210 Pb dating of recent sediments from the continental shelf of western India: factors influencing sedimentation rates

Several cores from the continental shelf of the Arabian Sea along the Indian Coast were investigated for change in sedimentation rates duly constrained for chronology based on 210Pb and 137Cs dating techniques. The emphasis was to look for spatial and temporal variation in the sedimentation rate along the continental shelf of eastern Arabian Sea between Goa to Kochi for water depth ≤ 150 m. This study showed varying sedimentation rates in coastal and distant sediment cores. Both 210Pb and 137Cs dating techniques showed comparable sedimentation rate in most sediment cores. The sedimentation in the continental shelf region of the coastal Arabian Sea is primarily controlled by discharge of sediments from rivers during Indian summer monsoon. Increased sedimentation rate from the north (off Goa) to the south (off Kochi) was triggered by high riverine flux and longshore sediment transport.