Coastal landscape evolution in the Wilpattu National Park (NW Sri Lanka) linked to changes in sediment supply and rainfall across the Pleistocene–Holocene transition

Abstract

Coastal sand dunes are sediment archives which can be used to reconstruct periods of aridity and humidity, past wind strength and variations in the sediment supply related to sea-level changes. In this manner, the sedimentary record of fossil coastal dunes in Sri Lanka provides evidence for environmental and climatic changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. As yet, these environmental shifts are poorly resolved because the sedimentary facies and their depositional architecture have not been studied and only very few age constraints are available. Facies analysis of a lithological section at the Point Kurdimalai sea cliff in the Wilpattu National Park (NW Sri Lanka) reveals a striking resemblance to the stratigraphic succession associated with the Teri Sands in southeastern India, which is better dated. The reason is that deposition occurred under the same geological, climatic and geomorphological conditions in the two regions. This special situation allows for litho-and climate stratigraphic correlations across the Gulf of Mannar and links the landscape evolution at Point Kudrimalai to late Quaternary climatic events and sea-level changes. Our results show that the formation of red coastal dunes (Red Beds) in Sri Lanka was a multi-phase process across the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary and hence the differentiation between an Older Group of Plio-Pleistocene age (including the Red Beds) and a Younger Group of Holocene age in the Quaternary stratigraphic chart for Sri Lanka is not justified.

Stratigraphic and chronological characteristics of Shidao Island within the Xisha Islands, South China Sea, and its response to sea‐level changes since the Late Pleistocene

“…During MIS 5 and MIS4, similar aeolian deposits were formed in coastal areas in regions such as South‐east China, South Asia, South Africa, Australia, and Italy (Brooke, 2001; Coltorti et al, 2015; Jin et al, 2018; Lipar et al, 2017; Morrissey et al, 2020; Reuter et al, 2020), suggesting the presence of conditions for the formation of aeolian deposits similar to those on Shidao Island in coastal areas across the globe since the Last Interglacial Period.…”

Spatiotemporal distribution of sea-island prehistoric dune sites, Holocene sea levels, and aeolian sand activities in Fujian Province, China

“…Old red sand, developed over the past 20 ka, is rarely found and reported on; it is only found on leeward slopes and at higher elevations. Globally, red aeolian sand during this period did not exist in isolation (Jin et al, 2018b;Jin et al, 2019b;Reuter et al, 2020), and its distribution and paleogeographic significance need further study.…”

Ancient metalworking at Yodhawewa site, Sri Lanka: tracing the archaeological and geochemical relationship by analyzing soil and slags

“…The red color of the reddish earth results from the long-term release of free iron oxide from the ferromagnesian minerals (Reuter et al, 2020). As Koralegedara et al (2021) point out, magnetite (~ 1 wt%) and ilmenite (~ 1 wt%) are the major Fe-containing minerals in the red soil of the Mannar region.…”