Journal
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Volume 45, Issue 1, Pages 56-74Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/esp.4687
Keywords
Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta; geochronology; river channel avulsion; relative sea-level rise and subsidence; sedimentary basin evolution
Funding
- Office of Naval Research [N00014-11-1-0683]
- National Center for Earth Surface Dynamics [NSF EAR-1246761]
- US National Science Foundation (PIRE) [0968354]
- US National Science Foundation (Belmont Forum) [1342946]
- US National Science Foundation (Coastal SEES) [1600319]
- US National Science Foundation (CNH) [1716909]
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [1716909] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Ocean Sciences [1600319] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- ICER
- Directorate For Geosciences [1342946] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Constraining time is of critical importance to evaluating the rates and relative contributions of processes driving landscape change in sedimentary basins. The geomorphic character of the field setting guides the application of geochronologic or instrumental tools to this problem, because the viability of methods can be highly influenced by geomorphic attributes. For example, sediment yield and the linked potential for organic preservation may govern the usefulness of radiocarbon dating. Similarly, the rate of sediment transport from source to sink may determine the maturity and/or light exposure of mineral grains arriving in the delta and thus the feasibility of luminescence dating. Here, we explore the viability and quirks of dating and instrumental methods that have been applied in the Bengal Basin, and review the records that they have yielded. This immense, dynamic, and spatially variable system hosts the world's most inhabited delta. Outlining a framework for successful chronologic applications is thus of value to managing water and sediment resources for humans, here and in other populated deltas worldwide. Our review covers radiocarbon dating, luminescence dating, archaeological records and historical maps, short-lived radioisotopes, horizon markers and rod surface elevation tables, geodetic observations, and surface instrumentation. Combined, these tools can be used to reconstruct the history of the Bengal Basin from Late Pleistocene to present day. The growing variety and scope of Bengal Basin geochronology and instrumentation opens doors for research integrating basin processes across spatial and temporal scales. (c) 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available