Monsoon control on evolution of the western Indian aeolian landscape: Insights from U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology and Sr-Nd-Hf isotope studies of the Thar Desert sand dunes

Abstract

Evolution of landscape is linked to the interplay of tectonics, lithology, and climate. To better understand the evolution of aeolian landscape of the western Indian subcontinent and its major driver/s, we carried out a quantitative provenance analysis of the sand dunes of Thar Desert and desert river Luni using whole rock Sr-Nd-Hf isotopes and detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology. Our findings show Himalayan origin for the Thar sands. River Indus consistently contributed about 30–40 % of the total dune sand across the desert. The sand dunes in the north and the west of the desert are dominated by sediments derived from the source rocks drained by Sutlej river and its tributary Beas river whereas the dunes of central Thar are dominated by sediments supplied by rocks drained by Jhelum, Ravi and Chenab rivers. Analysis of detrital zircon U-Pb age spectra of sediments from desert river Luni reveal that dune sand of southern Thar Desert forms nearly 80 % of its present-day sediment load. Notably, the Thar dune sands show remarkable compositional similarity to the early to middle Holocene Indus delta sediments suggesting shared source/s. Existing paleolimnological and climatic records suggest a wetter environment in the Thar during early to middle Holocene. This evidence coupled with compositional similarities between the Thar dunes and the Indus delta sediments from the same period, indicate a probable extension of the Indus-Sutlej floodplain into southeast Thar during that time. Subsequent aridification of the region in the late Holocene likely led to seasonal winds recycling this fluvial sand to form the present-day Thar dunes, and shaping the current aeolian landscape in western India.