• S Chakraborty

Articles written in Journal of Earth System Science

• Air-sea exchange of CO2 in the Gulf of Kutch, northern Arabian Sea based on bomb-carbon in corals and tree rings

Radiocarbon analyses were carried out in the annual bands of a 40 year old coral collected from the Gulf of Kutch (22.6°N, 70°E) in the northern Arabian Sea and in the annual rings of a teak tree from Thane (19°14′N, 73°24′E) near Bombay. These measurements were made in order to obtain the rates of air-sea exchange of CO2 and the advective mixing of water in the Gulf of Kutch. The Δ14C peak in the Thane tree occurs in the year 1964, with a value of ∼630‰, significantly lower than that of the mean atmospheric Δ14C of the northern hemisphere (∼ 1000‰). The radiocarbon time series of the coral was modelled considering the supply of carbon and radiocarbon to the gulf through air-sea exchange and advective water transport from the open Arabian Sea. A reasonable fit for the coral data was obtained with an air-sea CO2 exchange rate of 11–12 mol m−2 yr−1, and an advective velocity of 28 m yr−1 between the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Kutch; this was based on a model generated time series for radiocarbon in the Arabian Sea. The deduced velocity (∼ 28 m yr−1) of the advective transport of water between the gulf and the Arabian Sea is much lower than the surface tidal current velocity in this region, but can be understood in terms of net fluxes of carbon and radiocarbon to the gulf to match the observed coral Δ14C time series.

• Stable isotope variations in a coral (Favia speciosa) from the Gulf of Kutch during 1948–1989 A.D.: Environmental implications

The stable isotopic analyses (δ18O and δ13C) of a coralFavia speciosa spanning forty two years (1948–89 A.D.), collected from the Pirotan island (22.6°N, 70°E) in the Gulf of Kutch have been carried out to assess its potential for retrieving past environmental changes in this region. It is seen that the summer (minima) δ18O variations in the coral CaCO3 are negatively correlated with seasonal (summer) monsoon rainfall in the adjoining region of Kutch and Saurashtra and a qualitative reconstruction of historical rainfall variations in this region can be obtained by analyzing the δ18O in this species of coral. The observed mean seasonal range of δ18O variations is 0.34 ±0.17‰ (n = 42), whereas the expected range calculated (from available SST and measured δ18O of sea water) is ∼ 1.1 ±0.15‰ The difference is due to the coarse resolution of sampling, which can be corrected. The seasonal range in δ13C is ∼ l‰ and is explained by changes in: a) the light intensity related to the cloudiness during monsoons and b) phytoplankton productivity.

• Effect of intraband variability on stable isotope and density time series obtained from banded corals

Density, δ18O and δ13C were measured along two tracks, one close to the central growth axis and the other, ∼20ℴ off the axis, in a coral (Porites lutea) collected from the Stanley Reef, Central Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The δ18O variations in the coral are well correlated with sea surface temperature changes. The common variances between the two tracks were about 60% in the δ18O, δ{13}C, and the skeletal density variations. Part of the noise (40%) could be due to the difficulty of sampling exactly time contemporaneous parts of each band along the two tracks and part of it could be due to genuine intraband variability. In spite of the intraband variability, the time series obtained from the two tracks are similar, indicating that the dominant causative factor for the isotopic variations is external, i.e., the environmental conditions that prevail during the growth of the coral; density band formation does not appear to be directly controlled by the sea surface temperature.

• Carbon isotopic composition of fossil leaves from the Early Cretaceous sediments of western India

Stable carbon isotope analysis of fossil leaves from the Bhuj Formation, western India was carried out to infer the prevailing environmental conditions. Compression fossil leaves such as Pachypteris indica, Otozamite kachchhensis, Brachyphyllum royii and Dictyozamites sp. were recovered from three sedimentary successions of the Bhuj Formation, Early Cretaceous in age. A chronology was established based on faunal assemblage and palyno-stratigraphy and further constrained by carbon isotope stratigraphy. The three sampling sites were the Karawadi river bank near Dharesi; the Chawad river bank near Mathal; and the Pur river section near Trambau village in Gujarat. The Dharesi sample was also analyzed to investigate intra-leaf 𝛿13C variability. The mean 𝛿13C of the leaf was $−24.6$ ± 0.4‰ which implied negligible systematic change along the leaf axis. The Mathal sample was fragmented in nature and showed considerable variation in carbon isotopic composition. The Trambau sample considered to be the oldest, dating to the middle of Aptian (ca. 116 Ma), shows the most depleted value in 𝛿13C among all of them. The overall 𝛿13C trend ranging from mid Aptian (ca. 116 Ma) to early Albian (ca. 110 Ma) shows a progressive increase in 𝛿13C from −26.8 to −20.5‰. Based on these measurements the carbon isotopic composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide of the Aptian–Albian period is estimated to be between −7.4 and −1.7‰. The ratio of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in leaf to that of the ambient atmosphere calculated based on a model is estimated to be similar to that of the modern plants. This indicates that the Early-Cretaceous plants adapted to the prevailing high carbon dioxide regime by increasing their photosynthetic uptake.

• # Journal of Earth System Science

Volume 131, 2022
All articles
Continuous Article Publishing mode

• # Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

Posted on July 25, 2019