BSIP study reconstructs 4600 years of monsoon-driven climate and human adaptation history in the Central Ganga Plain

Key facts

• Scientists from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), reconstructed 4600 years of climate and environmental history using stable isotopes, vegetation changes, and archaeological and sedimentary records from Karela Lake, an oxbow lake at Hulas Khera near Lucknow in the Central Ganga Plain.
• The team, including Biswajeet Thakur, Anand Rajoriya, and Maneesha M, identified four major environmental phases linked to key climatic events such as the 4.2 ka arid event, the Roman Warm Period, and the Little Ice Age.
• The study, published in the Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, integrated AMS radiocarbon chronology, stable isotopes of C and N, grain-size analysis, end-member modelling, and palynology to reconstruct climate, vegetation dynamics, hydrogeological history, and human activities.
• It showed that Indian Summer Monsoon fluctuations regulated lake hydrology, sediment transport, shifts between C3 and C4 vegetation, sedimentary organic matter composition, microbial activity, and the adaptive strategies of early agricultural communities in the Central Ganga Plain.
• The study established that small oxbow lakes of the Central Ganga Plain are highly sensitive natural archives preserving long-term monsoon records, ecosystem evolution, and human-environment interactions.