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Carbonate landforms of Rameswaram Island, Tamil Nadu coast, India: a review

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Abstract

Various types of carbonate landforms of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs are found on the mainland coast of South India, which is fringed by Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar in emerged and submerged forms. Rameswaram Island in this group represents the distinct geomorphological signatures of past sea level oscillations, local upliftments, coral reef development, denudational processes, and associated shore platform diversity. Repeated field survey methods, a satellite remote sensing approach, available radiocarbon dates of carbonate materials, and other attribute data helped to assess the diversity of the carbonate landforms. The study reveals that tombolo-shaped islands evolved through the functions of fluvio-marine, marine, and aeolian environments, carbonate sediment supply, neo-tectonics, intertidal deposits, various coastal processes, and active denudational agents under sea level cycles in the region. The present study highlights the assessment of regional settings, sea level oscillations of the local areas, shore platform geomorphology, landform assemblages of the island and adjacent areas, carbonate sediment deposition and associated processes, and coastal habitats of sub-aerial, intertidal, and shallow marine environments. Gradual change of shore platform gradients also stimulated the impact of marine processes along the shore fringes of the island. The activities of the shore planation process continued along the rocky shores of carbonate materials and calcarenite deposits during the transgressive phases of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs in the region. Calcification and cementation processes of carbonate sediments were stimulated by the concentration of reefal habitats and seagrass habitats in the shallow marine environment and by sub-aerial weathering processes at the coastal fringes.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the students of Geography, Coastal Management, and Remote Sensing and GIS department of Vidyasagar University for their assistants in different stages of the field work in Rameswaram Island.

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  1. Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, 721102, West Bengal, India

    Anurupa Paul

  2. Department of Geography, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, 721102, West Bengal, India

    Ashis Kumar Paul

  3. Centre for Environmental Studies, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, 721102, West Bengal, India

    Joydeb Sardar

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Ashis Kumar Paul: writing—review and editing, Anurupa Paul: conceptualization, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing; and Joydeb Sardar: conceptualization, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, visualization, writing—original draft, writing-review and editing.

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Paul, A., Paul, A.K. & Sardar, J. Carbonate landforms of Rameswaram Island, Tamil Nadu coast, India: a review. Arab J Geosci 16, 176 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11222-6

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