Heavy mineral variation in the deep sea sediment of southeastern Arabian Sea during the past 32 kyr

Abstract

The present study is based on heavy mineral assemblages (HM) of top 104-cm thick section of gravity core SK 221 (Lat. 8∘7.12′N; Long. 73∘16.38′E and water depth – 2188 m) located near the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge in the southeastern Arabian Sea to evaluate the provenance and paleoenvironmental changes during the last 32 kyr. The biogenic carbonate, acid insoluble residue, magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon (TOC) and clay based humidity index, i.e., kaolinite/illite ratio are also utilized to correlate with the above paleoenvironmental changes. Ilmenite, garnet, staurolite, pyroxenes, andalusite and zircon are the dominant HM with moderate to low ZTR (zircon-tourmaline-rutile) index indicating instability of the sediments and rapid erosion in the source region. The characteristic HM suggest their mixed sources from the basic igneous, gneisses/granites, high grade metamorphic rocks and sandstones occurring mainly in the western and southwestern India. The temporal variations of HM, AIR (acid insoluble residue), MS (magnetic susceptibility), biogenic carbonate and Corg (TOC) during preglacial and early Holocene suggest intensive weathering, erosion, and transportation of terrigenous detritus from continental region by fluvial processes and summer monsoon led high biogenic productivity, respectively. The convective mixing of waters due to intense winter monsoon resulted in very high biogenic carbonate content during the early stages of glacial period. The HM and associated proxies indicated that the winter monsoons of Heinrich (H3, H2, and H1) and Younger Dryas (YD) events and summer monsoons of Bølling/Allerød (BA) event were not strong enough to bring drastic changes in the above parameters.