Abstract
Climate plays an essential role in weathering of rocks, and a rich record of climatic change is preserved in rocks and sediments. The physical and chemical weathering also largely depend on climate prevailing in the area, apart from other factors. In an attempt to understand the dominance of physical over chemical weathering processes, the textural and geochemical studies of Wular Lake sediments from Jammu and Kashmir, northern India, have been taken up in the present study. These sediments documented several attention-grabbing processes that operated during weathering, transportation, and deposition. Investigations have revealed that physical weathering dominated over chemical weathering, resulting in enhanced rates of erosion and consequent deposition of large detritus into the lake. Lake sediments and source rock chemistry are comparable, indicating low to moderate chemical weathering history of the source region which is consistent with cold regions and steep slope areas. Unusual enrichment of Cr values in sediments compared with source rocks signify a process of sediment–water interaction where Cr is removed from water and preferentially adsorbed onto clay fraction of sediments.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Chairpersons of the Department of Geology and Botany, AMU, Aligarh for providing necessary facilities. Dr. N.K. Saini, of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, is thankfully acknowledged for extending support in analyzing samples. AM acknowledges UGC, New Delhi, for awarding fellowship. We are also thankful to anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which improved the quality of manuscript.
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Rashid, S.A., Ganai, J.A., Masoodi, A. et al. Major and trace element geochemistry of lake sediments, India: implications for weathering and climate control. Arab J Geosci 8, 5677–5684 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-014-1639-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-014-1639-9