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A Late Holocene Record of Variations in the Chemical Weathering Intensity and Pedogenesis in a Lake Catchment from Southern India

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Abstract

We investigated the detrital influx, chemical weathering intensity, provenance and pedogenesis over the past 2,500 years in the catchment of Pookot Lake, southern India. The down-core variations of metal/Al ratios (Na/Al, K/Al, Mg/Al, Ca/Al, Fe/Al, Mn/Al, Zn/Al, Ba/Al) of the Pookot sediments indicate changes in the rainfall-induced terrigenous inflow to the lake. In contrast, fluctuations in the chemical index of alteration (CIA) and Rb/Sr values denote the variability in the strength of chemical weathering in the watershed of the lake. The results show that the detrital influx, and hence rainfall, remained steady except during 1500–600 cal. years B.P. (high) and 600–300 cal. year B.P. (low) in the Pookot lake catchment. However, the periods of high/low chemical weathering intensity in the catchment do not correspond to periods of high/low detrital influx to the lake basin. The similar shale-normalized rare earth elemental curves point to a uniform provenance. The past pedogenic activity is indicated by pedogenic χlf and pedogenic χfd derived from citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite (CBD) extraction. The data indicate that the fine-grained magnetite/maghemite formed during the pedogenesis mainly contributes to the magnetic signal of sediments. The degree of pedogenesis was strong during 2500–2000 cal. years B.P. and moderate throughout 1500–600 cal. years B.P. The pedogenic intensity became stronger again during ~ 600 cal. years B.P., which weakened between 600 and 300 cal. years B.P. and remained steady thereafter. The present study indicates that detrital influx proxies like metal/Al ratios are more suitable for reconstructing past climate in tropical climate rather than chemical weathering indices.

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Fig. 1

source: https://www.gmrt.org/GMRTMapTool/); b satellite image of the lake and its watershed (source: Google Earth) with the coring location shown with a black dot; and c photograph of the lake and the surrounding vegetation

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source region of sediments

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Data availability

The dataset is available on request with the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. V. Balaram, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, Dr. J. N. Pattan and Dr. G. Parthiban, NIO, Goa, for providing access to and aiding in the ICP-MS measurements, and Dr. Balakrishna Kalluraya, Mangalore University, for access to acid digestion facility and Dr. K. V. Sujith for assistance.

Funding

KS thanks the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for financial aid in the form of Junior and Senior Research Fellowships (F.17–109/98 (SA-I) dated 31/3/2005). AKW thanks the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, for a senior research fellowship (9/449(035)2K8-EMR-I).

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Author notes

  1. Kizhur Sandeep

    Present address: Department of Geology, School of Earth Science Systems, Central University of Kerala, Periye (P.O.), Tejaswini Hills, Kasaragod, Kerala, 671320, India

  2. Anish Kumar Warrier

    Present address: Centre for Climate Studies / Department of Civil Engineering (Manipal Institute of Technology), Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, 576104, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Geology, Mangalore University, Mangalagangotri, 574 199, India

    Kizhur Sandeep, Rajasekhariah Shankar & Anish Kumar Warrier

  2. No. 29, 4th Main, Chamarajapete, Bengaluuru, Karnataka, 560 018, India

    Rajasekhariah Shankar

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  1. Kizhur Sandeep
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Contributions

KS collected the sediment cores, carried out analytical works and wrote the paper. AKW helped in the experiments and interpretation of the data. RS supervised the paper and helped in discussion and revision.

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Correspondence to Kizhur Sandeep.

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Sandeep, K., Shankar, R. & Warrier, A.K. A Late Holocene Record of Variations in the Chemical Weathering Intensity and Pedogenesis in a Lake Catchment from Southern India. Aquat Geochem 28, 27–42 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-021-09402-5

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