Articles | Volume 15, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-73-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-73-2019
Research article
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15 Jan 2019
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 15 Jan 2019

Indian winter and summer monsoon strength over the 4.2 ka BP event in foraminifer isotope records from the Indus River delta in the Arabian Sea

Alena Giesche, Michael Staubwasser, Cameron A. Petrie, and David A. Hodell

Data sets

63KA_DataFile_CP.xlsx A. Giesche, M. Staubwasser, C. A. Petrie, and D. A. Hodell http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/4371/

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Short summary
A foraminifer oxygen isotope record from the northeastern Arabian Sea was used to reconstruct winter and summer monsoon strength from 5.4 to 3.0 ka. We found a 200-year period of strengthened winter monsoon (4.5–4.3 ka) that coincides with the earliest phase of the Mature Harappan period of the Indus Civilization, followed by weakened winter and summer monsoons by 4.1 ka. Aridity spanning both rainfall seasons at 4.1 ka may help to explain some of the observed archaeological shifts.