Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India
Assessing climate impacts in semi-arid watersheds, which are home to populous semi-arid regions of South Asia, is becoming increasingly critical as these regions emerge as climate hotspots. Century-scale records of climate impacts, preserved in terrestrial sedimentary archives, are some of the only...
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000052 |
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| author | Atreyee Bhattacharya S. Sarkar J.S. Leonard-Pingel A.V. Michelson A Anoop P.K. Mishra S. Chakraborty K Bajaj U Singh V Petryshyn R. Ray P.D. Sabale A Bhattacharya M. Kirby A. Bazaz |
| author_facet | Atreyee Bhattacharya S. Sarkar J.S. Leonard-Pingel A.V. Michelson A Anoop P.K. Mishra S. Chakraborty K Bajaj U Singh V Petryshyn R. Ray P.D. Sabale A Bhattacharya M. Kirby A. Bazaz |
| author_sort | Atreyee Bhattacharya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Assessing climate impacts in semi-arid watersheds, which are home to populous semi-arid regions of South Asia, is becoming increasingly critical as these regions emerge as climate hotspots. Century-scale records of climate impacts, preserved in terrestrial sedimentary archives, are some of the only kinds of investigations that can provide the necessary insights into how local climate variations impact these watersheds. Here, we investigate sedimentary records preserved in unique types of human-made water bodies, which are commonly present in arid and semi-arid regions of south Asia. Known as ‘talavs’, human-made water bodies are ubiquitous in south Asia and have been historically constructed by damming seasonal rain-fed distributaries in order to conserve rainwater for the purposes of sustenance and agriculture in water-stressed regions. Integrating a multidisciplinary approach comprising remote sensing, lake geophysics, lithostratigraphic (sedimentological, mineralogical & geochemical measurements) and radiometric dating, we reconstruct century-scale records of landscape erosion & resultant run-off and in water-stressed catchments in one of the most climatologically threatened watersheds of western India, namely the Bhima watershed. Our reconstructions show that land erosion and subsequent sediment deposition in talavs are tied to the regional expressions of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). We also find that while run-off is sensitive to divisional expressions of hydroclimate variability (associated with the ISM), the intensity of run-off and resultant erosion is not a simple function of rainfall intensity; in fact, we find that land-surface erodibility is impacted by land-use patterns and incidence of prior climate events (e.g. flooding) and that these compunded effects are more prominent in drier catchments (which also experience more extreme climate events) than in the wetter parts of the watersheds. Based on our investigation, we conclude that drier catchments of watersheds in semi-arid regions are at an elevated risk of direct climate impacts compared to the wetter catchments in the same watershed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-69b766873deb4fd4a70c9e68c65e6f02 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2950-2365 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
| spelling | doaj-art-69b766873deb4fd4a70c9e68c65e6f022025-08-20T03:22:58ZengElsevierQuaternary Environments and Humans2950-23652025-06-013210006110.1016/j.qeh.2025.100061Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of IndiaAtreyee Bhattacharya0S. Sarkar1J.S. Leonard-Pingel2A.V. Michelson3A Anoop4P.K. Mishra5S. Chakraborty6K Bajaj7U Singh8V Petryshyn9R. Ray10P.D. Sabale11A Bhattacharya12M. Kirby13A. Bazaz14University of Colorado-Boulder, United States; Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bangalore, India; Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), New Delhi, India; Corresponding author at: University of Colorado-Boulder, United States.Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, IndiaOhio State University-Newark, United StatesState University of New York-Maritime College, United StatesIndian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, IndiaIndian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, India; Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, United StatesIndian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences (IITM), Pune, IndiaIndian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences (IITM), Pune, India; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, United StatesIndian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, IndiaUniversity of Southern California, United StatesIndian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bangalore, India; Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), New Delhi, IndiaDeccan College-Deemed University, United StatesIndian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, IndiaCalifornia State University, Fullerton, United StatesIndian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bangalore, IndiaAssessing climate impacts in semi-arid watersheds, which are home to populous semi-arid regions of South Asia, is becoming increasingly critical as these regions emerge as climate hotspots. Century-scale records of climate impacts, preserved in terrestrial sedimentary archives, are some of the only kinds of investigations that can provide the necessary insights into how local climate variations impact these watersheds. Here, we investigate sedimentary records preserved in unique types of human-made water bodies, which are commonly present in arid and semi-arid regions of south Asia. Known as ‘talavs’, human-made water bodies are ubiquitous in south Asia and have been historically constructed by damming seasonal rain-fed distributaries in order to conserve rainwater for the purposes of sustenance and agriculture in water-stressed regions. Integrating a multidisciplinary approach comprising remote sensing, lake geophysics, lithostratigraphic (sedimentological, mineralogical & geochemical measurements) and radiometric dating, we reconstruct century-scale records of landscape erosion & resultant run-off and in water-stressed catchments in one of the most climatologically threatened watersheds of western India, namely the Bhima watershed. Our reconstructions show that land erosion and subsequent sediment deposition in talavs are tied to the regional expressions of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). We also find that while run-off is sensitive to divisional expressions of hydroclimate variability (associated with the ISM), the intensity of run-off and resultant erosion is not a simple function of rainfall intensity; in fact, we find that land-surface erodibility is impacted by land-use patterns and incidence of prior climate events (e.g. flooding) and that these compunded effects are more prominent in drier catchments (which also experience more extreme climate events) than in the wetter parts of the watersheds. Based on our investigation, we conclude that drier catchments of watersheds in semi-arid regions are at an elevated risk of direct climate impacts compared to the wetter catchments in the same watershed.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000052Hydroclimate variabilityClimate impactsSemi-arid regionsWatershedsSedimentary records |
| spellingShingle | Atreyee Bhattacharya S. Sarkar J.S. Leonard-Pingel A.V. Michelson A Anoop P.K. Mishra S. Chakraborty K Bajaj U Singh V Petryshyn R. Ray P.D. Sabale A Bhattacharya M. Kirby A. Bazaz Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India Quaternary Environments and Humans Hydroclimate variability Climate impacts Semi-arid regions Watersheds Sedimentary records |
| title | Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India |
| title_full | Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India |
| title_fullStr | Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India |
| title_short | Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India |
| title_sort | sedimentary records from human made talavs reveal climate risks in semi arid watersheds of india |
| topic | Hydroclimate variability Climate impacts Semi-arid regions Watersheds Sedimentary records |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000052 |
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