Abrupt weakening of the Indian summer monsoon at 8.2 kyr B.P.

A multi-proxy analysis of the Holocene humid phase from the United Arab Emirates and its implications for southeast Arabia's Neolithic populations

“…While C. torosa is able to withstand strongly fluctuating ecological conditions, it requires a permanent water-body to reproduce (Anadon et al, 1986;Gasse et al, 1987), indicating the development of permanent lacustrine conditions in the Wahalah basin at this time. This is supported by the occurrence of M. tuberculata, a rapid coloniser that cannot survive desiccation events and is typically found in fresh-to-brackish water at a depth of ~2.0 m Dixit et al, 2014b).…”

“…The first of these corresponds with a global cooling event (Bond Event 5) at ~8.2 ka BP and is associated with a short-term weakening of the monsoon system . The event has been reported from various records throughout the Middle East (BarMatthews et al, 1997), other Arabian palaeolake records (Lézine et al, 2010), the northern Arabian Sea (Staubwasser et al, 2003), and the Indus region (Dixit et al, 2014b).…”

Indian monsoon variations during three contrasting climatic periods: The Holocene, Heinrich Stadial 2 and the last interglacial–glacial transition

“…According to Blasco et al (1996), at geological time scales, mangrove expansion is mainly a function of sea level dynamics rather than rainfall variations, even if this ecological community also needs strong fluvial inputs. This seems to be particularly the case of the mangrove increase during the 8,400 and 8,000cal years BP interval when the North Atlantic 8.2 ka cold event should have led to a southward migration of the ITCZ, and consequently a reduction in the Indian monsoon (Dixit et al, 2014).…”

The Indian summer monsoon climate during the Last Millennium, as simulated by the PMIP3

“…Fleitmann et al, 2007;Fleitmann et al, 2003;Neff et al, 2001), and the Indian sub-continent (e.g. Berkelhammer et al, 2012;Dixit et al, 30 2015;Dixit et al, 2014a;Dixit et al, 2014b;Dixit, 2013;Dutt et al, 2015;Nakamura et al, 2015).…”