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Reduced Himalayan sediment production 8 Myr ago despite an intensified monsoon

Nature volume 364, pages 48–50 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

UPLIFT of the Tibetan plateau about 7–8 Myr ago1,2 may have been responsible3–5 for the apparent intensification of the Asian monsoon 6–10 around that time. Increases in the oceanic 87Sr/86Sr ratio during the Neogene period have been attributed11,12 to increased erosion from the Himalayan orogen. It has been suggested that the monsoonal intensification may have enhanced overall erosion rates in the region5,13. If this were the case, sediment accumulation rates would have increased in the surrounding basins at this time. Here we present a reanalysis of stratigraphic data from the Indo-Gangetic foreland and the Bengal fan, which demonstrates that both of these basins experienced a decline in sediment-accumulation rates 8 Myr ago. Thus it seems that monsoonal intensification was accompanied by a decrease in mechanical weathering. This decrease could be due to reduced tectonic activity, decreased Himalayan glaciation or slope stabilization from dense plant cover.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Department of Geological Sciences, Los Angeles, California, 90089, USA

    Douglas W. Burbank

  2. Hartwick College, Department of Chemistry, Oneonta, New York, 13820, USA

    Louis A. Derry

  3. CRPG/CNRS, BP 20, 54501, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France

    Christian France-Lanord

Authors
  1. Douglas W. Burbank
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  2. Louis A. Derry
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  3. Christian France-Lanord
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Burbank, D., Derry, L. & France-Lanord, C. Reduced Himalayan sediment production 8 Myr ago despite an intensified monsoon. Nature 364, 48–50 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/364048a0

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