 7ka onward progradation of delta plain started and continued till recent. This period experienced a mixed C3–C4 vegetation with localized mangroves in the mid-Holocene to dominant return of C4 vegetation in the late Holocene period. The study indicates that while the initiation of western part of GB delta occurred at least 1ka earlier than the global mean delta formation age, the progradation started at ∼7ka, at least 2ka earlier than thought before. The terrestrial vegetation change was modulated by changes in depositional environment, specific ecological niches and climate rather than pCO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]