Forecasting Climatic Changes Through Magnetic Minerology

• 17 Jul 2020

• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) have tracked Climate change by following the Paleomonsoonal pattern of the subcontinent by harnessing magnetic mineralogy, a technique that is faster and more accurate than existing methods.
• The mineral magnetic studies have unraveled 4 regional climatic features encompassing the entire Indian subcontinent and 1 localized climatic event:
  • Higher monsoon precipitation in the western part of India was shown to be analogous with glacial melt in the Himalayas.
  • Weakening of monsoon was inferred in the Himalayas, and the hinterland of Arabian Sea analogically cold, and dry conditions were prevalent at Dhakuri, which led to the formation of loess deposits.
  • Monsoon intensification is deciphered in the western and eastern part of India with major implications in the hinterlands of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
  • Holocene aridity and weakened monsoon was inferred to be prevalent across the subcontinent.
  • Localized feature of Younger Dryas cooling seems to be confined to just the upper reaches of the Himalaya.