Conference program and abstracts - Coastal-Change.Org

CONTENT 

Tsunami history along the coastline of Oman (Arabian Peninsula) ______________________________________5 

Geological signatures of extreme wave events in Late Quaternary records of the Gujarat coast, western 

India________________________________________________________________________________________________6 

2004 Tsunami and Tsunamigenic sediments in Certain Parts of East Coast of Tamilnadu, India ____________7 

A preliminary comparison of sediment provenance in deposits from the 2004 tsunami and a palaeotsunami 

using X-ray techniques. ______________________________________________________________________8 

Coastal resilience on microbial pollution: a study along the estuarine region of Coromandel coast, 

Southern India ______________________________________________________________________________________9 

Impact Of Industrialization In The Coastal Sediments Off Cuddalore, Se-Coast Of India, Tamil Nadu, India 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10 

Hazard Line Mapping Of Mahadi Delta, Odisha Using Remote Sensing and Gis _______________________ 11 

Heavy metal Geochemistry and Magnetic Susceptibility studies on the sediments along Adayar River, 

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India________________________________________________________________________ 12 

Millennial-scale records of North American Monsoon during the last glacial period from Mexican Deserts 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 

Pollution Management Plan For The Odisha Coast __________________________________________________ 14 

Indian Southwest Monsoon Variability During the Holocene As Seen In The Northeastern Arabian Sea __ 15 

Recognition of the Late Quaternary tectonic activity in the Pearl River Delta _________________________ 16 

Coastal wind climate, coastal dunes and ventifacts: mismatch or misinterpretation?__________________ 17 

Morphological Deformities Found in Foraminiferal Test in the Core Sediments of Ennore Creek and Off 

Ennore, South East Coast of India __________________________________________________________________ 18 

Benthic Foraminifera and siltation studies along the Depositional Environment between Mandapam and 

Kodiyakkarai, Palk Strait, East Coast of India ________________________________________________________ 19 

Foraminifera as a Tool to Study the Shallow Subsurface and the Quaternary Geology of the Cauvery 

Delta Region ______________________________________________________________________________________ 20 

Wetland Ecosystem of Mahanadi Delta, India: A palynological perspective __________________________ 21 

Holocene environmental changes inferred from a sediment record in Nan’Ao Island, Southeastern China 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 22 

Change in landuse patterns in Cauvery delta zone _________________________________________________ 24 

The Fourth IGCP 588: PREPARING FOR COASTAL CHANGE 1

Palaeo-environmental reconstructions and sea level change during early Holocene in Pearl River delta, 

southern China ____________________________________________________________________________________ 25 

Late glacial sea level minima in the Western British Isles ______________________________________________ 26 

Vulnerable Deltas of Indian Coast __________________________________________________________________ 27 

Shoreline Management Plan For Mandvi Coast, Gujarat _____________________________________________ 28 

The Coastal and Marine Tourism of East coast of India: Implications to Environmental Impact __________ 29 

Identification of Subsurface Groundwater Discharge from the Coastal Aquifers of Cuddalore Region, 

Tamilnadu ________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 

Neotectonic activity along Oman’s coastline, revealed by using ArcGIS ______________________________ 32 

Investigating inter--‐annual and multi-‐decadal signals in tide gauge records from Vietnam; Implications for 

sea level and coastal hazard studies _______________________________________________________________ 33 

Surface Hydrology of Rivers draining into Valsequillo Dam in Puebla City, México: Results from Time Series 

Analysis ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 34 

High Resoluation Holocene Climatic Registers from the Red Sands of South Coast of India _____________ 35 

Dissolved carbon dioxide and methane from mangrove surrounding waters of Andaman Islands, India. 36 

Geochemical characteristics of surficial sediments in Thambraparani Estuary: impact of Industrial 

discharge _________________________________________________________________________________________ 37 

Process of Rock Weathering in Archaeological and Historical Sites and Soil Formation Along the East 

Coast, Tamil Nadu _________________________________________________________________________________ 38 

Seawater Intrusion Due to Temporal Rainfall and Landuse Changes in Coastal Aquifer, North of Chennai, 

Tamil Nadu, India__________________________________________________________________________________ 39 

Evaluation of the Impact Assessment of Coastal Environment off Gulf of Mannar _____________________ 40 

Mineral magnetic study of coastal sediments – Muttukadu backwaters, Chennai. ____________________ 41 

A Baseline Study of Physico-Chemical Parameters and Trace Metals in Waters of Manakudy, South-West 

Coast of India _____________________________________________________________________________________ 42 

Phosphorus dynamics of water - sediment and its interference with heavy metals of Pulicat lagoon, South 

East Coast of India ________________________________________________________________________________ 43 

Sedimentary differences between the 2011 Thane cyclone and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 

Cuddalore District, South East coast of India, Tamil Nadu. ____________________________________________ 44 

Evaluation of major hydrogeochemical indices to identify seawater intrusion in North Chennai coastal 

aquifer ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 45 

Shoreline Change Assessment for Major Ports along East Coast of India. ______________________________ 46 

2 The Fourth IGCP 588: PREPARING FOR COASTAL CHANGE

A Methodology to Develop a Report Card to Assess the Ecosystem Health Status: A Case Study of Chilika 

Lagoon, Odisha. __________________________________________________________________________________ 47 

Conservation Management Plan For Kandaleru (Upputeru) Creek, Andhra Pradesh __________________ 48 

Seaweeds culture and its impacts on the livelihoods and socio- economic conditions of the coastal 

communities in Vedalai, Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India ________________________________ 49 

Mapping Of Mangrove Cover and Creation Of Spectal Library For Pichavaram Mangroves In Tamilnadu 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 50 

2 National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management _____________________________________________ 50 

An Environment Management Plan In A Shipyard ___________________________________________________ 51 

Utility of Granulometry and heavy mineral distribution to decipher the provenance; A case study 

between Tuticorin and Thiruchendur, Tamil Nadu, South East coast of India ___________________________ 52 

Subsurface Geomorphological Study of Mahabalipuram Coast Using Ground Penetrating Radar & 

Sedimentology ____________________________________________________________________________________ 53 

Historical Tsunami And Stroms Records In A Coastal Lowland, Kameshwaram Along Cauvery Delta Coast, 

Tamil Nadu, India__________________________________________________________________________________ 54 

Morphosedimentary evidences of rapid sea level drop in Mediterranean coasts of Spain during MIS5e 55 

Biosphere – atmosphere exchange of methane and hydrogen sulfide in connection to the sediment 

biogeochemistry at a tropical mangrove forest._____________________________________________________ 56 

Hydrogeochemical assessment of human intervention in Sundarban mangrove ecosystem, India _____ 57 

Tsunami vulnerability database to Chennai Coast using Numerical Modeling and GIS _________________ 58 

Sea Surface Height (SSH)-based Potential Fishing Zones: An approach for round-the-year dissemination of 

advisories in Andaman ____________________________________________________________________________ 59 

Abundance of Fishes as Indicators of Reef Health and Reef Recovery: A Case Study from Andaman __ 60 

Tropical storm off Myanmar coast sweeps reefs in Ritchie’s Archipelago, Andaman ___________________ 61 

Issues in assessing the impact of marine biodiversity on the catastrophic events: case study on 

Opisthobranchs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands ___________________________________________________ 62 

Integrated approach for assessment of ecosystem health of a tropical brackish water lagoon: Chilika, 

India______________________________________________________________________________________________ 63 

Need for evolutionary studies in Andaman Coral reefs faunal communities through molecular 

approaches: A case study of reef fish barcode from Andaman ______________________________________ 65 

Integrated Coastal Zone Management on Indian Islands; Strategy and Approaches __________________ 67 


A rapid sea-level rise around 7.8–7.6 cal ka BP based on geological and archaeological proxies from the 

eastern Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea __________________________________________________________________ 68 

Assessment Over Impacts Of Sealevel Changes Through Coastal Behaviour Analysis – A Geomatical 

Technique ________________________________________________________________________________________ 69 

Radiocarbon Dates from the Northeast Part of the Pearl River Delta __________________________________ 70 

Holocene sea-level changes in the coasts of central Kerala, South India- evidences from coastal 

wetlands and palaeo-beach ridges ________________________________________________________________ 71 

Assessing and evaluating rapid coastalchange due to catastrophicevents: Keymessages for nonacademicstakeholders 

____________________________________________________________________________ 72 

Evidence of Holocene flooding-storm surge events from a peatland deposit near the lower reach of 

Xijiang (main stream of the Pearl River Delta), China ________________________________________________ 73 

Study of Wave Parameters along the East Coast of India during Thane Cyclone ______________________ 75 

Forced migration and ocean surges disasters along the coastline of lagos, nigeria: lessons learned. ___ 76 

Shore Specific Sediment Characteristics as an Aid to Identify the Deposits of Extreme Events Along the 

Sheltered Coast of Southern Tamilnadu, India _______________________________________________________ 77 

Distribution of Calcareous Microfauna (Foraminifera and Ostracoda) in the Trench Samples of Tamil 

Nadu, South India – Evidences For Overwash/High Energy Depositional Events ________________________ 78 

Geological records of ancient tsunamis from South eastern coast of India. ___________________________ 80 

Study of Hydrodynamic parameters and Sediment Transportation along the Odisha Coast ____________ 82 

Artificial Coastal Lakes (Paleo-lagoons) for Taping Storm Water Runoff for Arresting Saltwater Intrusion and 

for Artificial Filling of Inland Lakes ___________________________________________________________________ 83 

Thin-bed Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) of stacked tsunami deposits from Phra Thong Island, Thailand 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 84 


Tsunami history along the coastline of Oman (Arabian 

Peninsula) 

Gösta Hoffmann 1,2 , Klaus Reicherter 2 , Christoph Grützner 2 , Magdalena 

Rupprechter 1 

1 

German University of Technology, Department of Applied Geosciences, 

PO Box 1816, PC 130, Muscat, Oman (goesta.hoffmann@gutech.edu.om) 

2 

Institute of Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, RWTH Aachen University, 

Lochnerstr. 4-20, 52056 Aachen, Germany 

ABSTRACT 

The Sultanate of Oman is situated in the north-eastern part of the Arabian 

Peninsula. The Arabian Plate is characterized by a northward movement 

forming a continent-continent collision zone in the west and the Makran 

Subduction Zone (MSZ) in the east. The MSZ is known to have produced 

tsunamigenic earthquakes in the past. The last event occurred in 1945. 

We aim at reconstructing paleo-tsunami in order to constrain recurrence 

intervals. We use historical, geological and archaeological data to 

achieve this goal. 

We reconstruct the tsunami event of 28 th November, 1945 by utilizing 

historical information. Furthermore, we carried out interviews with 

eyewitnesses. This information allows us to reconstruct the impact of the 

tsunami waves around the shores of the northern Indian Ocean. The 

coastlines of Pakistan and India were severely affected; the impact along 

the Omani coastline was minor. 

Geological evidence for paleo-tsunami is mainly seen in block and 

boulder deposits along the coast. The largest of these blocks exceed 100 

tons in mass and indicate that the tsunami experienced in 1945 was by far 

not the worst-case scenario. 

We analyzed a bronze-age coastal settlement in Ras al Hadd (HD-6). 

Archaeological evidence proves 2 settlement phases. The archaeological 

site is located directly on the shores of the Indian Ocean. 

Geomorphological, sedimentological and dating evidence is presented 

that support the hypothesis that the settlement was inundated by an 

extreme wave event around 2800 BC during the first settlement phase. 

Whether or not this was a tsunami is currently under research. 


Geological signatures of extreme wave events in Late 

Quaternary records of the Gujarat coast, western India 

Nilesh Bhatt 1 , V. M. Ukey 1 , S. P. Prizomwala 1 , M. K. Murari 2 and A. K. 

Singhvi 2 

1 

Department of Geology, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara - 

390002, India. 2 Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 

– 380019, India. 

ABSTRACT 

The coast of Gujarat has mention of historical extreme wave events like 

tsunami dating back to 310 BC and 1945 AD. Geological imprints of these 

events are however, not available. We report here geological evidence 

of older tsunami events from Kachchh and Saurashtra coasts of Gujarat. 

In Kachchah OSL ages of two such events seen in the field in the form of 

sand layers sandwiched between the mudflat units are 1285+301 and 

513+345 years, respectively. At Chorwad on the southwestern coast of 

Saurashtra, limestone boulders exhibit varied typology viz., intertidal 

scattered boulders, imbricated boulders, inverted boulders and boulder 

clusters which attest to their deposition due to extreme wave (tsunami) 

events. The sediments wherein some boulders are embedded were 

optically dated to 6610+704 years. A lithified tsunami deposit (tsunamite) 

was documented from Ratiya-Madhavpur area of Saurashtra. This 

comprises of boulder floaters, imbricated boulders, scouring of the older 

beach ridge unit and sand flame structure. The unit was optically dated 

to 52 kyrs. The cyclone history of the region does not suggest that these 

boulders were deposited by cyclonic event. Moreover, the boulder 

source in offshore can also easily be ascertained. Precise mapping with 

Total Station Survey and measurements of boulders were used to estimate 

the wave height requirements for their present disposition and support the 

inference of their being of tsunamigenic nature. The source of these 

tsunamis could be the Chagos Archipelago region. 


2004 Tsunami and Tsunamigenic sediments in Certain 

Parts of East Coast of Tamilnadu, India 

S.R.Singarasubramanian, M.V.Mukesh, S.Rajmohan and K.Suganraj 

1. Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, 

Annamalainagar-608 002, Tamilnadu 

laksrs@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

On 26th December, 2004, a massive earthquake occurred in NW of 

Sumatra (3.2760N, 95.821S) in the seismically active zone close to Sunda 

Trench at a water depth of about 1300m with an epicenter located at a 

shallow depth of 10km below the ocean floor. The earthquake triggered 

tsunami waves in the northeast of Indian Ocean at 6.29 IST and 

devastated coastal population in 11 southeast Asian countries. These 

waves travelled in the open Ocean of Bay of Bengal and hit along the 

Tamilnadu coast, India at around 8.45 IST with a wave height of 3 to 10m. 

These waves transport considerable amount of sediments towards land 

and finally when they cross the shore they dump considerable offshore 

sediments on the coast. They left signatures namely opening or closing of 

estuaries, breaching the coastal dunes ridges, developing long erosional 

channels etc. The thickness of tsunamigenic sediments vary from place to 

place depending on the environment of deposition, coastal morphology 

and wave velocity. The sediments are coarser or finer than the pretsunami 

sediments depending on the available offshore sediments. 

Sediments brought by tsunami wave were very coarse in southern coast 

than that of in central Tamilnadu. The thickness also varies from 1 to 28cm 

or even more in some localities. The statistical parameters of sediments 

show marked difference between tidal sediments and tsunamigenic 

sediments. 


A preliminary comparison of sediment provenance in 

deposits from the 2004 tsunami and a palaeo-tsunami 

using X-ray techniques. 

Dat T. Pham 1 

, Charles M. Rubin 1,2 , Adam D. Switzer 1,2 , Chris 

Gouramanis 2 , Brian G. Jones 3 , Kruawun Jankaew 4 , Paul F. Carr 3 

Division of Earth Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. 

Earth Observatory of Singapore, Singapore. 

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong 

NSW 2522, Australia. 

Department of Geology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. 

ABSTRACT 

Catastrophic events such as tsunamis or typhoons leave unique signatures 

in the geologic and geomorphic record. The sedimentary analysis of 

these events presents an opportunity to better understand the 

sedimentary and hydrodynamic processes. Characterizing sediment 

provenance might contribute to understanding the sedimentary 

fingerprint of catastrophic coastal events. 

In this study, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) 

techniques were applied in an attempt to determine sediment 

provenance of tsunami deposits based on mineralogy and sediment 

composition at Phra Thong Island, Thailand. Here, the 2004 Indian Ocean 

Tsunami wave height was over 19m. Thirty samples collected from 

offshore, onshore and an onshore trench-site were chosen and analyzed. 

The trench sample group includes the 2004-tsunami deposits and two 

palaeo-tsunami deposits studied by Jankaew et al. (2008). XRD results 

indicated that quartz dominates all sediment mixtures with more than 90 - 

95 weight% whereas calcite, aragonite, zircon and garnet are the main 

components of the small non-quartz component. XRF data from the 2004 

tsunami sand and trench sample group provided additional information 

on trace element composition. Since XRF analyses were not greatly 

affected by quartz saturation, cluster and discriminant function analyses 

were employed in order to investigate the statistical differences between 

the sample groups. The XRF results indicated that the onshore group is 

easily distinguished from the offshore and trench groups; whereas the 

offshore and trench group were statistically similar. This implies that the 

main source of non-quartz material in the tsunami deposit comes from 

offshore marine sediments. 

Reference: 

1. Jankaew, K., B. F. Atwater, Y. Sawai, M. Choowong, T. Charoentitirat, 

M. E. Martin, and A. Pren-dergast (2008), Medieval forewarning of the 

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand, Nature, 455(7217), 1228-1231. 


Coastal resilience on microbial pollution: a study along 

the estuarine region of Coromandel coast, Southern 

India 

Arthur James, R., Vignesh, S Muthukumar, K and Santhosh Gokul, M. 

Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli – 

620 024 INDIA 

Email: james.msbdu@gmail.com / marine@bdu.ac.in 

ABSTRACT 

Coastal waters have traditionally been considered as the ultimate sink for 

the by-products of human activities. The key sources of pollutants 

affecting coastal water quality are river-in inputs of domestic, agricultural, 

and industrial effluents and direct sewage discharges from the local 

population. Over 250 million cases of gastroenteritis and respiratory 

diseases and 5–10 million cases of hepatitis are reported annually from 

coastal regions all over the world. The Tamil Nadu coast has several 

perennial and non perennial rivers, which flow west to east towards the 

Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mannar. A study was undertaken to assess the 

pollution indicators and human pathogenic bacteria along the 1076km 

length of coastal and estuarine region of Tamil Nadu, India. Important 

estuarine region covered in this study are Kaveri, Vaigai, Tamiraparani, 

Periyar, Pennar, Coovum, and Adyar. It is located between 8° 00'-13° 30'N 

latitude and 76° 15'-80° 18'E Longitudes. The aim is to estimate the 

concentration of the pathogen indicator organisms in the Estuaries of 

Tamilnadu rivers and understand their seasonal variations in different 

locations. Samples (water and sediment) were collected from 20 different 

sites with different estuarine regions representing summer - May 2011, 

monsoon - October and winter - December and were subjected to 

bacteriological analysis, i.e. total viable count (TVC), total coliform count 

(TC), total streptococci count (TS), total vibrios count (VLO) and five 

different types of pathogenic bacteria counts were also studied. All 

groups of indicatory bacteria were 100-1000 times more numerous in the 

sediments than in water. The results of bacteriological analysis of water 

revealed that the situation is alarming. High positive correlation among 

bacterial parameters with low among physicochemical parameters 

proves they we are not mutually associated with each other.The monsoon 

season showed presence of high level of bacterial pollution indicators 

indicated the presence of disease causing group of bacterial population 

in both the sample and its sequence was observed as 

monsoon>summer>winter. It is suggested that inclusion of these groups 

could be made mandatory in coastal and estuarine waters for the 

environmental impact assessment. 


Impact Of Industrialization In The Coastal Sediments Off 

Cuddalore, Se-Coast Of India, Tamil Nadu, India 

Jayaprakash. M and Gopal. V 

Department of Applied Geology, University of Madras, Chennai-600 025, 

Tamilnadu, INDIA. 

ABSTRACT 

Coastal sediments are significant hosts for pollutant trace metals, 

however analytical difficulties can prevent them being included in routine 

environmental monitoring programmes. In order to identify a suitable 

approach to the problem, an established simple technique has been 

evaluated for the initial assessment of trace metal pollution in coastal 

sediments. Twenty five surface sediment samples collected during 2013, 

from the inner shelf region of the Bay of Bengal, were analysed for the 

Total Trace Metals (TTMs) (Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Co, Ni and Cd), 

Sediment Texture, OC, and CaCO3 to evaluate geochemical processes 

influencing their distribution. The content of calcium carbonate in the 

surface sediments of shelf region of study area was generally low. 

Enhanced percentage of organic matter is attributed to decreasing grain 

size, protective action of clay and other pollutants. The mean percentage 

of total Fe is 1.05%. Among the environmentally significant trace metals 

analyzed, cadmium shows low concentrations in the range from 0.054 to 

0.124 mg/l with a mean concentration of 2.84 mg/l in the sediments. Zinc 

shows High concentrations in the range from 15.8 to 93.6 mg/l with a 

mean concentration of 37.7 mg/l in the sediments. The concentrations of 

Zn are somewhat lower for sandy sediments and higher for sediments 

containing abundant organic matter. Further the obtained total Cr 

concentrations were moderate when compared to the concentrations of 

many samples were higher with that of reported Cr (84 mg/l) in the Bay of 

Bengal. Statistically significant spatial variation was observed among all 

sediment variables. Correlation analysis showed that the metal content of 

sediments was mainly regulated by organic carbon, Fe oxy-hydroxides, 

and grain size. The higher concentration of coarse sediments at the 

continental shelf is due to tidal, wave and current effects. It is well known 

that the east coast is subjected to both erosion and accretion. The 

highest levels of sediment-associated contaminants have been measured 

in coastal areas that are influenced by point sources of pollution, primarily 

from municipal and industrial sources. 

References 

1. Gaudette HE, Flight WR, Toner L, Folger DW (1974) An inexpensive titration 

method for the determination of organic carbon in recent sediments. J Sediment 

Petrol 44:249–253. 

2. Loring DH, Rantala RTT (1992) Manual for the geochemical analyses of marine 

sediments and suspended particulate matter. Earth Sci Rev 32:35–283. 

3. Jonathan MP, Ram Mohan V, Srinivasalu S (2004) Geochemical variations of 

major and trace elements in recent sediments, off the Gulf of Mannar, the 

southeast coast of India. Environ Geol 45:466–480. 


Hazard Line Mapping Of Mahadi Delta, Odisha Using 

Remote Sensing and Gis 

Sukanya R V 1 , Mary Divya 2 , Purvaja Ramachandran 2 , Natarajan T 2 , 

Ramesh R 2* 

1 

Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University 

2 

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management 

* 

Corresponding author; rramesh_au@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

It is estimated that one third of the world’s population are living in the 

coastline and their livelihood depends on the resources available from it. 

Mahanadi Delta in India is a coastal region located in the state of Odisha. 

Mahanadi Delta in India is formed by the network of three major rivers, 

Mahanadi, Brahmani and Baitarini draining to Bay of Bengal. The delta 

covers a coastline length of 200km, which stretches from south near 

Chilika lake to north up to Dhamra river. The population density is high in 

the upper part of Mahanadi Delta and gradually declines towards the 

coast. Compared to west coast of India east coast is more prone to 

cyclones. When compared to other eastern coastal states in India Odisha 

is the worst affected state with highest number of cyclonic storms per year 

crossing its coast. 

The various hazards affecting the coastline of Mahanadi Delta are 

erosion, accretion, cyclones, storm surge and extreme events like tsunami. 

These hazards lead to severe loss of human life, damage to properties 

and to ecosystem. In order to safe guard the people and their properties, 

hazard prone areas should be demarcated. A newly adopted method is 

based on mapping a composite hazard line considering all the hazards 

such as shoreline change, storm surges, cyclones, tsunamis and high tide 

line in an integrated way. This hazard line will act as a precautionary 

boundary and assist protection and development activities in the 

earmarked zone. 

The two main components of composite hazard line are shoreline 

mapping and flood line mapping (includes: highest high tide level, storm 

surges and cyclones). 

The data for shoreline will be taken from the past 50yr and will predict for 

future 50yr using Linear Regression Method (LRR). For flood line mapping, 

the Highest High Tide Level will be found out by using any statistical 

method. The maximum values of storm surges will also be taken from past 

years data and will be marked on DEM. By connecting the positive value 

(maximum value) of shoreline and flood line we will get the hazard line. 

Then land use for that area will be carried out and that will tell us what are 

the areas and activities that will be affected in the near future. 

This study directly supports the Integrated Coastal Zone Management 

(ICZM) Plan of Odisha state through the identification and assessment of 

coastal hazards and integrating the same to arrive at the composite 

hazard line which will help the administrators in effective management of 

the coastal zone. 


Heavy metal Geochemistry and Magnetic 

Susceptibility studies on the sediments along Adayar 

River, Chennai, 

Tamil Nadu, India 

C. Lakshmi Narasimhan 1 *, S. Srinivasalu 1 , V. Kumaravel 2 , R. 

Venkatachalapathy 3 , Susanta Maharana 1 and S. Senthil 1 

1 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai-600 025, India. 

*lakshmina_c@yahoo.com 

2 

6/120, Arasalur, Perambalur-Dist, Tamil Nadu-621102 

3 

CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar-608 002, 

India 

ABSTRACT 

Magnetic susceptibility and heavy metal analysis of surface sediments 

from Adayar river was carried out to understand their behaviour from its 

originating point to its estuary where it joins with Bay of Bengal. A total of 

22 samples have been collected at regular interval along Adayar river 

from thiruneermalai (originating point) to the estuary and mouth. The low 

field magnetic susceptibility values are showing changing trends along 

the river course. The place like thiruneermalai bridge, anangappattur are 

showing high LF values. The high LF and low FD% along the river Adyar, 

indicate multi Domain dominance of magnetic susceptibility which in turn 

indicates anthropogenic origin of Fe rich substance. 

Heavy metal geochemistry indicates the level of anthropogenic impact 

on the Adayar River. The Fe is having a positive correlation with magnetic 

susceptibility, however Si and Fe correlation does not show any 

relationship, indicating Fe is mostly from anthropogenic origin. 

Paramagnetic metals such as Ti, Mn, Cr and Cu, Pb are showing a positive 

correlation with Susceptibility values. The Sand-Silt –Clay ratio indicates 

that the percentage of the Sand is more than that of silt and clay 

percentage. ASTM 30 size grains having positive relation to Low frequency 

susceptibility values indicating high contribution from grains of that size. 

But locations near river mouth, fine grains sizes such as ASTM 230 and 

ASTM -230 are showing high susceptibility values, indicating selective 

adsorption of heavymetals in that grain sizes. 

Organic matter does not show any evidence towards absorption of Fe or 

heavy metal particles. Calcium Carbonate study indicates that the 

percentage of CaCo3 is more towards the estuary. This may be due to 

the input from the sea through precipitation of CaCO3. The Heavy metal 

enrichment can be attributed to input of anthropogenic origin from non 

point sources. 


Millennial-scale records of North American Monsoon 

during the last glacial period from Mexican Deserts 

Priyadarsi Roy 1 , Jesus David Quiroz 2 , Marcela Charles 2 , Nayeli Lopez 3 , 

Francisco Romero 1 and M.P. Jonathan 4 * 

1 

Instituto de Geologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CP 

04510, México DF, México 

2 

Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de 

México, CP 04510, México DF, México 

3 

USAI, Facultad de Quimica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 

CP 04510, México DF, México 

4 

Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio 

Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), 

Calle 30 de Junio de 1520, Barrio la Laguna Ticomán 

C.P. 07340, Del. Gustavo A. Madero, México, D.F., México. 

*Corresponding author: mpjonathan7@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

The Sonora and Chihuahua Deserts are spread over at least 8 different 

states present in the north-western and northern Mexico. The North 

American Monsoon (NAM) or Mexican Monsoon refers to the system that 

brings summer precipitation to this arid/ semi-arid part of Mexico and 

southwestern USA. It contributes ca. 70-80% of total annual precipitation 

along the western slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental (northern 

Mexico) and ca. 40-50% of total precipitation in Arizona and New Mexico 

(southwest USA). The multi-proxy data from lacustrine deposits located 

between 23° N and 31° N (paleolakes La Salada, Babicora and San 

Felipe) provide spatio-temporal and millennial-scale paleohydrological 

records over the last glacial period related to the dynamics of summer 

precipitation as well as westerly winter storms. The inverse relationship 

between the proxy records of runoff into lacustrine basins of northern 

Mexico and winter precipitation over the southwestern USA indicate the 

westerly winter storms had minimal influence south of 30°N and the 

paleohydrological changes are mainly summer precipitation controlled. 

The runoff records between 20 and 60 cal. kyr BP show a first order positive 

relationship with the summer insolation. On millennial-scale, the basins 

received more than average runoff during the warm interstadials and 

vice versa. During the cold stadials, the westerly winds transported 

minimally chemically altered sediments from the dry watershed. Highresolution 

geochemical proxies suggest lower than average runoff and 

higher than average lake water salinity during the Younger Dryas and 

Heinrich events 1, 2 and 3. However the uncertainties associated with 14 C 

based age model, hiatus in sedimentation and extrapolation of the age 

model for the lower part of core could be the reason behind the lack of 

above mentioned observations during rest of the Heinrich events. 


Pollution Management Plan For The Odisha Coast 

Vinoth Kumar S 1 , Sathiyabama V P 2 , Kakolee Banerjee 2 , , Purvaja 

Ramachandran 2 , Ramesh R 2* . 

1 

Institute for Ocean Management, CEG, Anna University, Chennai, India. 

2 

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Anna University, 

Chennai, India. 

* 

Corresponding author: rramesh_au@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

Major pollutant contributors in Odisha come from either land-based or 

sea-based activities and from both point sources, such as industrial 

discharges, oil spill incidents, domestic sewage, and non-point sources 

like, agriculture runoff. These pollutions can affect coastal water quality, 

marine sediment conditions and particular organisms, as well as natural 

habitats like mangroves, sea grass and coral reefs. The major causes for 

marine pollution are population growth, rapid urbanization and 

industrialization. 

Water quality parameters for coastal waters of Odisha, are essential 

to study for identifying the key pollutants. Spatial variations of a variety of 

physio-chemical parameters, such as Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Suspended 

Sediment Concentration (SSC), Chlorophyll-a, Nitrate(No3), Total Nitrogen 

(TN) and Total Phosphorous (TP) have been done using a spatial 

interpolation method and integrated with Landuse / cover maps. Finally, 

secondary details of Odisha coast have been collected and compared 

with the available results, and categorized into Driver, Pressure, State, 

Impact and Response (D-P-S-I-R), to find out possible threats and pressure 

over the coastal ecosystem of Odisha. 


Indian Southwest Monsoon Variability During the 

Holocene As Seen In The Northeastern Arabian Sea 

M.Ravichandran 1 , Anil K. Gupta 1,2 and M.K. Panigrahi 1 

1 

Department of Geology and Geophysics, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur- 721 

302 

2 

Now at Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun - 248 001 

E-mail: ravimrcp@gmail.com; anilg@wihg.res.in; mkp@gg.iitkgp.ernet.in 

ABSTRACT 

The Holocene epoch is of great socio-economic and academic 

importance, marked by significant changes in the Indian monsoon as well 

as global climates. The Indian summer or southwest monsoon is driven by 

sensible heating of the Asian landmass and latent heat released from 

cross-equatorial moisture transport (Webster, 1987). In this study, 434 

sediment samples have been analyzed for benthic foraminifera from 

cores SK-240/327, SK-243/I-1 and ABP, 25/03, off Gujarat in the 

northeastern Arabian Sea. Our goal is to reconstruct the Holocene history 

of the Indian monsoon. Processed dry samples containing benthic 

foraminifera were sieved over 150 µm size sieve, and were split into 

suitable aliquots of ~ 300 specimens, identified and counted. Seasonal 

changes in the oceanography are reflected in benthic foraminiferal 

productivity. Study of 206 Core Samples from SK-243/I-1, covering a length 

of 3.20 meters below sea floor (mbsf) and a time span of ~11 kyrs allowed 

identification of 166 species of benthic foraminifera belonging to 69 

genera. We focused here on oceanographically important species such 

as Anomalina globulosa (maximum 15.63 %), followed by Uvigerina 

proboscidea (22.53%), Bolivina spathulata (9.38%), Gyroidinoides nitidula 

(17.65%), Sigmoilopsis schlumbergeri (17.55 %), Bolivina dilatata (11.04 %), 

Bulimina marginata (21.15 %), and Nonion cf. asterizans (24.92 %), 

Hyalinea balthica (8.73 %), Cancris oblongus (11.94 %), etc. 

The characteristic species of assemblage is Anomalina globulosa which 

indicates intermediate to high flux of organic matter with low oxygen 

deep water conditions. Uvigerina proboscidea and Bolivina spathulata 

indicate low oxygen, sustained flux of organic matter from high surface 

productivity, sluggish bottom circulation (Gupta et al., 1997). 

Gyroidinoides nitidula and Sigmoilopsis schlumbergeri indicate low 

organic carbon flux or pulsed food supply and high oxygen content of 

environment (Mackensen et al., 1995). Bolivina dilatata indicates high 

organic flux and low oxygen levels. Bulimina marginata indicates 

oligotrophic conditions with pulse food supply, high bottom oxygenation. 

Nonion cf. asterizans maintains a high abundance along with 

opportunistic species. Hyalinea balthica indicates high productivity, low 

oxygen content in bottom water (Hermelin and Shimmield, 1990). We 

conclude that changes in benthic foraminiferal population in the studied 

holes archive evidence of Southwest monsoon variability. The benthic 

foraminiferal data reveal that the major events occurred around ~9,000- 

6000 yrs suggesting a major intensification of the Indian SW monsoon. The 

summer monsoon was weakest during ~ 2,500 to 1,500 yrs BP. During the 

Medieval Warm Period the summer monsoon strengthened whereas 

during the most recent climatic event, the Little Ice Age, there was a 

drastic reduction in the intensity of the summer monsoon. 

Keywords: Benthic foraminifera, Indian monsoon, Arabian Sea, Holocene. 


Recognition of the Late Quaternary tectonic activity in 

the Pearl River Delta 

Zhang Ke, Yu Zhangxin 

Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, PR China 

ABSTRACT 

As one of the largest delta in China, most area of the Pearl River Delta 

only records the latest sea level rise in several tens of the Pleistocene 

eustacy fluctuations except for the Holocene one. Obviously neotectonic 

movement is a very importance factor that effect transgression and can 

not be neglected in discussion of the formation and evolution of the 

delta. However, there are no consensuses on both of the neotectonic 

intensity and the age of the lower transgressive unit of the delta. The 

major differences are active and stable for the former and MIS3 and MIS5 

for the latter, respectively. The wide disparity on the time and sea level of 

MIS3 and MIS5 results in very different explanation on neotectonic activity 

of the delta. Some researchers consider that all faults in the delta area 

are inactive ones and that the delta is subsiding so weakly that the 

Holocene deposit is only compensative aggregation after erosion in 

glacial sea level fall. While others argue that the delta is so called the fault 

block one and has undergone intense tectonic movement since the 

latest Quaternary (since MIS3). Our investigation indicates that the 

neotectonic activity of different trending faults varies. 

Although EW faults control north boundary of the delta, they have been 

strongly incised by flood plain and the EW piedmont lines meandered. 

The thickness of Quaternary deposit changes little when crossing the EW 

and NE faults, implying that the landform has been eroded for a long 

period of time and both EW and NE faults have been quietness since 

latest Quaternary. 

NEE faults distribute alongside both of the south Panyu Platform in north 

delta and of the north Wugui Mountains to the south delta. Most of 

surface of the platform has been deeply weathered to vermiculated red 

soil. Vermiculated red soil has a wide range of distribution in south China, 

formed only once (about 700~400 ka) during entire Quaternary. It 

indicates a strong monsoon warm environment and relatively stable 

peneplain process. On the platform there are many depositional terraces, 

equivalent to lower marine transgression cycle of the delta, with 

vermiculated red soil underneath. The terraces are about 10m above 

mean sea level on the Panyu Platform, but the equivalent deposit 

becomes deeper southward in delta depositional area, illustrating both 

NEE faulting of the platform and southward tilting of the delta. When 

tracing southward to the northern South China Sea continental shelf, the 

Quaternary deposits thicken and number of transgression cycles increases 

from 2 cycles in the delta to more than 6 in continental shelf when 

crossing the NEE Coast Fault Zone. Compared with Quaternary sea level 

variation cycle, the continental shelf subsided much earlier than the delta 

area and records more transgression events. NEE faults in the delta area 

actually belong to the fault system in northern South China Sea 

continental shelf. 


Coastal wind climate, coastal dunes and ventifacts: 

mismatch or misinterpretation? 

Jasper Knight 1 , Helene Burningham 2 

1 

School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University 

of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa 

(jasper.knight@wits.ac.za) 

2 

Department of Geography, UCL, Pearson Building, Gower Street, London, 

WC1E 6BT, UK (h.burningham@ucl.ac.uk) 

ABSTRACT 

The Atlantic-facing coast of western Ireland experiences a high-energy 

onshore wind climate controlled by seasonal patterns of cyclones and 

variations in North Atlantic Oscillation index (Burningham and French, 

2013). Due to late Pleistocene glacial erosion the coast is also sand-rich, 

with well-developed coastal dune systems, sandy beaches with wide 

intertidal zones, and sand-filled estuaries. The combination of strong 

onshore winds, high sediment availability and sea-level readjustment 

throughout the Holocene has led to the formation of extensive coastal 

sand dunes (Carter, 1990) andventifacts (Knight and Burningham, 2001; 

Knight, 2005). One problem in reconciling these diverse environmental 

variables, however, is the mismatch in spatial and temporal scales of 

observations. Geomorphological evidence for wind activity records the 

net effect of winds over long (10 2 -10 4 yr) time scales, whereas wind records 

themselves only span shorter time scales (10 -1 -10 2 yr) but are of higher 

resolution. In addition, radiocarbon-dated buried soils within sand dunes 

and macroscale sand dune morphologyare difficult to interpret within the 

context of periods of enhanced storminess, sediment fluxes between 

beach and dunes, and dune deposition and non-deposition (stability). 

Likewise, the millennial-scale record of human occupation of these dunes 

does not explain the subtle interconnections between dune surface 

disturbance, human activity, climate, and ecosystem changes (Knight 

and Burningham, 2011). In order to better examine therelationship 

between wind climate and its implications foraeolian sediment transport 

and the formation, development and maintenance of coastal dunes and 

ventifacts, we use high-resolution coastal wind records over a 2-day 

period from a site in County Donegal, NW Ireland, where coastal dunes 

and ventifacts are actively forming at the present time. The results have 

implications for the relationships between climate forcing (as defined by 

standard measures of wind climate) and landforms such as coastal sand 

dunes and ventifacts that are often linked uncritically to short time-scale 

wind datasets. This is likely a significant source of mismatching and/or 

misunderstanding in the climatic interpretation of such coastal landforms. 


Morphological Deformities Found in Foraminiferal Test in 

the Core Sediments of Ennore Creek and Off Ennore, 

South East Coast of India 

Sivaraj.K*, Himanshu Ranjan Patra, Manuram E Madhavan 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai – 600 025. 

*E-mail: kasivaraj@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

Estuarine and marine sediments act as ultimate sink for trace metals that 

are discharged into the aquatic environment. Hence, estuarine and 

marine sediments near industrial and urban areas are contaminated to 

some extend by the heavy metals, which are toxic to biota. The 

concentration of metals found in recent sediments is significantly higher 

as compared to the sediments that are deposited during pre industrial 

time i.e. before 100 years. Therefore anthropogenic input into the estuary 

and coastal zone with time reflects in the core sediments. The present 

study deals the heavy metal geochemical studies on core sediments and 

its impact on foraminiferal tests. Twenty two species of foraminifera has 

been identified including few planktonic foraminifera in the estuarine 

environment. At least five kinds of test deformities were found in ~5% of 

the foraminiferal tests of few species. The present study, also comprises 

the investigations of Recent foraminifera, on core sediments from the off 

shore shelf sediments. Two sediment core samples were collected from 

the inner shelf off Ennore. An attempt was made to study about vertical 

distribution of foraminifera, distribution of trace elements in core 

sediments and relationship between heavy metal concentration and its 

response to foraminifera in the study area. 124 benthic foraminiferal 

species and varieties belonging to 71 genera, 31 families, 20 superfamilies 

and 5 suborders have been reported from the off shore shelf sediments. 

Significant morphological deformities have been observed in the 

foraminiferal tests, indicating toxic trace metal pollution on the estuarine 

and off shore environment of the study area. 

Key words: Ennore creek, foraminifera, test deformation 


Benthic Foraminifera and siltation studies along the 

Depositional Environment between Mandapam and 

Kodiyakkarai, Palk Strait, East Coast of India 

M.Suresh Gandhi and K. Kasilingam 

Department of Geology, University of Madras, Chennai- 600 025 

Email: surgan@yahoo.co.uk 

ABSTRACT 

Palk Strait is situated between India and Srilanka endangered with heavy 

siltation. It is strategically an important channel, as it is shared by India 

and Sri Lanka without the scope of international navigation. Of late, the 

coastal ecosystem of the strait is endangered by the shallowing nature of 

the bay due to silty sedimentation. In order to know the effect of siltation 

an attempt has been made in this region using foraminiferal studies. A 

total of 72 sediment samples have been collected in nine stations 

between Mandapam and Vedaranyam. In that, 122 species belonging to 

54genera, 40 families, 24 super families and 5 suborders were identified. 

Of which, 38 species are provided as living specimens. Among the 

species present, Ammonia beccarii, Ammonia dentata, Osangularia 

venusta, Elphidium crispum, Asterorotalia trispinosa, Quinqueloqulina 

seminulam, Pararotalia nipponica exhibit prolific abundance. From the 

distribution of foraminiferal studies, it understood that the species are 

more enriched in southern part of Palk Strait compare to the northern 

part. The organic carbon content in the study area varies from 0.05 % to 

3.40 %. At Kodiyakkarai carbonate content reaches 19.5% at 7m depth. 

The higher carbonate content at Thondi and Kottaipattinam is probably 

due to the accumulation of high order broken shell debris dumped 

through the creek. Based upon the living dead ratio and the organic 

matter distribution it is confirmed that the southern part is more favor for 

living condition. Sedimentation also more in the southern part between 

Mandapam and Manalmelkudi compare to the northern part. Cluster 

analysis indicates that three different genus dominant in particular stations 

like Mandapam and Thondi represent the biotope at 0.82 level of 

clustering and the species Rosalina globularis is more abundant in that 

stations. Attankarai and Manalmelkudi show the level of clustering of 0.87 

with dominant of Ammonia beccarii. The stations Devipattinam, 

Kottaipattinam and Sethubavachattiram shows the level of clustering at 

0.9 and dominant of Pararotalia.Some genera like Asterorotalia, Lagena, 

Elphidium, Quinqueloqulina, Pararotalia and Spiroloculina are in broken, 

distorted and corroded are noticed in all the stations. The high order of 

broken species and aberration in forams is stations like Mandapam, 

Devipattinam, Thondi and Sethubavachattiram indicate the presence of 

higher churning action of currents. The overall depletion of foraminifera in 

the strait indicates the unfavorable environmental conditions for living 

species. 


Foraminifera as a Tool to Study the Shallow Subsurface 

and the Quaternary Geology of the Cauvery Delta 

Region 

Kumar, V. 

PG &Research Department of Geology, National College, Tiruchirapalli, 

Tamilnadu 

E-Mail: velusamy_kumar@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

A total of 123 Sub Surface samples have been collected systematically in 

17 locations (shallow core) between Nagapattinam in the south and 

Poraiyar in the north to authenticate whether they have any marine 

influence with reference to its fossil content in order to recognize the trend 

of paleoshore line. 

A systematic study of the sub surface samples collected at Thiruvattagudi 

1 & 2, Poraiyar, Nagore, Nagore 1 and Pallakadu were found to be 

fossiliferous. The samples collected near Ayyampettai, Ayyapadi, 

Veeravadi, Ambal, Kidamangalam, Idayathankudi, Kottucherry (2), 

Karaikal, Pallaakadu, Azhiyur were unfossiliferous. 

In Thiruvattagudi 1&2, Poraiyar nearly 27 foraminiferal species and 10 

ostracodal fauna have been identified and the assemblage indicates the 

area might have been formed a part of inner shelf in the past. In Nagore, 

Nagore 1 and Pallakadu only two species viz. Ammonia tepida and 

Quinqueloculina seminulum were found in the samples collected and 

studied. Further the lithology of the shallow core, in the upper part consists 

of clayeysiltysand and the lower part comprised of sand. This indicates the 

areas of current sample collection may be aligned with the 

palaeochannel of river Vettar. 

The trend of the paleoshore line is delineated in the study on the basis of 

subsurface occurrence of microfauna. 


Wetland Ecosystem of Mahanadi Delta, India: A 

palynological perspective 

Shilpa Singh 

Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow, 

226007 India 

ABSTRACT 

Wetland habitats exhibit different ecological diversities and 

environmental variations. These habitats help in flood storage, sediment 

trapping, reduce erosion forces and associated menace. Under the 

Convention of Wetlands, the Chilka Lagoon is the largest saltwater lagoon 

in Asia and is also an internationally important ecosystem with rich ecobio-diversity 

and sustainability. The present communication deals with 

mangrove dynamics of the Chilka Lagoon during the Holocene using 

pollen data. Mangroves are highly susceptible to climatic changes and 

sea-level fluctuations. The development of mangroves is controlled by 

land-sea interaction and their expansion is determined by the 

topography of the sediment surface. Pollen investigation of sediments 

indicate existence of a brackish water estuarine mangrove swamp forest 

in the lagoon during the Middle Holocene. High sedimentation rate and 

delta progradation probably resulted in the loss of mangrove habitats 

during Late Holocene as evidenced by the pollen records. These records 

indicate an expansion of fresh water elements and contraction of the 

mangrove area. It is also observed that mangroves reappeared for a 

short span of time during Late Holocene at the study site with return of 

estuarine environment, which, however, later gradually degraded from 

the area. This degradation is attributed due to climatic changes, relative 

sea-level fall and probably got further accelerated by anthropogenic 

activities. 


Holocene environmental changes inferred from a 

sediment record in Nan’Ao Island, Southeastern China 

Bishan Chen 1 , Zhuo Zheng 1 , Fengling Yu 2 , Adam D. Switzer 2 , Kangyou 

Huang 1 , Huanhuan Peng 1 , Bingjie Yang 1 

1 

Department of Earth Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Xingangxi Rd., 

Guangzhou, 510275 China 

2 

Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, 

639798, Singapore 

ABSTRACT 

Qing’ao Bay is located in the northeast of Nan’Ao Island, Guangdong 

Province. The flat plain of the bay formed since the late Pleistocene has 

more than 10m thick Quaternary sediment, which contains abundant 

information of environmental changes. A core (NA9) has been collected 

in the middle of the coastal plain of Qing’ao Bay of the Island. The core 

length is 12.84m, reaching at the bottom the granite weathering bedrock. 

This paper uses combined methods including pollen analysis, grain size, 

ignition loss, foraminifer for revealing local sedimentary environment, 

terrestrial ecosystem and climate changes during the Holocene. 

According to the age model, marine transgression invaded to this coast 

at about 8300 cal a B.P, creating a set of transgression-regression cycle 

with sediment thickness of about 12m. Based on lithology and grain-size 

analysis, there is following succession of sedimentary facies in the 

Holocene: subtidal - intertidal -supratidal and lagoon facies. Pollen record 

demonstrates that the Holocene primary vegetation is a type of south 

subtropical monsoonal evergreen broad-leaved forest, comparable with 

modern flora. The marine indicative pollen such as mangrove can testify 

the local community changes in coastal plain, which is closely related to 

the changes of sedimentary environment. The detail environmental 

succession can be described as follow: 

(1) The sea-level rise approached to the study site at the early Holocene 

(8277-5703cal a B.P.). The highest sea-level with abundant foraminifer is 

only found between 7903 and 6018cal a B.P. The sediment of this period 

consists of marine shells and conchs. Some intact shells has been 

identified as Rhinoclavis articulate which occurs usually in a marine 

condition of >10m water depth. The foraminifera in the sediment is mostly 

Ammonia becearii vars. 

(2) The coarse particle sediment characterize the Middle Holocene 

period between 5703 and 3013cal a BP. The reconstructed sedimentary 

environment is intertidal facies. The terrestrial runoff became more 

important with frequent exchanges between land and ocean. Pollen and 

charcoal concentration and the LOI550℃ organic carbon display their 

lowest values of the entire section, confirming the existence of intertidal 

bay environment. The flat flooding plains started to form in the coastal 

area. 

(3) Local formation of mangrove is in the early stage of late Holocene 

(3013-1353cal a B.P.). The sediment consists of organic matter and plant 

debris. Pollen of Gramineae, Cyperaceae, Chenopodiaceae, 

Compositae and fern spore increased, associated with high amount of 


pollen and charcoal concentration, as well as LOI550℃ organic carbon. It 

shows that the sand barrier parallel to the coast accumulated from west 

to east and the study site became a relatively close mud flat zone. 

Mangrove pollen were found, most of which are Excoecaria. The 

vegetation on the terrestrial backshore areas were mainly covered with 

subtropical shrub and grass. 

(4) Pollen result shows that the evergreen broad-leaved forest 

percentage sharply reduced since 1353 cal a BP. Conversely, the herbs of 

Poaceae and heliophilous fern of Dicranopteris increased greatly, which 

can be related to the massive deforestation by human activity on the hilly 

area, implying as well as the development of rice farming in the island. 

This work was supported by the NSFC (41230101 and 41072128) and the 

international collaboration project (4299003) with Singapore National 

Research Foundation through the NRF grant (No.M4093018. B50. 706022) 

“Geological records of coastal hazards in Asia”. 


Change in landuse patterns in Cauvery delta zone 

Kalai Selvan. A, Rajakumari S 1 . 

1 

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), 

ABSTRACT 

Cauvery Delta Zone (CDZ) lies in the eastern part of Tamil Nadu between 

10.00-11.30, North latitude and between 78.15 – 79.45 longitude. It is 

bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the East and the Palk straight on the 

South, Trichy district on the west, Perambalur, Ariyalur districts on the north 

west, Cuddalore district on the North and Puddukkottai district on the 

South West. It has been subjected to many landuse changes over the last 

decades. 

Land-use-change patterns are the result of the complex interaction 

between the human and the physical environment. This project is 

presented to analyse the pattern of land-use change that allows a wide 

range of factors, from different disciplines, to contribute to the 

explanation of land-use change. Historic as well as recent land-use 

changes are studied. Historic land-use change is related mainly to the 

variation in the biophysical environment. 

For the recent changes in land use high levels of explanation are 

obtained. The most important changes during this period are expansions 

of residential, industrial/commercial, and recreational areas. The location 

of these changes can be explained by a combination of accessibility 

measures, spatial policies, and neighborhood interactions. On the basis of 

these results it is possible to define priority topics for in-depth analysis of 

land-use-change processes and suggest factors, relations, and processes 

that need to be included in dynamic land-use-change models that 

support land-use-planning policies. 

The cities are growing at unprecedented rates, creating extensive urban 

landscapes. Many of the farmlands, wetlands, forests, and deserts that 

formed the delta regions have been transformed during the past 100 

years into human settlements. Almost everyone has seen these changes 

to their local environment but without a clear understanding of their 

impacts. It is not until we study these landscapes from a spatial 

perspective and the time scale of decades that we can begin to 

measure the changes that have occurred and predict the impact of 

changes to come. Most major areas face the growing problems of urban 

sprawl, loss of natural vegetation and open space, and a general decline 

in the extent and connectivity of wetlands and wildlife habitat. The public 

identifies with these problems when they see residential and commercial 

development replacing undeveloped land around them. 

Selected regional studies are currently in progress across the delta region. 

Data source availability for each region, in conjunction with historical 

significance, determines the time periods that are mapped. Features are 

interpreted from diverse data sources including historical topographic 

maps, satellite images, census statistics, and aerial photographs. 

Key words: Cauvery Delta Zone, Landuse, Land cover, Satellite Images, 

Colflicts in Cavery Delta Region, Drought in Delta 


Palaeo-environmental reconstructions and sea level 

change during early Holocene in Pearl River delta, 

southern China 

Kangyou Huang 1 , Zhuo Zheng 1 ,Yongqiang Zong 2 , Linglong Cao 3 , Chong 

Wang 1 

1 Department of Earth Sciences, Sun Yet-san University, Guangzhou, 

510275 China 

2 Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 

China 

3 South China Sea Marine Engineering and Environment Institute, SOA, 


ABSTRACT 

Sea levels have fluctuated throughout geological time, periodically 

encroaching or retreating across coastal plains (Lambeck et al., 2001). 

The previous sea-level curves have been proposed for the coast of China, 

which sea-level curves indicate a complex history of Holocene sea level, 

and so the debate on whether or not a higher mid-Holocene sea-level 

highstand exists in the coast of China has continued (Zong, 2004). 

Although the early Holocene history of the Pearl River delta (PRD) is 

reconstructed based on a series of sediment cores, but there is scarce of 

assured evidence about when and where the high sea level arrived at 

Pearl River delta since the last glacial. In present study, pollen analyses of 

drilling core SS0901 and SS0904 provided new evidence for the 

interactions between sea-level rise in the early Holocene in PRD. Based on 

sixteen radiocarbon data, the rapid sea-level rise flooded Sanshui basin 

and the deltaic sedimentation has been proved during 9000 cal yr BP. The 

drilling core SS0901 indicated the sedimentary environment changed as: 

fluvial facies, estuarine sediment, tidal flat facies, estuarine sediment and 

fluvial facies. The mangrove pollen spectrum revealed that high seal level 

occurred on 8400 cal yr BP, which was verified by microfossil diatom 

analyses. During mid- late Holocene, the swamp developed widely in 

PRD, where the vegetation was characterized by Cyperaceae, Poaceae 

and Glyptostrobus pensilis. But the vegetation disturbed by human 

agricultural activity during 2500-2200 cal yr BP, especially, the increase of 

Poaceae(cereal type) pollen meant the rice agriculture started spread 

along northern edge of the deltaic plain. 

This research is funded by Foundation for Distinguished Young Talents in 

Higher Education of Guangdong (FDYT:LYM10009) and the Fundamental 

Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 11lgpy53), National 

Natural Science Foundation of China (41001118,41230101) and State 

Oceanic Administration Yong Marine Science Fund (NO: 2012114). 


Late glacial sea level minima in the Western British Isles 

J.A.G. Cooper 1 , R. Plets 1 , D.W.T., Jackson 1 . R.J. Quinn 1 , A. Long 2 , L.Callard 2 , 

J.T. Kelley 3 , D.F. Belknap 3 , R.Edwards 4 , D. Long 5 , X. Monteys 6 

1 

Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, 

UK 

2 

Dept of Geography, Durham University, UK 

3 

Dept Geological Sceinces, University of Maine, Orono, USA 

4 

Natural Sciences, University of Dublin, Ireland 

5 

British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, UK 

6 

Geological Survey of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland 

ABSTRACT 

Knowledge of the earth-ice-ocean interactions during deglaciation 

derives from a combination of field observations and earth models. Such 

models are commonly tested against detailed relative sea level (RSL) 

records. The mid-late Holocene RSL record of the British Isles is spatially 

variable and well-constrained and has provided a globally 

important yardstick for such testing. The British RSL record, however, suffers 

from a lack of data from depths greater than 10m below present sea 

level and ages much greater than 7-8000 years BP. Consequently, the 

different modelled RSL curves show great diversity in the depth and timing 

of sea level minima, even though they achieve a high degree of fit with 

the Holocene RSL observations. This lack of an observational yardstick 

hampers the understanding of isostatic adjustment during and since 

deglaciation. Investigations of lower sea levels during the early Holocene 

and late glacial periods require a specific range of approaches. 

Multibeam bathymetry and seismic stratigraphy have been used to good 

effect to identify lower-than-present sea level indicators that have then 

been confirmed and dated using vibracoring. In this paper we describe 

the approaches to, and initial results from, such investigations of the 

lowest late glacial sea levels in the western British Isles. 


Vulnerable Deltas of Indian Coast 

Prof . Ramesh Ramachandran and 

Dr. Purvaja Ramachandran 

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management. Chennai 

ABSTRACT 

Deltas are highly productive, ecologically rich and are dependent on the 

interaction between the river’s sediment, water and nutrient flux and the 

wave and tidal currents. A recent study indicates that most of the world’s 

low-lying river deltas are sinking and making them increasingly vulnerable 

to flooding from rivers and ocean storms exposing tens of millions of 

people at risk. At present nearly 500 million people live in deltas. In South 

Asia the population densities exceed 1000 people km-2 when compared 

to a global average of 45 people km-2. 

Problems associated with this include depleted fresh water supplies, land 

subsidence and erosion, sea level rise, infrastructure development, salt 

water intrusion, habitat loss and the threat of natural disasters. Sinking of 

deltas in Indian coast is enhanced by the upstream trapping of sediments 

by reservoirs and dams that retain these sediments. In this paper, an 

attempt is made to highlight some of the vulnerabilities, as a result of the 

changes in some of the major delta regions of India: 

a) Reduction of sediment load and freshwater flow 

b) Subsidence 

c) Coastal erosion 

d) Habitat loss 

Additionally, GIS mapping has been used as a management tool that 

allows the identification of such vulnerable zones, i.e. zones which are 

both sensitive and subject to risks. In this way, it is possible to build models 

for geomorphological evolution, prediction of changes and 

management of deltas and coastal areas. 


Shoreline Management Plan For Mandvi Coast, Gujarat 

Karthiga M.S * and Ramesh R 

Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai- 600025 

e-mail: karthiga.ms@live.in 

ABSTRACT 

Shoreline depicts the recent formations and destruction that have 

happened along the shore. Waves change the coastline morphology 

and form the distinctive coastal landforms. The loose granular sediments 

continuously respond to the ever changing waves and currents. 

This paper investigates the assessment of the shoreline change rates for 

long-term planning of the coast using multiple date satellite imagery. 

Mapping and delineation of coastal primary cells, sub cells and 

management cells are described based on coastal morphology and 

littoral drift. As the cells inherently reveal likely future erosion and 

accretion scenario, mapping of the same help in the preparation of 

shoreline management plan. 

Methods adopted in this study involves, mapping the land use pattern of 

Mandvi coast (Gujarat), determining the shoreline change and 

delineating the sediment cells for the project area. To enable this study, 

remote sensing is used as a tool. Landsat MSS, and Landsat TM, were 

downloaded from USGS satellite imagery website. Softwares such as 

ArcGIS and ERDAS were used to process these spatial data. 

The findings indicate that, there are shoreline changes in the study area. It 

could therefore be concluded that the shore protection measures are 

needed. Necessary protection measures are suggested for the Mandvi 

coast. 


The Coastal and Marine Tourism of East coast of India: 

Implications to Environmental Impact 

Jayaraju .N., and Sreenivasulu , G., 

Department of Geology Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa- 516 003, India 

, e-mail: nadimikeri@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

Marine and coastal tourism is one of the fastest growing areas within the 

world's largest industry. Yet despite increased awareness of the economic 

and environmental significance of marine and coastal tourism it is only in 

recent years that a substantial body of research has emerged. Marine 

tourism has surfaced as a pressing topic in the field of ocean and coastal 

management. In fact , the tourism industry has become the largest 

business on earth with our boarders. Coastal tourism development has 

often insufficiently understood the coastal environment. The tourism 

experience provides valuable lessons for coastal zone management: the 

necessity for Environmental Impact Assessment, management of 

increasing tourist numbers, evaluation of small-scale resort development, 

consideration of conservation, defining and revising planning standards, 

and aiming for sustainable development.. The ability of coastlines to 

absorb tourism is not limitless. The coast has a certain carrying capacity, a 

level of tourist development or recreational activity beyond which the 

environment is degraded (environmental carrying capacity), facilities 

saturated (physical carrying capacity), or visitor enjoyment diminished 

(perceptual or social carrying capacity). India has a coast line of 

7,516kms of which the East coast is approximately 4000 km long and has a 

continental shelf of approximately 6860 km². It is famous worldwide for its 

high biological diversity. India's East Coast marine and coastal resources 

are subject to increasing environmental impacts from coastal tourism, 

including overuse or over harvesting of resources, sewage and oil 

pollution, diminishing fresh water supply, solid waste pollution, 

deforestation, declining energy supplies, air pollution and siltation. The 

article traces the growth of tourism in India, reviews industry trends, 

assesses the economic impacts and discusses environmental impacts. A 

broad ranging series of recommendations to improve conditions in such 

areas as drinking water, sewage, beach erosion, energy, education and 

training, research and hotel development are listed. Many authorities are 

now looking at ways of guiding future tourist growth so as to avoid the 

environmental, economic and other problems which have emerged in 

the past. The present paper gives insights in to the coastal tourism with 

some possible recommendation for the sustainable development of this 

growing sector. 


Identification of Subsurface Groundwater Discharge 

from the Coastal Aquifers of Cuddalore Region, 

Tamilnadu 

Chidambaram S, Nepolian M, Noble Jacob*, Singaraja C, 

Srinivasamoorthy K** and Sarathidasan J 

Department of Earth sciences, Annamalai University 

*IHS, Isotope Application Division, BARC, Mumbai 

** Department of Earth sciences, Pondicherry University 

ABSTRACT 

Managers, as well as scientists, need to be careful when talking or 

reading about ‘submarine groundwater discharge’ (SGD) because SGD is 

a term that may be applied to more than one phenomenon and 

because some designations may refer to discharges that may not be too 

important to a coastal zone manager while others may be critical. In its 

broadest sense, SGD is applied to any and all flows of water upwards 

across the sea floor, from the ocean bottom into the overlying water. 

Groundwater discharge may be pure freshwater entering the ocean from 

a coastal aquifer, or it may be recirculated seawater, or some 

combination of the two. In a more narrow sense, it is sometimes used to 

mean only the freshwater component of that outflow. To estimate these 6 

locations were selected for 24hr tidal, water level and radon monitoring. 

Among these locations 3 of them were located along the coast namely 

Cuddalore, Parangipettai and Kodiyampalyam and 3 locations are 

inland, along the river Uppanar, Vellar and Coleroon the 

(Poondiyakuppam, Pichavaram and Kuchipalayam) were considered for 

the study. Higher water level fluctuations were noted in Poondiyaguppam 

which is mainly due to the Uppanar river. A study on the comparison 

between the water level and tidal variation shows that the water level 

increase corresponds to the increase of tidal variation in Cuddalore. This 

indicates the influence of tides is more in groundwater of this location. The 

water level of Parangipettai increases when the tidal variation decreases. 

When the tidal level decreases the river water flows towards the sea 

which is the common phenomena. The Vellar river drains in this region 

and it contributes the water when the tidal variation decreases hence the 

water level seems to be high. Two groundwater locations in the study 

area was monitored for 24 hr observations to identify the back ground 

value of EC and Radon in the region later they were compared to the 

values of the surface waters. The decrease of EC and increase of Radon 

values in the low tide period indicates that the subsurface groundwater 

discharge takes place in all these observed locations. 


Mangroves and Coastal Changes in India 

AL.Ramanathan 1, Alok Kumar 1, , Swathi Sappal 1, , Gurmeet Singh 1, , Rajesh 

Kumar Ranjan 2, , Rita Chuhan 3, , M.Bala Krishna Prasad 4 

1. SES,JNU, New Delhi,2. Central university, Patna,3. INGNOU,New Delhi 4. 

ESSIC/University of Maryland, USA 

ABSTRACT 

It has long been viewed that the unique variations in biogeochemical 

characteristics of Indian mangroves indicate coastal change are 

happening in India. Due to their changing coastal characterizes , its 

diversity and mortality indicate that these coastal ecosystems are so 

sensitive to any minor variation in their hydrological or tidal regimes 

and land use changes or SLR which is slowly leading to their 

disappearance or stunted growths. Each species of mangrove occurs 

in ecological conditions that approach its limit of tolerance with 

regard to salinity and pollution levels of the water and soil, as well as 

the inundation regime. The recent observations shows that the modified 

tectonic, sedimentological , hydrological events and anthropogenic 

activities made the species to forcefully readjusts to the prevailing 

alien conditions that are unsuitable to their growth and are losing their 

biogeochemical identity . The recent observation on biogeochemistry in 

Indian mangroves and adjoining Bangladesh mangroves on the above 

mentioned aspects gives us an insight into their decreasing resilience 

capability and may be a bigger threat in future for their survival. 


Neotectonic activity along Oman’s coastline, revealed 

by using ArcGIS 

Rupprechter Magdalena 1 , Hoffmann Goesta 1,2 , Mayrhofer Christoph 3 

1 

German University of Technology, Applied Geosciences, PO-Box 1816, PC 

Athaibah, Muscat, Oman (magda.rupprechter@gutech.edu.om) 

2 

Institute of Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, RWTH Aachen University, 

Lochnerstr. 4-20, 52056 Aachen. 

3 

UniGis Salzburg, Department of Geography and Geology, Hellbrunnerstr. 

34, 5020 Salzburg. 

ABSTRACT 

Located on the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman borders the 

Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean. Due to the north-drift of the Arabian 

Plate, the tectonic setting of this area is characterised by a continentcontinent 

collision (west) and continent-ocean collision (east). Differential 

vertical land movement is caused by this tectonic setting, which becomes 

evident in different expressions of the coastline of Oman. 

While the north of Oman (Musandam Peninsula) shows highly fragmented, 

drowned wadi mouths, which indicate subsidence, areas further south 

(Quriyat to Sur) are characterized by a straight coastline with uplifted 

marine terraces. 

Spagnolo et al. (2008) developed an approach to quantify a coastline’s 

characteristics in order to interpret them accordingly. Taking up this 

approach a tool was designed (Hoffmann et al 2013) to calculate the 

coast indentation index (CII). The CII relies on the relation between the 

Euclidean distance and the actual distance between two points on the 

coastline, which is computed by this tool. The implementation of the tool is 

set in ArcGis, requiring the exact delineation of the coastline as a 

shapefile. The second input factor is the constant Euclidean distance used 

for the determination of the intersection points along the coastline. The 

calculation results in a graphical output as well as a tabular output 

comprising the calculated values of CII. 

This tool helps to detect different sectors along the coastline, reflecting 

subsidence and uplift of these areas, and furthermore helps to understand 

and quantify recent vertical land movement in a semi-automated way. 

We are able to validade our results by correlating the CII with tectonic 

structures. Neotectonic activity – represented by differential movement of 

individual tectonic blocks – is evident. Future work aims at quantifying 

these relative movements. 

References 

1. Spagnolo, M., Arozarena Llopis, I., Pappalardo, M., Federici, P.R., 

2008. A new Approach for the Study of the Coast Indentation Index. 

Journal of Coastal Research, 246, 1459-1468 

2. Hoffmann, G., Rupprechter, M., Mayrhofer, C., 2013. Review of the 

longterm coastal evolution of North Oman – subsidence versus uplift. 

Zeitschrift der deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Geowissenschaften. DOI: 

10.1127/1860-1804/2013/0002 


Investigating inter--‐annual and multi-‐decadal signals in 

tide gauge records from Vietnam; Implications for sea 

level and coastal hazard studies 

Dat T. Pham 1 , Adam D. Switzer 1,2 , Aron J. Meltzner 1,2 

1 

Division of Earth Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 

Singapore. 

2 

Earth Observatory of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. 

ABSTRACT 

Coastal flooding commonly causes property and economic damage 

and the loss of lives in low--‐lying and densely populated coastal 

areas. Tidal variations and sea level variability are two of the primary 

local factors that can enhance the risk of coastal flooding in 

decades to come. On inter--‐annual time scales, tidal variations are 

affected by two important cycles, name--‐ ly, the nodal 18.6--‐year lunar 

nodal cycle and the 8.85--‐year cycle of lunar perigee. Investigating 

these tidal modulations would allows potentially predicting periods 

when enhanced risk of coastal flooding is likely. 

In this study, we focused on high tide levels and extreme sea levels 

which have not been extensively studied. We investigated sea level 

data from three tide gauges distributed evenly along the Vietnam 

coastline to define: 1) the inter--‐annual modulation signals (targeting 

the nodal and perigee cycles) on high tide levels and 2) the long- 

-‐term variations of extreme sea levels. We applied the percentile 

time--‐series analysis method to figure out tidal modulations and least 

squared equations to study the long--‐term rate of sea level change. 

The results revealed that the nodal cycle predominates at Hon Dau, 

which has a diurnal tide regime. In contrast the mixed tide regions of 

Son Tra and Vung Tau showed no effects of either cycles. Regarding 

long--‐term rates of mean sea level changes at all three stations, the re--‐ 

sults are fairly consistent with previous studies. Extreme levels at Hon 

Dau show higher rates than the rate of mean sea level whereas at 

Vung Tau, the rates for all levels are similar. The complicated variations 

of extreme levels are found at Son Tra and it suggests further 

investigation should be carried out. 


Surface Hydrology of Rivers draining into Valsequillo 

Dam in Puebla City, México: Results from Time Series 

Analysis 

Rodríguez-Espinosa, P.F. 1 , Morales-García, S.S 1,2* and Muñoz-Sevilla, N.P. 1 

1 

Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio 

Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), 

Calle 30 de Junio de 1520, Barrio la Laguna Ticomán, Del. Gustavo A. 

Madero, C.P. 07340, México D.F., México. 

2 

Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Química e Industrias Extractivas (ESIQIE), 

Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), UPALM Edificio 7 1er. Piso, 

Col. Zacatenco, Del. Gustavo A. Madero, C.P. 07738, México D.F., 

México. 

*Corresponding author: ssmoralesg@hotmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

This study mainly focuses on the analysis of historical surface hydrology of 

Atoyac river (before and after its confluence with the San Francisco) and 

Alseseca river, which is located in the State of Puebla, Mexico. These rivers 

are the two main tributaries of the reservoir of the dam Manuel Ávila 

Camacho (Valsequillo). The dam Manuel Avila Camacho was built 

between 1939 and 1946 principally to regulate the water supply, as the 

Atoyac River runoff during 1927 to 1942 had a waste of 25.21 to 13.01 m 3 .s 

recorded by the hydrometric station located in Tejaluca. Evidence of 

information analyzed in the present series pretends to discover the great 

pulse time as global decadal oscillations, mainly confirm the interdependence 

of basin above hydro-meteorological with hydro-chemical 

effects in the downstream. The case of pulse oscillations is clearly 

observed by the rainy cycles such as high rainfall of 1955-57, the 

considerable decrease for 1966, again the pulse of high rainfall of 1975, 

the declining rainfall in the 90s and the recognized rise in 2000. Our results 

also indicate that the rainfall cycle has dropped considerably each year 

due to climatic cycle variations annually and is also reflected in the time 

series analysis of the rivers from this region. 


High Resoluation Holocene Climatic Registers from the 

Red Sands of South Coast of India 

A.Vidyasakar ,S. Srinivasalu, Linto Alappat, P.Morthekai 

ABSTRACT 

The ubiquitous Teri deposits or red sands of semiarid-southern-coastal- 

Tamil Nadu, chiefly noticed to occur from Tirunelveli to Kanyakumari , 

show unique shades of red ranging from yellowish red (5YR4.5/6) to dark 

reddish brown (2.5YR ¾) and dark red (10R 3/6). The autochthonouscalcareous-rhizoliths, 

chiefly noticed in Sattankulam, Eluvilai, Sayarpuram 

and muttom teris, dominantly show a discordant relationship with primary 

sedimentary structures and morphologies (size, shape and sense of 

branching) reminiscent of calcified-roots, need a much warmer climate 

(like the current climate) for their formation. Red sands were closely 

examined using remote sensing, stratigraphy, Geochemistry, 

sedimentology, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and 

magnetic susceptibility. Besides, teris can grouped into ITDs (inland teri 

deposits, area= 33.0 km2) and CTDs (coastal teri deposits, area = 437.0 

km2). The inland teri sediments have higher clay and silty-sand 

component than the coastal and near-coastal teri, suggesting that these 

sediments were deposited by the fluvial process during a stronger winter 

monsoon around >15 ka. The coastal teri dunes were deposited prior to 

11.4±0.9 ka, and the near-coastal dunes aggraded at around 5.6±0.4 ka 

The red colour and matrix of authigenic clays (viz., kaolinite and illite in the 

fine fraction), products of pedogenic weathering, do strongly point to a 

wetter or 

humid climate which enables release of red pigment (or now hematite) 

by the chemical alteration (intrastratal solution) of iron bearing heavy 

minerals like the opaque ilmenite, red almandine-garnet and pyroxenes 

of the heavy fraction as well as authigenic formation of clays from 

feldspar in the frame work grains and matrix. Five different Samples 

location of samples were collected by trench sampling at highest of 12m 

depth in muttom ,6.6m at servaikaranmadam, 7.4 m at thoopu villa, 3.5 m 

at Katchanavilai, and 4.5 m at Idachivilai at 10cm interval the samples 

have collected and have worked on it. Onset of sand aggradation as 

early as ~25ka on the east and west coast and dune reddening was 

favored by stability dune to humid climate at ~9ka and after ~4ka. The 

sand aggradation in the west coast which is controlled by sand 

availability from the on shore during late Pleistocene to early Holocene 

was seized during transgression at ~8ka. The upper part of the section 

shows two distinct intervals of humid events between 17 and 14ka, as 

evidence from the enhanced MS values, OM and clay content in the soil. 


Dissolved carbon dioxide and methane from 

mangrove surrounding waters of Andaman Islands, 

India. 

Neetha V. 1 , Ramesh R. 1 , Jennifer Divia 1 , Barnes J. 2 , Purvaja R. 1 , Upstill- 

Goddard R.C. 2 

1 

Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, India, 600 

025 

2 

Ocean Research Group, School of Marine Science and Technology, 

University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. 

ABSTRACT 

Coastal areas such as estuaries and mangrove ecosystems are significant 

because of their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse 

gases (CO2 and CH4) have influenced the temperature of the planet 

since pre industrial times and anthropogenic activities have increased 

their concentration to unprecedented levels leading to global warming 

and climate change. This is the first study in the Andaman Islands, a 

tropical mangrove ecosystem, where both dissolved CO2 and CH4 were 

measured. Hourly measurements of both these gases were carried out 

over a 24 hour period in two tidal mangrove creeks (Wright Myo; Kalighat) 

along with spatial surveys of continuous shallow inshore waters during two 

seasons (dry-post NE monsoon and wet-during SW monsoon). Tidal surveys 

revealed that all measurements of pCO2 and dissolved CH4 were 

supersaturated with respect to the atmosphere and inverse of tidal height 

and salinity irrespective of the diurnal changes. This was attributed to the 

tidal pumping mechanism in response to the hydrostatic pressure change 

(Ovalle et al., 1990). On the other hand in the spatial surveys these gases 

were also supersaturated with respect to the atmosphere though there 

were significant areas which showed pCO2 undersaturation. While no 

seasonal variations were observed with dissolved CH4, pCO2 was 

comparatively lower during dry season. Fluxes calculated based on 

equations proposed by Borges et al., (2004) were similar to the flux 

estimates reported from other mangrove ecosystems. Applying global 

warming potentials of 20 for CH4 indicates that it could be the dominant 

greenhouse gas emitted from mangrove surrounding waters, even 

without the inclusion of potential direct emissions through exposed 

mangrove pneumatophores or ebullitive fluxes, which were not 

measured. 

Further studies involving the mangrove forest as well as creek waters with 

more intense sampling can help further understand their potential role in 

climate change. Resolving the greenhouse gas balance of mangrove 

ecosystems is critical in evaluating the environmental effects of mangrove 

management such as replanting for CO2 mitigation and large scale 

clearance which leads to increased heterotrophy. 

References 

1. Ovalle, A.R.C., C. E. Rezende, L. D. Lacerda, and C. A. R. Silva. 1990. 

Factors affecting the hydrochemistry of a mangrove tidal creek, Sepetiba 

Bay, Brazil. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 31: 639-650. 

2. Borges, A.V., J. P. Vanderborght, L. S. Schiettecatte, F. Gazeau, S. 

Ferrón, B. Delille, and M. Frankignoulle. 2004. Variability of the gas transfer 

velocity of CO2 in a macrotidal estuary (the Scheldt). Estuaries: 27, 593- 

603. 


Geochemical characteristics of surficial sediments in 

Thambraparani Estuary: impact of Industrial discharge 

Arya Viswam 1 , Nethaji.S 1 , Renuka.E 1 and Jayaprakash.M 1 

1 



ABSTRACT 

The article presents the results for enrichment of acid-leachable trace 

metals (ALTMs) from Palazya Kayal in Thambraparani Estuary, on the 

southeast coast of India. ALTMs Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn and Cd 

along with sediment texture, OC and CaCO3 were analysed in surface 

sediments collected during two different seasons, pre-monsoon (PRM) 

and post-monsoon (POM) seasons to identify and observe the input of 

trace metals in the estuary from various sources in the estuarine area. The 

most prominent feature of the ALTMs is the enrichment of Fe, Cr, Cu, Ni, 

Pb and Zn in the sediments, which is mainly attributed to the intense 

industrial activities around Tuticorin, and to the rapid industrialization 

policies. The ALTMs also indicate their association with the finer fractions, 

OC and Fe, Mn ox hydroxides. The enhanced preservation of organic 

carbon in fine-grained sediments has led to contamination of trace 

metals due to the preferential sadsorption of metal scavenging phases 

like Fe/Mn hydrolysates in view of the larger grain surface areas provided 

by the fine sediments (Förstner.,1983, Usero Garcia et al., 1997, Thuy et al., 

2000 and Bradl, 2004).The enrichment is very well supported by the 

correlation, grouping and clustering of ALTMs in statistical analysis. The 

differential behaviour of ALTMs in POM season compared to PRM season 

is possibly due to the excess level of industrial effluents in the channel 

feeding Thambraparani Estuary. Comparative results of ALTMs with other 

estuarine regions also indicate that the study area has been enriched 

with trace metals during the past two decades. The results of the present 

study suggest the need for a regular monitoring program which will help 

to improve the quality of Thambraparani Estuary. 

References 

1, U. Förstner., Assessment of metal pollution in rivers and estuaries, I. 

Thornton (Ed.) Applied Environmental Geochemistry, Academic, London 

(1983), pp. 395–423. 

2. Usero Garcia, A. Morillo, I. Gracia Manarillo Contaminacion por 

metales en sedimentos acua ticos. I Metales en los ecosistemas 

acuaticos (Metal Contamination in Aquatic Sediments), 17 (1997), pp. 

44–50. 

3, H.T.T. Thuy, H.J. Tobschall, P.V. An Trace element distributions in 

aquatic sediments of Danange-Hoian area, Vietnam Environmental 

Geology, 39 (2000), pp. 733–740. 

4, H.B. Bradl Adsorption of heavy metal ions on soils and soils 

constituents Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 277 (2004), pp. 1– 

18. 


Process of Rock Weathering in Archaeological and 

Historical Sites and Soil Formation Along the East Coast, 

Tamil Nadu 

A. Malarvizhi and Hema Achyuthan, 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai 600025, India. 

ABSTRACT 

In the present study, types of weathering have been studied from 

archaeological and historical sites along the Chennai coast. Honeycomb 

and tafoni weathering has extensively developed on granite, granitic 

gneiss and charnockite bedrock on the coastal outcrops around 

Saluvankuppam, tiger caves and Devaneri; although its distribution shows 

some variation according to local conditions. Vertisol and oxisols have 

developed due to the coastal weathering processes. A comparison of 

weathering types observed inland on similar rock types reveal that they 

are not affected by sea salt spray. Soil physical properties and soil 

chemical properties indicate physicochemical weathering accentuated 

by biological processes due to tropical- subtropical climate conditions. 

The Chennai coast, East coast Tamil Nadu is affected not only by tropical 

weathering processes but is also affected by sea salt water splays causing 

salt weathering along the coast. 

Keywords: East coast, tafoni, weathering, salt, soil, climate. 


Seawater Intrusion Due to Temporal Rainfall and 

Landuse Changes in Coastal Aquifer, North of Chennai, 


S.P.Rajaveni and L.Elango 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai – 25 

ABSTRACT 

Climate and landuse changes are the important factors to affect the 

quantity and quality of groundwater in coastal aquifers. Generally coastal 

aquifer delivers large quantity of fresh water for many purpose including 

domestic water supply, irrigation of crops and industrial activities. India 

has 7000km of coast line, where Chennai metropolitan city located in 

east coast line with population of 5 million (Census of India, 2012) 

exclusive of a perennial source of drinking water. Hence groundwater is 

the major source of city water supply, which withdrawn 148 MLD 

(CMWSSB) mainly from well-fields in the Araniyar-Kortalaiyar basin, North 

of Chennai. Population increases, climate change and landuse changes 

in this area creates overexploitation of groundwater from coastal aquifer 

with less groundwater recharge causes movement of seawater towards 

land. Groundwater recharge is based on the climatic variables of 

precipitation and temperature. Study area covered 603 km 2 has two 

major rivers of Arani and Koratalaiyar. Rainfall from 2001 to 2011 at three 

stations of Ponneri, Chozhavaram and Vallur anicut were analysed for 

climate change. Maximum of 2000 mm and second highest rainfall of 

1762 mm measured in the Ponneri and vallur anicut during 2001, 2005 and 

2010. Lowest rainfall of 500 mm measured in the Ponneri station from 2002 

to 2004, which decreasing the amount of groundwater recharges and 

increasing the movement of seawater. Landuse changes are identified 

from LISS III imagery from 2003 to 2008. Agricultral land is decreasing from 

368 km 2 to 350 km 2 and increasing of built-up land from 70 km2 to 88 km2 

due to saltwater intrusion along north Chennai coast. Hence climate 

changes decreasing the amount of groundwater recharge resources, 

which is affected the landuse pattern in this area. These are some factors 

for saltwater intrusion in North Chennai. 


Evaluation of the Impact Assessment of Coastal 

Environment off Gulf of Mannar 

Judith D. Silva 1 , S.Srinivasalu 1* , P.Saravanan 2 

1, 2, 1* 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai- 600025 

ABSTRACT 

The Gulf of Mannar is a transitional zone between the Arabian Sea and 

Indian Ocean proper and is connected with the Bay of Bengal through a 

shallow sill, the Palk Strait. The 21 islands between Thoothukudi 

and Rameswaram shores in the Gulf of Mannar are notified as the first 

Marine Biosphere Reserve of India. The regions around the Thoothukudi 

shores are home to rare marine flora and fauna. Coral reefs and pearl 

oysters are some of the exotic species while algae, reef 

fish, holothurians, shrimps, lobsters, crabs and Mollusca are very common( 

Sacratees and Karthigarani 2008) (Hirway et al 2007). The thermal 

discharge from the thermal plants and excessive brine run off from the salt 

pans impact the flora and fauna in the region to a large extent ( 

Sacratees and Karthigarani 2008) (Ramakrishnan Korakandy 2008). As per 

the overall industrial scenario, many large and small-scale industries have 

developed along the coastal zone in recent years. So there is a 

necessitate to study the current status of this environment. The Gulf of 

Mannar is influenced by both southwest and northeast monsoons and 

hence the physical, chemical and biological characteristics are different 

from other areas. The area under investigation off Tuticorin in the Gulf of 

Mannar presents great interest because it is an industrial belt consisting of 

many major industries involving in the production of chemicals, 

petrochemicals and plastics. This study mainly focuses on assessing the 

quality of this coastal environment and highlights the role of marine 

sediments in pollution studies. The quantification of such processes is 

important for geochemical studies and prediction of the fate of 

environmental contaminants. Various geochemical proxies are used in 

predicting the fate of the naturally enriched environment. Taking into 

account various environments the values are within the permissible 

standards except for some cases like TDS, total hardness, chloride, etc. 

Taking in to account the marine environment, sediment part plays a 

major role in assessing the status of the environment. Al is used as a 

normalizer to calculate the enrichment of trace metals indicating that the 

high values (EF>1.5) are due to the anthropogenic addition of metals to 

the system. Enrichment Factor (EF) values greater than 1 can be well 

thought out to be attributed to long transportation phenomenon from 

natural or manmade sources and not from crustal background (Nolting et 

al, 1999). Metals like Cr, Cu, Pb, Sr and Zr shows high enrichment. The 

Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) based on shale values (Wedepohl 1995) 

showed hike for metals particularly Cr, Cu, Pb, Sr and Zr. All these indices 

strongly indicate that this area is highly polluted due to the anthropogenic 

influence and these prevailing conditions should be controlled or should 

be reduced to certain extent to protect the Mother Nature with all her 

inborn beauties. Though this environment is polluted with all these 

parameters, this region is a rich bio reserve and out of all the affecting 

factors, this environment is capable of sustaining its own nature’s beauty. 

So periodical monitoring steps should be implemented to protect this 

naturally enriched environment. 


Mineral magnetic study of coastal sediments – 

Muttukadu backwaters, Chennai. 

Siva V.H.R. and Hema Achyuthan 

Department of Geology, Anna University Chennai 600 025. 

ABSTRACT 

Processes of sediment deposition along the coastline backwaters are 

important for understanding the dynamics operating along the coast. 

Magnetic properties of minerals can be used to understand magnetic 

grain – size, infer sediment provenance, attempt paleoenvironment 

reconstruction and monitor anthropogenic contribution to a landscape. 

In this paper we present a mineral magnetic study carried out from the 

various present day environments such as beach, dunes and in the 

backwater of Muttukadu. Muttukadu is large back water located about 

35 km South of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. During the high tide, the sea water 

enters the Muttukadu backwater and during the low tide the waters 

return back to the sea. This movement of low and high tide water’s and 

the long shore drift currents are responsible for the sorting and deposition 

of fine grained suspended sediments. Based on the mineral magnetic 

data and application of contour diagram patterns it is observed that the 

magnetic mineral content (Magnetite) decreases from the mouth of the 

back waters towards the hinterland. This also indicates that the amount of 

magnetic minerals deposition near the mouth of the backwaters is higher 

compared to the deposition in the hinterland. Bordering coastal sand 

dunes exhibit high magnetic mineral concentration and very low χfd 

indicating strong winnowing action of the coastal winds removing lighter 

fine sediments into the surrounding area. 


A Baseline Study of Physico-Chemical Parameters and 

Trace Metals in Waters of Manakudy, South-West Coast 

of India 

S.Muthusamy 1 , M.Jayaprakash 1 , R.Kalaivanan 1 , V.Gopal 1 . 

1 



ABSTRACT 

The transport of trace metals from the land to ocean has a number of 

different routes and efficiencies. The sources of toxic elements into the 

rivers to be debouched into the sea through estuaries are either 

weathered naturally from the soils and rocks or introduced 

anthropogenically from point or non-point sources, in labile form or in 

particulate form. However, recent studies indicate that the transport of 

trace elements to the aquatic environment is much more complex than 

what has been thought. The chemistry and ecology of an estuarine 

system are entirely different from the fluvial as well as the marine system. 

Estuarine environment is characterized by a constantly changing mixture 

of salt and freshwater. Based on experimental studies, Lu and Chen (1977) 

found that when sea water comes in contact with sediments, trace 

metals are released from the sediments under reducing conditions, Fe 

and Mn concentrations increase and, under oxidising conditions, Cd, Cu, 

Ni, Pb and Zn are found to the enriched. Cr concentration, however, 

remains unaffected. The reduction of Cd, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn under 

reducing conditions is attributed to the formation of sulphide salts. In the 

present study area Manakudy estuary is situated about 8 kilometres north 

west of Kanyakumari (Latitude N 08° 05´ 21.8´´and Longitude E 077° 29´ 

03.7´´). To gain a better understanding of the geochemical behavior of 

physico-chemical parameters and trace elements in the estuary and to 

examine variations in associated chemical fluxes, 20 water samples were 

collected throughout the Manakudy estuary, a minor river in southwestern 

India. These samples, collected in typical dry season during 2012, 

were analyzed for physico-chemical parameters, dissolved major and 

trace elements. Our results show that dissolved Na, Mg, Ca and k behave 

conservatively along the salinity gradient. The concentration of nutrients is 

normal and they are due to the higher organic activity in soils as well as 

faster rates of chemical weathering reaction in the source region. The 

concentration of major ions is due to tidal influence and it increases with 

salinity and the nutrients do behave non-conservatively due to biogenic 

removal. The conservative behaviour of the trace metals with salinity has 

been strongly affected by the introduction of these metals by external 

sources. Even though the trace metals in the contaminated water have 

been removed and incorporated in sediments due to flocculation, the 

concentration of these metals did not decrease. 

References 

Lu,J.C.S., and K.Y.Chen. 1977. Migration of trace metals in interfaces of 

seawater and polluted surficial sediments. Environ.Sci.Technol. 11: 174-82. 


Phosphorus dynamics of water - sediment and its 

interference with heavy metals of Pulicat lagoon, South 

East Coast of India 

K, Nirmala 1 , S, Srinivasalu 1 , Ambujam, N. K 2 ., R, R Ramesh 3 

1 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai-25, India 

2 

Center for Water Resources, Anna University, Chennai-25, India 

3 



ABSTRACT 

Distribution of phosphate, heavy minerals, and organic carbon were 

analysed in Pulicat lagoon of south east coast of India, It is the second 

largest lagoon in India and has an area of 481Km 2 . The average 

concentration of heavy metals ranged like Cr>Ni>Zn>Cu >Pb. The 

correlation between total organic carbon and phosphate concentration 

was investigated. Also Fe, Mn, Ca, K, Cl, Si, S, Ti, V, and Bi were analysed 

by X-ray flourometry and concentration were compared with phosphate 

and total organic matter. The phosphate concentration of Pulicat lagoon 

surface waters were compared with that of surface sediment. Reductive 

dissolution of ferric iron phases within the sediments may release 

phosphate back into the water column but this is typically a very small 

input (Schlesinger, 1991). 

References 

Schlesinger, W.H. 1991. “Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change”, 

Academic Press, Inc., San Diego. 


Sedimentary differences between the 2011 Thane 

cyclone and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 

Cuddalore District, South East coast of India, Tamil 

Nadu. 

Anandasabari . , K 1 , Srinivasalu 1* . S . , Adam D. Switzer 2 ., Chris 

Gouramanis 2 ., S. M. Hussain 3 . 

1. Department of Geology, Anna university, Chennai – 600 025. 

2. Earth observatory of Singapore, Singapore. 

3. Department of Geology, University of Madras, Chennai - 600 025. 

ABSTRACT 

This paper deals with the reconstruction and the chronologies of 

geological coastal hazards and its ability to distinguish between storm 

and tsunami deposits. Both registers occurred in cuddalore District, 

Southeast coast of Tamil Nadu in few locations. The sedimentological 

characteristics laid down by tsunami and storm deposit on the coastal 

stretches of Cuddalore Beach, southeast coast of Tamilnadu are distinctly 

different. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was destructed and triggered by an 

earthquake on the coast of Sumatra, whereas the Thane 2011 storm 

depression formed over the Bay of Bengal about 1000 km to the southeast 

of Chennai with the wind speed of 120 - 140 kmph.(IMD) the tsunami and 

cyclone deposits exposed in 8 shallow trenches along a ~4.5‐km transect 

perpendicular to the coasts were examined. These deposits show 

differences with the lateral extent, thickness, grain-size characteristics and 

foraminiferal assemblages. The tsunami deposits thins abruptly at the 

margins, fines inland, more poorly sorted, entrained rip-up clasts, and has 

an erosional lower contact, often with a buried soil. Whereas the storm 

deposits has a highly variable grain-size distribution with a marked 

coarsening at its landward extent, better sorted, coarser, and has a sharp, 

non-erosional lower contact associated with buried vegetation and soil. 

The coarser grain size is probably the result of differences in sampling 

regime as opposed to wave energy. The storm deposit extends about 40 

m inland as opposed to about 200 m for the tsunami. 


Evaluation of major hydrogeochemical indices to 

identify seawater intrusion in North Chennai coastal 

aquifer 

Indu S.Nair and L.Elango 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai-25 

Email: elango34@hotmail.com, elango@annauniv.edu 

ABSTRACT 

Seawater intrusion is a progressive problem usually caused by over 

extraction of fresh groundwater extraction in coastal zones. One such 

region is located on the north of Chennai city, bounded by two nonperennial 

rivers, Arani and Korattalaiyar, affected due to over pumping of 

groundwater for meeting city’s domestic as well as for local agricultural 

purposes. The objective of the study is to identify the ingress of seawater 

by the evaluating the state of major geochemical indices. Groundwater 

samples were collected from fifty wells once in two months from July 2011 

to December 2011. The parameters of groundwater such as EC and pH 

were measured insitu. The major ion concentrations such as 

Ca 2+ ,Mg 2+ ,Na + ,K + ,Cl - , andSO4 2- were analyzed using ion chromatograph. 

CO3 - and HCO3 - concentration was determined by acid–base titration. 

Electrical conductivity, one of the major indicator of seawater intrusion in 

the study area varied from 430 µS/cm to 25000 µS/cm. Chloride 

concentration, the most important and stable macro element and most 

sensitive to seawater intrusion in the study area ranges from 154 mg/l to 

6307 mg/l. The seawater intruded area has been demarcated based on 

conductivity value (> 3000 µS/cm) and chloride concentration value 

(>250mg/l). Further, geochemical ratios such as Cl/Br, Na/Cl,Cl/HCO3were 

used to asses the sea water intrusion by comparing the ratios in the 

groundwater samples with the ratios of standard mean ocean water 

(SMOW). This study demonstrated the use of geochemical signatures to 

delineate seawater intrusion that extends up to a distance of 9 km from 

the coast. 

Key words: Seawater intrusion, Geochemical Indices, North Chennai 


Shoreline Change Assessment for Major Ports along East 

Coast of India. 

Anbu Raja.D 1 , Natarajan.T 1 ,Ramesh.R 2* , Purvaja Ramachandran 2 

1.Institute for Ocean Management,Department of Civil Engineering,Anna 

University, Ch-25 

2.National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, MoEF, Govt. of 

India. 

* Corresponding author :rramesh_au@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

Shoreline changes play a major contribution in coastal landforms. It 

changes the land water boundary based upon the coastal 

geomorphology. The sediment transport is based on wave direction and 

nature of the coast. The study of shoreline changes will be undertaken 

based on the satellite imagery of the coast during the previous year. The 

erosion and accretion rate will also be calculated from shore line change 

statistics. This study will be carried out for area covering the major ports in 

India. 

The shoreline change statistics will be very useful to coastal engineering 

coastal management authorities. Such maps will help in formulating 

policies to regulate coastal development. 

The shoreline changes continually through time, because of natural 

coastal processes such as wind, waves, tides, storm surge, tsunami etc. 

Literal drift along shore will vary depending on human interventions such 

as construction of structures (seawall, ports, harbor, groynes) industrial 

activities etc. 

The selection of site for any coastal development activity should give top 

priority to the shore line change assessment. There is a need to assess the 

rate of erosion and accretion choosing coastal development activities. 


A Methodology to Develop a Report Card to Assess the 

Ecosystem Health Status: A Case Study of Chilika 

Lagoon, Odisha. 

Karthiga D 1 , Kakolee Banerjee 2 , Sathiyabama V P 2 , Mary Divya S 2 , 

Purvaja Ramachandran 2 , Ramesh R 2* . 

1 

Institute for Ocean Management, CEG, Anna University, Chennai, India. 

2 



* 

Corresponding author: rramesh_au@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

Ecosystems are essential to human life, providing us with innumerable and 

invaluable services. The present study aims to develop an ecosystem 

health report card by assessing several ecosystem parameters of Chilika 

lagoon. Ecosystem health report card is an effective means to track and 

report the status of any system. The report card portrays better changing 

conditions of the Chilika Lagoon. Representation of report card through 

color coding helps to communicate with the coastal communities or 

primary and secondary stakeholders. For the report card preparation, 

several anthropogenic and natural pressures on the lagoon have been 

identified and prioritized. Based on these pressures, indicators have been 

developed. 

Three indices such as Water Quality Index (WQI), Fisheries Index (FI) and 

Biodiversity Index (BI) have been considered to develop the Chilika 

lagoon Health Index. Chlorophyll-a, Dissolved Oxygen and turbidity data 

have been averaged to create the WQI. Total fish catch data, 

commercial species caught (finfish and shellfish) and their size averaged 

data have been used for FI. Bird count and richness, dolphin abundance, 

seagrass distribution, phytoplankton and benthic diversities have been 

averaged to create BI. These indices have been combined into one 

overarching Ecosystem Health Index (EHI), which represented the report 

card score. 


Conservation Management Plan For Kandaleru 

(Upputeru) Creek, Andhra Pradesh 

Nagarjun.T 1 , Ahanalakshmi, Ramesh R 

Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai- 600025 



e-mail: nagarjunuts@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

The Indian coastline of about 7,500 km long can be divided into the east 

and west coasts and island chains. The Indian coast has a variety of 

ecosystems depending on the local geomorphology. Among the various 

ecosystems, mangroves are of high importance because of the extensive 

ecosystem services provided by them. They act as a barrier against 

cyclonic storms, protecting the land behind. They also act as a buffer 

against floods, preventing soil erosion. They trap sediments that are 

carried into the coastal zone by floodwaters, and export nutrients into the 

coastal zone. The complex ecosystem harbours extensive biodiversity. 

They serve as breeding, nursery and feeding grounds for a variety of 

commercially important species. 

Mangroves are considered ecologically sensitive areas and are listed 

under CRZ-I in the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2011. Yet, 

mangroves are under threat everywhere due to development pressures. 

Mangroves are cleared for agriculture, aquaculture, settlements, 

industries and infrastructure projects – especially ports and harbours. 

Doing so, there is loss not only of biodiversity and the support provided to 

local livelihoods but the buffering capacity that protected fragile coastal 

areas is lost. Hence there is an urgent need to map areas under 

mangrove and propose management plans that will reduce, if not halt, 

mangrove degradation. 

This study aims at examining the change in the mangrove cover using 

satellite imagery in the Kandaleru (Upputeru) creek in Nellore district, 

Andhra Pradesh, which is also the location of Krishnapatnam Port. The 

study uses Survey of India toposheet (1:50,000) as base map and satellite 

data for the year1991, 2000, 2005 and 2010 to examine the change in the 

area over a period of ten years. The satellite images were Georeferenced 

using SOI toposheet and the georectified satellite images were 

transformed into (Universal Transverse Mercator) UTM projection of datum 

WGS 84. Mangrove mapping was done using onscreen visual 

interpretation technique for the year 1991, 2000, 2006 and 2010 in 

conjunction with ArcGIS environment. The change in land use over time is 

presented. Areas of 212 sq.km of two small islands which are actually 

broad mudflats, to the south of Krishnapatnam port were surveyed. The 

mud flats, Burada Dibba and Chintala Dibba were found to have fairly 

good mangrove diversity in view of influx of brackish water and fresh 

water daily. 

Considering the future plans for development in the area, a conservation 

management plan is proposed for ensuring the conservation of existing 

mangroves. 


Seaweeds culture and its impacts on the livelihoods 

and socio- economic conditions of the coastal 

communities in Vedalai, Ramanathapuram District, 


Anandprasath K. S. 1 , Nammalwar P. 1 , Ramesh R. 2,* 

1 

Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai -25 

2 

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), MoEF, 

Government of India, Anna University Campus, Chennai-25 

* Corresponding author: drnrajan@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

Aquaculture has emerged as a major frontier in finfish, shellfish and 

seaweeds food production both for domestic consumption and export. 

Seaweeds are the industrial sources of carrageenans, alginates and 

agars. These important polysaccharides are used in the food, textile, and 

paint, biotechnological and biomedical industries and have a global 

value. The major candidate species of seaweeds for culture are 

Kappaphycus alvarezii and Sargassum polycystum in and around Vedalai 

coastal region. These two species are widely distributed in the vicinity of 

Vedalai coastal village and so well cultivated. The saplings /seedlings 

materials were collected from the wild habitat in and around Vedalai 

coastal areas and transported to the culture sites for farming. The various 

methods of seaweed culture and harvested yield to support the seaweed 

culture industry are discussed. The duration of culture period was ranged 

from 5 to 6 months. Base-line data was collected on the quantity of 

seaweeds harvested over a period of 5 to 10 years. The present paper 

deals with the impacts / benefit gained to support the livelihoods and 

socio-economic conditions of the coastal fishing communities in Vedalai, 

Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India. 

Key words: Seaweeds culture, Water quality parameters, Livelihoods, 

Socioeconomic conditions, Coastal communities. 


Mapping Of Mangrove Cover and Creation Of Spectal 

Library For Pichavaram Mangroves In Tamilnadu 

Ramya.T * Rajakumari 2 , Natarajan.T 1 , Ramesh R 2 

1 

Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai-600025 

2 


ABSTRACT 

Mangrove ecosystems dominate the coastal wetlands of tropical and 

subtropical regions throughout the world. They provide various ecological 

and economical ecosystem services contributing to coastal erosion 

protection, water filtration, provision of areas for fish and shrimp breeding, 

provision of building material and medicinal ingredients, and the 

attraction of tourists, amongst many other factors. At the same time, 

mangroves belong to the most threatened and vulnerable ecosystems 

worldwide and experienced a dramatic decline during the last half 

century. International programs, such as the Ramsar Convention on 

Wetlands or the Kyoto Protocol, underscore the importance of immediate 

protection measures and species identification activities. 

In this context, remote sensing is the tool of choice to provide spatiotemporal 

information on mangrove ecosystem distribution, species 

differentiation, health status, and ongoing changes of mangrove 

populations. Such studies can be based on various sensors, ranging from 

aerial photography to high- and medium-resolution optical imagery and 

from Spectro-radiometer data. Remote-sensing techniques have 

demonstrated a high potential to detect, identify, map, and monitor 

mangrove conditions and changes during the last two decades, which is 

reflected by the large number of scientific papers published on this topic. 

These mangrove habitats is under constant threat and must be protected 

and monitored. To protect the mangrove forest the distribution must be 

known, so they must be mapped periodically, so we can understand the 

changes occurs in its habitat due to natural and manmade threats.GIS is 

the best tool to map the mangrove forest at high precision. In this study 

area Pichavaram mangrove area is taken, it is the largest mangrove 

forest covering an area is 1470 ha. To map the mangrove cover of the 

Pichavaram mangroves and to create a spectral library of the various 

mangrove species. 


An Environment Management Plan In A Shipyard 

Maha Sudharsan.B* Ahana Lakshmi 

Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai-600025 

e-mail: sbmaha89@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

Industrialization has lead to a tremendous demand for the ships for the 

export & import of raw and finished goods, which at present is under 

pressure to meet the demand to transport goods. There is a need for 

larger and modern vessel for the transportation of cargo to continue the 

economic growth of our country. However, shipbuilding is less preferred to 

other sectors in India for the entrepreneurs despite the fact that it has a 

multiplier effect in developing the economy, because of a long gestation 

period and complexity. However with the current movement on 

infrastructure development, shipbuilding for all type of ships is going to be 

promoted in India. 

India Constitute about 28 shipyards and 4 shipyard on the east coast of 

India and 24 shipyards on the west coast of India The east coast covers 

the maritime states including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West 

Bengal and the Union Territories of Puducherry and Andaman-Nicobar 

Islands. The west coast is occupied by the states of Kerala, Karnataka, 

Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and 

the coral atolls of Lakshadweep Islands. 

Shipyard is a complex industry comprising of various activity and the 

activity involved during the construction phase and operation phase are 

taken into consideration and the activities are listed and all these 

activities influence the environmental quality and standards in different 

ways. Hence it is necessary to undertake the study on Environmental 

Impact Assessment so that all activities may be carried out in a Green 

manner. 

The baseline study about the land environment, marine environment, 

biological environment, Social environment is assessed with respect to 

requirement of MoEF, and the proper Environment Management plan is 

proposed to mitigate all the impacts with respect to that the proper 

mitigation measures are to be undertaken. 

The checklist is prepared for various activities that comprise the 

construction and operation of a shipyard and that provide a complete 

Environment Impact Assessment of any new shipyard can be carried out 

to minimize environmental footprints .and also there will be proposal for 

the green shipyard so that the construction of shipyard would be eco 

friendly. 


Utility of Granulometry and heavy mineral distribution to 

decipher the provenance; A case study between 

Tuticorin and Thiruchendur, Tamil Nadu, South East 

coast of India 

M.Suresh Gandhi 

Department of Geology, University of Madras, A.C.Tech Buildings 

Guindy Campus, Chennai – 600 025 

msureshgandhi@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

The study area Tuticorin to Thirucendur located between latitudes 8° 

20΄00’’ and 9° 0΄00’’ N, and longitudes 78° 0΄00’’ to 78° 20΄00’’ E along the 

south east coast of India Tamiraparani basin is one of the major river 

basins in Tamil Nadu, located between latitudes 8° 25΄ and 9° 13΄ N, and 

longitudes 77° 10΄ to 78° 10΄ E covering an area of 5,464 km 2 . A great river 

like the Cauvery, unlike most of the other Indian rivers, is fed by both the 

monsoons - the southwest and the northeast - and seen in full spate twice 

a year if the monsoons do not fail. In order to identify the nature of 

sediment character, the mode of deposition in marine regions of Tuticorin 

and Thiruchendur areas grain size, heavy mineral, light minerals, 

ecological parameter and SEM studies have been carried out in detail. 

Totally, 31 sediment samples from offshore region were collected. Sand 

percentages are predominant in all the stations than the silt. The 

frequency pattern point towards the presence of bimodal distribution 

having peaks at 2.25 φ and 2.75 φ. The dominance of coarser size grade 

in the total population indicates the high energy conditions that in turn 

result in the removal of fines. In the Tuticorin sector, the samples are also 

all bimodal, except for the one from Kayalpattinam, where sediment is 

additionally deposited by the Tamiraparani River. In the study area, 

mean value ranges from 1.06 φ to 2.53 φ at Tuticorin indicating a 

prominent distribution of medium to fine sand in this zone. The fine sand in 

the riverine region indicates the depositional nature of the sediments. 

Sorting values of Tuticorin samples ranges from 0.58 φ to 0.74 φ, indicates 

moderately well sorted to well sorted nature. The moderately sorting 

nature may be due to the addition of sediments of different grain size 

from the reworking of beach ridges or by alluvial action and the 

prevalence of strong wave convergence throughout the year. The other 

two zones show a similar sorting nature may be due to the prevalence of 

strong northerly drift. The coarse skewed nature indicates the high energy 

environment in Thiruchendur, Kayalpattinam and Punnaikayal;i region. 

Tuticorin sample shows Very fine skewed the sediments show positively 

skewed nature indicative of the prevalence of mixed energy 

environment. At Palayakayal, the sediments show very negatively to very 

positively skewed nature indicative of the prevalence of mixed energy 

environment. Almost 90 % of the sediments are found to be concentrated 

in QR segment proving the depositional mode by graded suspension. 


Subsurface Geomorphological Study of 

Mahabalipuram Coast Using Ground Penetrating 

Radar & Sedimentology 

S. Srinivasalu, C. Lakshmi Narasimhan * , S. Dhanamadhavan 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai 600025. 

*lakshmina_c@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

A special attention is given to Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) & 

sedimentological analysis to make out the Geomorphological study of 

Mahabalipuram area. Coasts are highly scenic and contain abundant 

natural resources. The majority of world’s population lives close to the sea 

(50% of the global total) live within 60km of shoreline. The shoreline is 

continually changing. Explaining the geomorphological changes that are 

occurring on the coast is becoming increasingly important in order to 

manage coastal resources in a sustainable way. 

In the present study, seven transects of survey profile have been carried 

out around the Tiger cave region of Mahabalipuram area using Ground 

Penetrating Radar. From that profiles subsurface sedimentary structures 

have been delineated which indicate features like dunes, laminations, 

and erosional surfaces. The erosional features suggest the preservation of 

signatures of extreme coastal flooding. Out of the seven profiles, three are 

showing downward dipping laminations along a linear surface which may 

be an indicative of paleo-channel or a manmade structure of historic 

age. 


Historical Tsunami And Stroms Records In A Coastal 

Lowland, Kameshwaram Along Cauvery Delta Coast, 


Saravanan , P 1 ., . Srinivasalu,S 1 ., Judith D Silva 2 

1, 2 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai 

ABSTRACT 

Geological investigations of coastal sediments indicate that prehistoric 

tsunami can be identified and their characterisation has altered the 

knowledge of the past frequency and magnitude of tsunami for different 

areas of the world. Yet there have been relatively few geological studies 

of modern tsunami with virtually no direct observations of the processes 

associated with tsunami sediment transport and deposition. Geologic 

history helps define tsunami sources because the earthquakes responsible 

for catastrophic tsunami happen so infrequently. By reconnaissance 

survey, a number of pre-2004 sandsheet deposits were identified along 

Cauvery Delta Coast of the Tamil Nadu in Kameshwaram and 

Pushpavanam showing characteristic sedimentological signatures. These 

deposits are all found in the upper fill of geomorphically diverse coastal 

environments. Laterally extensive sand sheets deposited by the 26th 

December 2004 Asian tsunami provide a valuable modern analogue for 

comparison with washover deposits of unknown origin. Here, using 

standard methods of tsunami geology, probable precedent for the 2004 

tsunami in stratigraphy from the last few millennia in a mudflat terrain 

were identified. The paper mainly focus on finding locations for paleotsunami 

deposits and the areas selected for this study are Kameshwaram 

and Pushpavanam, as these areas are the most drastically affected area 

in recent tsunami and were highly affected by high energy events, the 

current study also focus on inland for geomorphic changes due to 

tsunami. Few pits were made and samples were collected at different 

intervals like 1cm, 2cm and 5cm respectively to analyse washover 

deposits practically. Candidates were found at 2 sites within 2 km of the 

modern beach. Pre-2004 sheets across the mudflat near a place where 

the 2004 tsunami flowed few meters deep were traced. Stratigraphic 

cross sections were assembled from correlated pits and field estimates of 

particle size were made; inferred a preliminary chronology from OSL 

dating of sand grains and foraminiferal analyses was made. This work 

concentrates on correlating the characters of the recent tsunami deposits 

with the paleao overwash sandsheets and predict whether they are of 

tsunami origin. The interval A.D. 700 includes documented record during 

Rajarajachola period. This study also give hope that, additional historical 

literature would aid in the hunt for ancestors to the 2004 Indian Ocean 

tsunami. 


Morphosedimentary evidences of rapid sea level drop 

in Mediterranean coasts of Spain during MIS5e 

Teresa Bardají 1 ; Ana Cabero 2 ; Javier Lario 2 ; Cristino J. Dabrio 3 ; Cari Zazo 4 ; 

José Luis Goy 5 ; Pablo G. Silva 5 ; Elvira Roquero 6 

1. 

U.D. Geología. Universidad de Alcalla. 28871-Alcalá de Henares 

(Madrid), Spain 

2. 

Facultad de Ciencias, UNED. 28040-Madrid, Spain 

3 

. Dpto. Estratigrafía, Facultad de CC. Geológicas, UCM. 28040-Madrid, 

Spain 

4. 

Dpto. Geología, Museo Nacional CC. Naturales, CSIC. 28006-Madrid, 

Spain 

5. 

Dpto. Geología, Facultad de Ciencias; Universidad de Salamanca, 

Spain 

6. 

Dpto. Geología, ETSI-Agrónomos, UPM. 28040-Madrid, Spain 

ABSTRACT 

Small-scale sea-level changes have been reported to occur in 

Mediterranean coats of Spain during MIS 5e. Sedimentologic analyses 

carried out in a spit bar sequence at La Marina (Alicante) have revealed 

short lived (millennial/submillenial) sea-level oscillations representing a 

minimum sea-level fluctuation of ca. 4m. Centimetric sea-level 

fluctuations at centennial scale have also been observed at the same site 

(Dabrio et al., 2011). However there are not reported evidences of rapid 

changes in other Mediterranean settings of Spain. In this poster we 

present two sedimentary sequences (Formentera, Balearic Islands and 

Cope Basin, Murcia) where a rapid centimetric sea level drop during MIS 

5e has been deduced after a morphosedimentary analyses. Both are 

Strombus bubonius bearing sequences, with the characteristic oolitic 

facies in the Cope sequence that developed in this part of the 

Mediterranean during this 1st MIS 5e highstand. The marine deposits in 

Formentera sequence represent the second highstand of MIS5e. 

Although they developed during different MIS5e highstands both 

sequences present some similarities: they both present at least three 

different sedimentary units, and both present polygonal sandcracks on 

top of the first unit, and in both cases this first unit represents upper 

foreshore deposits with S.bubonius. At Formentera Island, a small cliff (ca. 

0.5-1m high) developed on this cracked unit, and a second 

gravel/boulder deposit develops at the cliff foot. The third observed unit 

here is a red-matrix sediment that covers and fills the cracks on top of Unit 

1. At Cope Basin, the first oolithic upper foreshore unit is overlapped by a 

second highly bioturbated oolitic aeolian dune, with a third finely 

laminated ooiltic dune developing on top of it. The geomorphological 

disposition of first and second sedimentary units in both sequences reveals 

a rapid relative sea level drop, evidenced in Formentera by a small cliff 

development, and in Cope by the facies superposition. Polygonal cracks 

have been reported to occur by desiccation in well-sorted, well-rounded, 

spherical carbonate sands (Glumac et al., 2011), which is in agreement 

with our sedimentary units. In our opinion this sudden desiccation could 

have been driven by a rapid drop of sea level (0,5-1m). The real cause of 

this rapid sea level fall is not well understood yet, although a co-seismic 

effect cannot be discarded. 


Biosphere – atmosphere exchange of methane and 

hydrogen sulfide in connection to the sediment 

biogeochemistry at a tropical mangrove forest. 

D. Ganguly 1#* , T.K. Jana 1 . 

1 

Department of Marine Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India 

# 

Present Address: National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, 

Ministry of Environment and Forests, 

Anna University Campus, Chennai 600 025, India 

*dipnarayan.ganguly@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

An attempt has been made to establish the inter-relationship between 

the soil biogeochemistry and the biosphere atmosphere exchange of CH4 

and H2S at a tropical mangrove forest. Monthly data (air-water-soil) 

collected during the one year period from July 2009 to June 2010, 

revealed the key importance of soil biogeochemistry (regulated by 

different groups of trace gas-metabolizing microorganisms) in determining 

the atmospheric compositions of these trace gasses. The mean annual soil 

organic carbon, NO3-N and pore water Fe concentration was recorded 

to be 0.991±0.25%, 1.31± 0.19 µg gm dry soil -1 and 24.76± 14.31 mg l -1 , 

respectively. Mean annual sulfate to chlorine ratio in the mangrove soil 

was found to be 0.793±0.043. 

Annual mean CH4 and H2S flux from the mangrove biosphere were found 

to be 1.52 g 

-2 

s -1 mand 9.45 ng m -2 s -1 . Seasonality in soil chemical 

properties showed direct impact on the magnitude of biosphereatmosphere 

flux for both CH4 and H2S. Highest CH4 and H2S emission fluxes 

(post-monsoon) coincided with highest soil organic carbon and lowest 

NO3-N content and SO4/Cl ratio. Stepwise multiple regression analysis 

between emission fluxes of CH4 and the biogeochemical properties (NO3- 

N, Soil Fe, SO4/ Cl ratio, organic carbon) of mangrove sediment showed 

that the combined explained variability for NO3-N (2%), Soil Fe (4%), 

SO4/Cl ratio (29%) was less than that of Soil organic carbon (44%) 

(Equation 1). Similarly, 83% variation in H2S flux could be explained by Soil 

organic carbon (56%), NO3-N (3.7%) Soil Fe (4.2%) and SO4/Cl ratio (19%) 

(Equation 2). Both H2S and CH4 flux showed positive correlation between 

each other (r 2 =36.5, p= 0.048). These results indicated the positive control 

of CH4 flux over sulfate reduction under extreme anoxic condition and 

hence enhanced H2S emission. In spite of the high supply from mangrove 

litter, soil organic carbon concentrations in mangrove soil were found 

relatively low compared to other forest areas. This indicated a short 

residence time of organic carbon in soil stimulating processes like 

denitrification, sulfate reduction and methane production. Emission fluxes 

showed significant positive correlation with the atmospheric mixing ratios 

for both the gases (r 2 = 0.57, p=0. 003 for CH4; r 2 = 0.877, p=0.001 for H2S). 

This study clearly depicted the importance of sediment biogeochemistry 

on the biosphere-atmosphere fluxes of trace gases and their immediate 

impact on their atmospheric mixing ratios at the regional environment. 

FCH4= 6.32 + 0.649 C (%) – 1.64 NO3-N - 0.0085 Fe – 3.93 SO4/Cl 

………………….(1) 

FH2S= 45.2 + 2.75 C (%) – 2.39 NO3-N – 0.0129 Fe – 43.6 

SO4/Cl……………………(2) 


Hydrogeochemical assessment of human intervention 

in Sundarban mangrove ecosystem, India 

Gurmeet Singh 1#* and AL. Ramanathan 1 

1 

School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New 

Delhi-110067, India 

# 




* gurmeet@ncscm.org 

ABSTRACT 

Mangroves are highly dynamic and fragile intertidal ecosystem of the 

tropics and subtropics. The diversity, productivity and the zonation are 

largely governed by the salinity of the surround water. The human 

intervention in terms of water quality and quantity has led to enormous 

stress on their productivity and species diversity. Sundarban mangroves 

have been recognized as the most diversified and productive ecosystem 

facing stress due to anthropogenic factors (domestic / agricultural 

sewage and urban and industrial effluents) as well as natural factors 

(citation and salinity). Previous studies have indicated the reclamation of 

more than 50% V of the mangrove area for human uses. Furthermore, the 

choking of rivers (due to siltation or due to human intervention) has 

resulted in the conversion of waterways into blocked wetland. 

The present study has been taken to assess the behaviour of dissolved 

nutrients (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) and selected trace metals in 

Sundarban in order to delineate the impact of human practices on the 

water quality, if any. Twenty four sampling locations were chosen based 

on land use practices for seasonal monitoring of water quality. Four 

representative locations were chosen to study the diurnal variability. It was 

observed that the concentrations of nutrients increased with 

anthropogenic stress (phosphate 0.21-5.1 mg L -1 and nitrate 0.31-11.5 mg L - 

1 

). During the ebb flow, riverine input of phosphate and nitrate 

significantly increased the concentrations of both the intertidal and the 

sub-tidal stations. Conversely, during the high tide, river nutrient 

concentrations were lowered by the mixing of fresh water with sea water. 

In addition, salinity showed an inverse relation with these nutrients (nitrate 

and phosphate) suggesting a significant influence of sea water. Overall 

the study suggested that even though the concentrations of dissolved 

nutrients and trace metals are influenced by the anthropogenic input, 

overall water chemistry of Sundarban was governed by the seawater of 

Bay of Bengal rather than the fresh water. The study emphasized on the 

need for more in depth studies correlating the sea level rise and 

consequent dominance of salinity with nutrients and other 

hydrogeochemical constituents of the Sundarban mangrove ecosystem. 

Key word: Sundarban, coastal wetlands, salinity, metal, nutrients 


Tsunami vulnerability database to Chennai Coast using 

Numerical Modeling and GIS 

Mageswaran, T 1#* , Arumugam, T 1 , Ram Mohan, V 1 

1 

Department of Geology, University of Madras, Chennai. 

# 




* 

magesh.presidency@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

Natural disasters have always been a serious threat to the life and 

property near coastal areas all over the world. Prevention of natural 

disasters is not feasible but the destruction it conveys could be minimized 

at least to some extent by the postulation of reliable hazard management 

system and consistent implementation of it. A highly devastating mega 

thrust earthquake on 26 th December 2004 (mw~9.3) occurred off the 

Sumatra coast along the Indian Ocean subduction system triggered a 

giant tsunami that devastated the coastal regions bordering the Indian 

Ocean. The east coast of India and the Andaman and Nicobar islands 

were severely affected. Chennai was the worst affected area during the 

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami with a death toll of 206. Relief and mitigation 

efforts were severely hampered due to the absence of tsunami 

vulnerability maps for the affected areas. It is therefore necessary to 

prepare a coastal vulnerability database of Chennai to assess the 

vulnerable areas to tsunami hazards using numerical models and GIS. 

In this present study, an attempt has been made to generate inundations 

due to various historical earthquakes using numerical simulations of 

different tsunamigenic sources. TUNAMI-N2 model was used to recreate 

the tsunami generation in deep waters, wave propagation to the impact 

zone and inundation along the study area. Bathymetry and elevation 

data are the principal datasets required for the model to capture the 

generation, propagation and inundation of the tsunami wave from the 

source to the land. The bathymetry data used in this model is C-Map for 

near shore whereas GEBCO for far shore and SRTM for land elevation. The 

study deals with preparation of GIS database on tsunami vulnerability for 

Chennai to various historical earthquakes recorded in this region. A 

hypothetical worst case scenario was also generated by loading the 

Sumatra 2004 earthquake seismic parameters of the Car Nicobar source. 

The results of the numerical model include information about the 

maximum wave height and the maximum inundation line. 

The model simulation clearly shows that the Chennai coast is vulnerable 

to tsunami hazard and the extent of inundation and run-up is dependent 

on the magnitude of the earthquake. Of six simulations run for historical 

earthquakes, the 2004 Sumatra tsunami seems to have the maximum 

impact on Chennai coast. Except 2004 tsunami all other historical 

earthquakes sources shows that there was neither any significant 

inundation nor run-up along the coast. Simulation results for 2004 Sumatra 

earthquake showed a maximum run-up of about 2-3m while the 

maximum inundation was about 660 m inland. Results in the worst case 

hypothetical scenario showed a maximum inundation of 2.7 km through 

the waterways while the maximum run-up was about 4-6 m in the coast. 

Based on the modelling results GIS database for Chennai coast to tsunami 

hazards has been generated. This GIS database on tsunami vulnerability 

would be helpful in coastal planning, disaster management and 

mitigation activities. 


Sea Surface Height (SSH)-based Potential Fishing Zones: 

An approach for round-the-year dissemination of 

advisories in Andaman 

P. Krishnan 1#* , A. Anand 2 , Grinson George 1 , Gautham-Bharathi 1 , 

M. Kaliyamoorthy 1 and S. Dam Roy 1 

1 

Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar 

Islands 

2 

Regional Remote Sensing Centre, NRSC-ISRO, Nagpur 

# 




*krishnanars@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

The island fishers have found the Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories 

very useful for harvesting the under-utilized marine fishery potential of 

Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI). Its helps to enhance the catch per 

unit effort (CPUE) by 34% and reduce the scouting time by 51% and there 

has been a significant (P

Abundance of Fishes as Indicators of Reef Health and 

Reef Recovery: A Case Study from Andaman 

P. Krishnan # , Grinson George, Titus Immanuel, Bitopan Malakar, 

M. Kaliyamoorthy and S. Dam Roy* 

Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair – 744 105. Andaman and 

Nicobar Islands 

# 




*sibnarayan@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

The coral reefs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands suffered extensive 

bleaching during April, 2010 to the extent of 60-70% due to elevated sea 

surface temperature and a significant portion of the bleached corals 

died. The degree of recovery of coral reefs and reef fishes was evaluated 

a year after the event. It was observed that over 90% of the corals in all 

sites were wither fully or partially bleached. The recovery rate of the 

bleached corals was different in various study sites viz., 54% at North Bay; 

81% at Tarmugili and 86% at Chidiyatapu. The damage of coral reefs had 

an impact on the abundance and diversity of certain reef fishes. The 

recovery of bleached corals and recruitment of new corals contributed 

to the increase in percent live coral cover in the study sites. A systematic 

correlation between the reef health and abundance of reef associated 

fishes lead to the hypothesis that the abundance of fishes, especially 

those belonging to the families, Chaetodontidae, Pomacentridae, 

Acanthuridae and Scariidae could be taken as potential indicators of 

reef health for ascertaining their recovery after large scale ecological 

disasters. 

Key words: reef fish, indicator, Andaman, corals, bleaching. 


Tropical storm off Myanmar coast sweeps reefs in 

Ritchie’s Archipelago, Andaman 

P. Krishnan 1#* , Grinson-George 1 , N. Vikas 2 , Titus-Immanuel 1 , M.P. 

Goutham-Bharathi 1 , A. Anand 3 , K. Vinod Kumar 4 and Senthil Kumar 5 

1 

Marine Research Laboratory, Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port 

Blair 744 101 

2 

Dive India Ltd, Havelock, South Andaman 744 102 

3 

Regional Remote Sensing Centre-Central, National Remote Sensing 

Centre, Nagpur 440 010 

4 

National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004 

5 

Department of Environment and Forests, Andaman and Nicobar 

Administration, Port Blair 744 101 

# 




*krishnanars@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

The reefs in some islands of Andaman and Nicobar suffered severe 

damage following a tropical storm in the Bay of Bengal off Myanmar 

coast during 13–17 March 2011. Surveys were conducted at eight sites in 

Andaman, of which five were located in the Ritchie’s Archipelago where 

maximum wind speeds of 11 ms-1 was observed; and three around Port 

Blair which lay on the leeward side of the storm and had not experienced 

wind speeds of more than 9 ms-1. Corals in the shallow inshore reefs were 

broken and dislodged by the thrust of the waves. Significant damage in 

the deeper regions and offshore reefs were caused by the settlement of 

debris and sand brought down from the shallower regions. The fragile 

branching corals (Acropora sp.) were reduced to rubbles and the larger 

boulder corals (Porites sp.) were toppled over or scarred by falling debris. 

The reefs on the windward side and directly in the path of the storm winds 

were the worst affected. The investigation exposes the vulnerability of the 

reefs in Andaman to the oceanographic features which generally remain 

unnoticed unless the damage is caused to the coastal habitats. 

Keywords : Coral reefs, Tropical storm, Surge, Geostrophic currents, 

Eddies 


Issues in assessing the impact of marine biodiversity on 

the catastrophic events: case study on Opisthobranchs 

in Andaman and Nicobar Islands 

Sreeraj, C.R. 1# and Raghunathan, C. 1 

2 

Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port 

Blair-744 102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India 

# 




* 

crsreeraj@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

Biodiversity change in the marine ecosystem is caused by a range of 

disasters like tsunami, earthquakes, increase in sea surface temperature 

(SST), storm surge etc. These disasters can have serious negative impacts 

on coastal ecosystems especially, coral reefs and mangroves. In Indian 

waters most of the studies on the changes in the diversity patterns were 

confined to key faunal elements such as corals, fishes etc. Many other 

groups which play a major role in the ecosystem are yet to be studied in 

the marine environment and so documenting their diversity changes 

upon catastrophic events is always a challenge. Based on 170 surveys to 

estimate the diversity of opisthobranchs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, 

Opisthobranchia) conducted in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the issues 

in the documentation of less known animal groups have been analyzed in 

the present study. These surveys were conducted during May 2010 to April 

2013; after two major ecological disasters that struck these islands such as 

Tsunami, 2004 and Coral Bleaching in 2010. 

The probability of species occurrence can be developed only from a 

previous work; however the absence of such baseline work hinders the 

studies on ecological changes. One of the major issues for the 

documentation of opisthobranchs was a lack of baseline data prior to 

disasters. So a comparison for analyzing the changes in their population 

was not possible. Based on the baseline data for diversity which we 

developed through these surveys, we further demonstrate the constraints 

in the repetition of the same work by other researchers. Non-detection of 

a species at a site does not imply that the species are absent. Few 

opisthobranchs are likely to be so evident that they will always be 

detected when present. Lack of experts will lead to biased estimates of 

site occupancy, colonization, and local extinction probabilities. Non 

detection of an available species can also be a chaos in invasive alien 

species monitoring. Presence of some species in this archipelago which 

was considered to be endemic to the Pacific Ocean and Australian 

waters also raise questions on the role of natural disasters like tsunami and 

storm in species dispersion. In the present study, the number of species per 

dive increased from zero to 19 in due course. We consider this change as 

non detection of the available species by the authors. This incident may 

be continued while replicating the same work by other researchers. 

Hence the present study emphasizes for capacity building in taxonomy 

and field survey techniques for a better documentation of biodiversity in 

concurrence with ecological changes due to disasters. 

Keywords: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Biodiversity, Environmental 

Disaster, Opisthobranchs, 


Integrated approach for assessment of ecosystem 

health of a tropical brackish water lagoon: Chilika, 

India 

R.S.Robin 1#* , K.R.Abhilash 1# , D.Ganguly 1# , Sivaji Patra 1 and 

B.R.Subramanian 1# 

1 

ICMAM Project Directorate, Ministry of Earth Sciences, NIOT Campus, 

Pallikaranai, Chennai 600 100, India 

# 

Present address: National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, 



*robin.ocean1@gmail.com 

Abstract 

An attempt has been made in Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, 

Chilika, to assess the ecosystem health through combined water quality 

threshold scores [Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Secchi disc Depth (SD), Total 

Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorus (TP), chlorophyll-a] and sediment 

characteristics such as benthic respiration, sediment organic carbon 

(SOC) and microphytobenthos (MPB). On a seasonal magnitude, the 

lagoon DO showed a wide range of variation i.e. 5.04 - 9.71 mg L -1 , 5.40 - 

7.96 mg L -1 and 7.11 - 9.54 mg L -1 in pre-monsoon, monsoon and postmonsoon, 

respectively. During pre-monsoon and monsoon lagoon 

recorded moderately high DO, whereas in post-monsoon DO 

concentration in all the sectors fell within the category of “Good’’ (≥7). 

Lagoon exhibited a gradient in water clarity, with murkier water in the 

entire northern reaches of the lagoon which in turn is attributed to the 

high silt-laden freshwater influx from rivers. On a temporal extent, the TN 

concentrations were in the order of 0.23 ± 0.063 mg L -1 , 0.40 ± 0.15 mg L -1 

and 0.64 ± 0.45 mg L -1 in pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon, 

respectively with wide spatial variation. During pre-monsoon and 

monsoon, good water quality was characterized by low TN levels that fell 

in the better health-threshold, resulting in higher TN scores, whereas during 

post-monsoon the southern lagoon had very good TN scores, indicating 

that this nutrient was low and part of the northern sector recorded 

moderately high TN concentrations with medium scores. TP 

concentrations were considerably high during the monsoon (0.14 ± 0.15 

mg L -1 ) as compared to post-monsoon (0.12 ± 0.06 mg L -1 ) and premonsoon 

(0.03 ± 0.01 mg L -1 ). During pre-monsoon and monsoon entire 

lagoon was characterized by low TP levels that fell in the good healththreshold 

categories, resulting in higher scores except southern sector 

during the monsoon. The concentration of SOC was high and its 

distribution was also irregular both in spatial and temporal scale. 

Seasonally, highest average SOC concentration recorded during premonsoon 

(1.02 ± 0.57%) followed by post-monsoon (1.02 ± 0.57%) and 

monsoon (0.12 ± 0.09%). On a spatial scale, the maximum average SOC 

(%) was recorded at northern sector and then steadily reduced towards 

the central sector followed by southern sector and least at outer channel. 

Chlorophyll-a was in the decreasing order of 13.77 ± 14.86, 11.15 ± 8.35 

and 9.35 ± 5.51 μg L -1 in pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon, 

respectively. The lowest pigment concentrations observed in the southern 

lagoon could be attributed to the lesser nutrient availability, particularly 

nitrate. Overall MPB densities (as chlorophyll-a) varied from a low 0.86 μg 


Chl.a g -1 (outer channel) to a maximum of 108 μg Chl.a g -1 sediment dry 

wt. (Northern sector). Findings have revealed a high richness of MPB (25.76 

± 26.78 μg Chl.a g -1 ) during non-flood period relative to monsoon season 

(25.37 ± 16.15 μg Chl.a g -1 ) and post-monsoon (18.78 ± 16.18 μg Chl.a g -1 ). 

MPB can influence the ecology of lagoon ecosystems by regulating the 

nutrient exchange between sediments and the overlying water column. 

Relatively higher values of chlorophyll a observed in the northern sector 

throughout than the other parts, associated with minimum Secchi disc 

depth might be due to large re-suspension of microphytobenthos and 

high nutrient influx from the Mahanadi tributaries. This in turn stimulates 

phytoplankton growth supporting large fish harvest recorded along the 

entire northern sector. On a spatial and temporal scale, cumulative 

ecosystem index of Chilika Lagoon falls in the category of ‘‘Good’’ 

throughout the study period. 


Need for evolutionary studies in Andaman Coral reefs 

faunal communities through molecular approaches: A 

case study of reef fish barcode from Andaman 

Sachithanandam, V 1# and Mohan, P.M 1 

# 

Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry 

University, Port Blair – 744 112, Andaman Islands 

# 




*pondyunisachin@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are biodiversity hot spot at the 

juncture of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. The total area of 

Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) is 8249 km 2 . The Andaman Islands are 

separated from the Nicobar Islands by a 155 km channel, known as the 

Ten Degree Channel. The average annual rainfall is 3000 to 3500 mm. 

84.82% of the area of these islands. The region encompasses a very high 

degree of endemicity in all taxa, especially in plants, reptiles and marine 

fauna. Andaman and Nicobar island archipelago have natural scenic 

beauty Coral reefs. It is host approximately 1485 marine fish species. Thus 

emphasis is on genetic structuring of fishes which are associated with 

coral reefs environmental, reflecting historical patterns, including patterns 

of species formation and gene flow rate. Marine organisms that 

reproduce by releasing numerous eggs and planktonic larvae are able to 

disperse over considerable distances via currents; indeed, many adult 

stage nektons frequently migrate across oceans. Therefore, marine 

organisms often show low levels of genetic differentiation even over large 

geographical ranges. Moreover, coral reef fishes Diversity is not evenly 

distributed in the Indo-Malay Archipelago (IMA). The comprehension of 

the mechanisms that initiated this pattern is in its infancy despite its 

importance for the conservation of coral reefs. The IMA area are overlap 

or a cradle of marine biodiversity, the hypotheses proposed to account 

for this pattern rely on extant knowledge about taxonomy and species 

range distribution. 

The recent molecular tool (DNA barcoding), has revealed the importance 

of taking into account cryptic diversity and geographical differences 

assessing in tropical biodiversity. The present studies were carried out 

about 400 specimens belonging to 120 coral reefs associated fish species 

analysis through mitochondrial DNA sequences for species identification, 

phylogenetic relatedness and geographical differences observed in 

Andaman Sea. The DNA COI gene sequences of coral reefs associated 

perches fishes of 60% species had unique genetic diversity and genetic 

divergences linkage exhibited with Australian waters. This results 

suggested that species diversity and genetic divergences of Andaman 

Islands close relatedness with Australia then Indian waters (Mainland). 

Due to the different geographical scales, young age of islands formation, 

ecosystems and water dynamic may play a role of significant genetic drift 

in marine fishes. The study concluded that Andaman geological 

characters and Island biogeography reflected that species genetic 

diversity. However, Island biogeography studies not much work carried 

out in our Indian Ocean such as phylogenetics relationship among 


populations and species and relate to the geological history of islands. 

Further, the earliest archaeological work reported that 2, 200 year back 

Andaman volcanic islands formed. It has unique genetic diversity as well 

as high endemic species abundances. Recent work has shown that 

subduction beneath the Andaman - Sumatra arc initiated in the late 

Cretaceous and this led to formation of accretionary wedge now partly 

exposed on the Andaman Islands. The age of the extensive outcrop of 

Andaman is considered to be Oligocene, but biostratigraphic constraints 

are poor. The study conclude that volcanic Island formation of Andaman 

and Nicobar region need more studies on evolutionary pattern in flora 

and fauna with related to geological events through DNA aspects tool 

adopted in future. 


Integrated Coastal Zone Management on Indian 

Islands; Strategy and Approaches 

Sachithanandam, V., Manik Mahapatra, Mageswaran, T., Sridhar, R. and 

Ramesh R.* 

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of 

Environment and Forests, 


* ramesh@annauniv.edu, rramesh_au@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

Coastal regions, which are highly populated areas around the world, 

provide vital economic, social and recreational opportunities for millions 

of people. However, the shared demands placed by densely populated 

coastal regions impose stresses on coastal systems and finite resources. In 

addition, increased frequency of natural hazards such as storm surge, 

tsunami and cyclone, as a consequence of change in global climate, is 

predicted to have dramatic effects on the coastal communities and 

ecosystems. Islands are highly vulnerable to effects of climate change 

and sea-level rise because of their low elevation, small size and poor 

infrastructure. An integrated approach in coastal zone management 

aims to reduce such problems, resulting in sustainable development, 

protection of coastal resources and their use, promotion of stakeholder 

participation and economic benefits. Therefore, it is necessary to develop 

a methodology for better management of Indian islands using various 

approaches and techniques including GIS, Remote Sensing and 

numerical models. To promote this, it needs a large amount of 

data/information in the form of maps, tables etc. The present study is to 

focus on development of GIS database on “Digital Coastal Profile for 

Indian Islands” which will contain all the information of islands ecosystem. 

The Digital coastal profile database model would be helpful for 

Integrated Coastal Zone Management. 

Keywords: Coastal Zone, Island, Digital Coastal Profile, GIS. 


A rapid sea-level rise around 7.8–7.6 cal ka BP based 

on geological and archaeological proxies from the 

eastern Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea 

Alar Rosentau 1,2 , Aivar Kriiska 2 , Dmitri Subetto 3 Merle Muru 4 , Hanna Raig 1 

Dmitri Gerasimov 5 

1 

Department of Geology, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50411 Tartu, 

Estonia. 

2 

Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Lossi 3, Tartu, 

Estonia. 

3 

Department of Geography, Herzen State Pedagogical University of 

Russia, emb. Moika 48, bl. 12, 191186 St.Petersburg, Russia. 

4 

Department of Geography, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, Tartu, 

Estonia. 

4 

Institute of History and Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, St 

Petersburg 196140, Russia. 

ABSTRACT 

Based on geological and archaeological proxies from NW Russia and NE 

Estonia and on GIS-based modelling, shore displacement during the 

Stone Age in the Narva-Luga Klint Bay area in the eastern Gulf of Finland 

was reconstructed. The study area is characterized by slow glacioisostatic 

land-uplift (present-day 0.5–1.0 mm/yr) and complex sea-level history with 

alternating lake (Baltic Ice Lake and Ancylus Lake) and marine stages 

(Yoldia Sea and Litorina Sea). The beginning of the last marine 

transgression (Litorina Sea) c. 8.5 cal. ka BP is recorded in the study area 

by the flooding of peat and palaeosoil layers, by the submergence of the 

Siivertsi and possibly also Narva-Joaorg archaeological sites and by the 

appearance of brackish water diatoms in different small lake basins. 

Radiocarbon ages and elevations of transgression contacts indicate that 

initially relatively slow sea-level rise accelerated around 7.8 and 7.6 cal. ka 

BP when sea-level rose c. 6 m only within several hundreds of years. Similar 

rapid transgression c. 7.6 cal. ka BP has also been described from SE 

Sweden and is probably related to the final decay of the Labrador sector 

of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (Yu et al. 2007). Around 7.3 cal ka BP the 

relative sea level rise was turned to the sea level fall as the eustatic sea 

level rise was slowed down and land-uplift started to prevail. At that time 

a large semi-enclosed lagoon was formed in Narva-Luga area which 

shores were the preferred living environments for Stone Age huntergatherer 

groups. The coastal settlement associated with this lagoon, 

presently represented by 33 Stone Age sites, developed in the area c. 7.1 

cal. ka BP and existed there for more than 2000 years Elevations of coastal 

settlement sites reflect relative sea-level changes of the Baltic Sea during 

the mid-Holocene. (Rosentau et al., 2013). 

References 

1. Yu S.-Y., Berglund B. E., Sandgren P., Lambeck K. 2007. Evidence for a 

rapid sea-level rise 7600 yr ago. Geology, 35, 891–894. 

2. Rosentau A., Muru M., Kriiska A., Subetto D. A., Vassiljev J., Hang T., 

Gerasimov D., Nordqvist K., Ludikova A., Lõugas L., Raig H., Kihno K., 

Aunap R., Letyka, N. 2013. Stone Age settlement and Holocene shore 

displacement in the Narva-Luga Klint Bay area, eastern Gulf of Finland. 

Boreas. 10.1111/bor.12004. ISSN 0300-9483 


Assessment Over Impacts Of Sealevel Changes 

Through Coastal Behaviour Analysis – A Geomatical 

Technique 

T.M.Shanmuga Raja 1 , U.A.B.Rajasimman 2 

IV th year M.Tech 1 , Research scholar 2 

Centre for Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University, Khajamalai 

Campus, Trichy -620 023 

ABSTRACT 

Geodynamic process of earth-system tends to be in equilibrium state 

before the human intervention . Sea level rise is one of the key factor to 

understand the Global climatic condition is in non-equilibrium state , that 

has the impacts over the coastal system , which would implies on the 

modification of shoreline system. 

Thus the consequences of the sealevel rise will be predicted through the 

assessment of coastal behaviour with the help of trajectory analysis that 

would result in coastal behaviour whether it is an accretive or erosive 

coast . 

Study region extends from the south of pulicat lake to the kadapakam as 

150 km along the Chennai coast .Moreover the groundwater effects over 

the coastal region should also be analysed for the supporting evidence 

through the salinity index calculations through Digital Image Processing , 

which is zoned on the erosive coast. 

Sustainability of the environmental conditions will be in oscillating manner 

if the impacts is in adverse manner.so the carefull assessment should be 

carried out for the study of consequences by sea level rise. 

Usage of Remote sensing , DIP and the Mathematics i.e Geomatic 

technique with the use of LANDSAT data in different periods of interval ( 

1991, 2000,2006 ) will reveal the eminent impacts and the consequences 

will be predicted through the trajectory analysis . 


Radiocarbon Dates from the Northeast Part of the Pearl 

River Delta 

Yu Zhangxin 

Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, PR China, 510275 

ABSTRACT 

The Pearl River Delta, one of the largest deltas in China, is located at north 

margin of the South China Sea. The evolution of the delta is subject to 

both sea level changes and local neotectonic movement that it only 

records 2 marine transgression cycles throughout the Quaternary. Based 

on detailed field investigation, sedimentary facies proxies, OSL ages and 

radiocarbon dates, it can be revealed that sedimentary sequences on 

the terraces, which are located at the northeast part of the delta, are 

uplifting parts of the lower cycle which is also sampled from adjacent 

delta boreholes. Some AMS radiocarbon dates of wood fragments are 

obtained from littoral facies of the lower cycle: 42.11±0.26, 42.86±0.29, 

44.07±0.32 ka BP. The consistency between them and large amounts of 

previous researches indicates that the ages of the lower cycle falls into 

MIS3. But sea level of MIS3 was about 50m lower than present, and the 

altitudes of marine deposits of the lower cycle, i.e. -25m~-10m, in the 

delta do not match with sea level of MIS3. So the reliability of radiocarbon 

dates from the lower cycle is still suspicious. However, the oyster shell 

dating results from Holocene marine facies stratum of delta boreholes: 

3.755±0.075(-9m), 3.505±0.065(-5m), 3.315±0.065(-3m) cal. ka BP, are 

obviously younger than the same formation dates from previous 

researches. It is widely accepted that the Pearl River Delta is tectonic 

stable during the Holocene and the high sea level can be identified since 

about 6 ka BP. Why the unconformity between the Pleistocene and the 

Holocene formation lasted until 3.8 ka BP, not about 6 ka BP at the 

northeast part of the Pearl River Delta, needs reasonable explanation. 


Holocene sea-level changes in the coasts of central 

Kerala, South India- evidences from coastal wetlands 

and palaeo-beach ridges 

Linto Alappat 1, 4 , Manfred Frechen 1 , Sumiko Tsukamoto 1 , S. SreeKumar 2 , 

S. Srinivasalu 3 , P. G. Gopakumar 2 , Ashok Kumar Singhvi 4 

1 

Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Geochronology and 

Isotope Hydrology, Stilleweg- 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany 

2 

Department of Geology and Environmental Science, Christ College, 

Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, Kerala, India, 680 125 

3 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai, India, 600 025 

4 

Geoscience division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India, 

380 009 

Corresponding author: lintoalappat@yahoo.co.uk 

ABSTRACT 

Coastal wetlands occur in the central part of Kerala (~15 km inland from 

the present day coast) and are sheltered by beach ridges from the 

Arabian sea, bounded by the latitudes and longitudes of 10°20`-10°30`N; 

76°10`-76°20`E. The wetlands and beach ridges were studied along a 

landward trajectory orthogonal to the coast using optically stimulated 

luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating, to deduce past sea-level 

high stands and coastline progradation. Base upwards, the general 

stratigraphy of the wetland section comprised grey sandy clay at the 

bottom, overlain by a peat unit (1.1m thick at a depth of ~ 2m below 

present surface), plastic clay, fluvial/alluvial sand and 2m thick 

alluvial/colluvial sediments towards the top. The primary sedimentary 

structures in the beach ridges show hummocky cross stratification at the 

lower part, overlain by a sand unit with parallel laminations and exhibits 

reverse grading. This was overlain by a bioturbated sand unit with 

numerous root casts and parallel laminations, capped by light yellow 

aeolian sand. An OSL age of sand layer (7.0±1.2 ka) below the peat unit 

and radiocarbon ages of peat (between 7920- 7740 and 7560- 7340 cal 

yrs BP) in the wetland sequence indicates that the unit was formed 

between 8-6 ka ago and indicate that inundation by sea water during this 

period and consequent submergence of mangrove swamps resulted in 

the formation of carbonic wood/peat deposits. OSL ages from the beach 

ridges indicate a stage of coastline progradation and wide spread 

beach ridge formation at the west coast of Kerala between 5 and 3 ka. 

The OSL and radiocarbon ages from the study along with the digital 

elevation data indicate that the sea-level was higher than the present 

level around ~8-6 ka and ~4- 3 ka. 


Assessing and evaluating rapid coastalchange due to 

catastrophicevents: Keymessages for nonacademicstakeholders 

Adam D, Switzer 1 

1 


Singapore 

2 

Division of Earth Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 

ABSTRACT 

Globally the use of coastal geology to reconstruct palaeo-overwash 

caused by tsunami and storm events now incorporates not only geologists 

and geomorphologists but scientists and engineers of many disciplines. 

Coastal sandsheets and other overwash features can be used to define 

the long-term recurrence interval of catastrophic overwash events. 

Recent studies on modern events have provided new insights into how 

systems respond to catastrophic events and now present the research 

community with a good opportunity to reflect on the progress made in 

the field, evaluate some recent criticisms and highlight knowledge gaps 

for future study. There remain no globally applicable sedimentological 

criteria for differentiating between tsunami and storms in the geological 

record. Although a suite of sedimentary features or commonalitiescan be 

compiled such commonalities can only be attributed to an event type 

through careful analysis of spatial features such as the elevation, lateral 

extent and run-up of the deposit along with sedimentary features such as 

grading, the presence of intraclasts, and particle size distribution of the 

sediments. Such analysis may lead to evidence that can point to storm or 

tsunami as the likely depositional agent. Unfortunately when considered 

alone many characteristics are equivocal. This stated, there remain many 

cases in the literature where a tsunami or storm origin is stated with little 

consideration given to alternative interpretations or the interpretation of 

palaeogeography prior to the event. This hinders the usefulness of the 

field and although work continues on the differences between tsunami 

and storm deposits, their preservation and recognition in the geological 

record remains subject to much uncertainty and conjecture. 

Unfortunately this debate and the uncertainties underlying it can 

undermine the true take home message for coastal managers. This 

presentation outlines draws on experiences from Australia and Asia in 

particular from China, Vietnam and the Philippines where rapidly 

developing coasts are in areas equally susceptible to tropical cyclones 

(typhoons) and tsunami. 


Evidence of Holocene flooding-storm surge events from 

a peatland deposit near the lower reach of Xijiang 

(main stream of the Pearl River Delta), China 

Zhuo Zheng 1 , Kangyou Huang 1 , Huanhuan Peng 1 , Guangqi Zhu 1 , Adam D. 

Switzer 2 Fengling Yu 2 

1 

Department of Earth Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Xingangxi Rd., 


2 


Singapore. 

ABSTRACT 

A Holocene peat profile in the vicinity of Xijiang River, a main stream of 

the western Pearl River Delta in southern China, was studied. The peat 

deposit was composed of over 4m thick autochthonous wood remain 

and clay interlayers. The most abundant wood remain is Glyptostrobus 

pensilis (identified by pollen and wood) (Li et al., 2001), an endemic 

species of subtropical fresh water swamp forest community in China. 

Based on AMS 14 C dating, paludification of the site began around 4.8 cal 

ka BP, which was resulted from river-sea hydrological interaction since the 

early Holocene sea-level rise and the following prominent aggradation in 

the paleo-delta. A number of white clay beds were found intercalated 

within the peat deposit, which were previously considered as a result of 

earthquakes or short-term climatic disasters. The present study aims to 

reveal the regional environment changes during the peatland 

development and the sedimentary origin of the intercalated white clay 

layers. Multiple methods including grain-size, clay mineral, pollen and 

spore, humification and magnetic susceptibility were applied for 

reconstructing the past environmental changes. 

Result shows that the local peatland formation near the lower reach of 

Xijiang was synchronous with massive swamp development in the large 

backshore areas of palaeo-estuary of Pearl River Delta during mid-late 

Holocene. The water drainage system of Xijiang located to the northwestern 

basin of the delta has undergone extensive spatial and temporal 

changes as indicated by both marsh sedimentary deposits and a series of 

flooding clay beds. Result of multiple proxies show that at least 7 clay 

beds can be recognized from the peat profile by means of high-resolution 

humification (very low in the clay layers) and magnetic susceptibility 

(relatively high), many of which could not nevertheless be identified 

directly based on sediment colour. 

The sediment grain-size of the intercalated clay beds inside the peat is 

characterized by very high percentage of clay and silt (>90%). The 

average grain diameters are the finest (6.8Φ) of the whole core and the 

cumulative relative curves are much steeper than other part of the 

profile. These suggest that hydrodynamic condition was relatively stable 

with low energy for the white clay sediment layers. The clay minerals are 

composed of kaolinite, illite and chlorite, and the clay interbeds inside the 

peatland contain more illite than other sections of the core. It is proved 

that the fine grain size and high content of illite found in the thin clay 

interbeds were caused by repeated low-energy bankfull flooding. 

In considering the geographical paleo-locality of the study site (close to 

mid-Holocene estuary of Pearl River Delta), we suggest that the peatland 


was affected by sea-level rise since the early Holocene. As early as c. 

8000 cal. yr BP, when sea level rose to about -5 m, marine inundation 

spilled out of the incised valleys and the sea flooded the whole deltaic 

basin (Zong et al., 2012). The present result confirms that Glyptostrobus 

swamp of the study site began about 4800 cal yr BP., ~3200 years later 

than the beginning of sea level rise right before the Holocene highstand. 

The peatland formation was resulted from the subsequent environmental 

changes of freshwater sedimentation primarily confined within the incised 

valleys that is associated with Holocene rapid sea-level rise and strong 

monsoonal discharge. During the period from 4800 to 1800 cal yr BP, the 

peatland experienced a series of flooding and storm events which might 

be resulted from interaction between terrestrial flooding and coastal 

storm surge (during typhoon for example). The mid-Holocene location of 

the peatland in a depression connected with a great number of small 

basins on the hilly river plain likely explains its sensitivity to runoff. Therefore, 

repeated hundred-year floods over the wetland on hilly plains in the 

domain of Xijiang River were possibly caused by monsoonal discharge 

during destructive tropical cyclones and inland influence of stormheightened 

wave. 

After 1800 cal yr BP, the 2m-thick topmost yellow clayish sediment 

characterized by abundant Poaceae pollen, indicates the agricultural 

development and severe artificial deforestation. High percentage of 

chlorite in the topmost clay derived mostly from local soil erosion, implying 

the recent flooding was a local terrestrial disaster which occurred soon 

after the sea regression. Fluvial processes dominated this topmost phase 

because riverine discharge flooded over the lower reach of the river plain 

and was confined within the river mouth, which leaded to the 

disappearance of the in-situ peatland. 

This work was supported by the NSFC (41230101 and 41072128) and the 

international collaboration project (4299003) with Singapore National 

Research Foundation through the NRF grant (No.M4093018.B50.706022) 

“Geological records of coastal hazards in Asia”. 

References 

1. Li P.R., Cui H.T., Tan H.Z., Dai J.H., Liu H.Y., Shen C.D., Sun Y.M., 2001. A 

study on Holocene buried timbers in Guangdong. Tropical Geography, 

21(3), 195-197. 

2. Zong Y.Q., Huang K.Y., Yu F.L., Zheng Z., Switzer A.D., Huang G.Q., 

Wang N., Tang M., 2012. Quaternary Science Reviews. 54, 77-88 


Study of Wave Parameters along the East Coast of 

India during Thane Cyclone 

Pavala Rajan S*, Ramesh R, Purvaja R, SubbaReddy B 

* 

Institute of Ocean Management 


Anna University, Chennai – 600 025 

scoralking@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

The wave characteristics are very important along the coastal regions. 

The wave action plays a key role during the catastrophic events like 

cyclones. Waves cause damage to coastal regions, Coastal erosion, 

sediment deposition, storm surge and floods etc., along the coastal 

regions. The present study focused to examine the wave characteristics 

along the west coast of Bay of Bengal in the North Indian Ocean during 

Thane cyclone. The THANE cyclone formed in the Bay of Bengal in 25 - 30 

December 2011, which was the very severe cyclonic storm caused major 

damage to the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Coast which is a part of the 

East Coast of India. The Wave Model (WAM) is configured with nested 

domains; the coarse domain covered the Indian Ocean with horizontal 

resolution 1 0 ×1 0 and fine resolution domain covered the Bay of Bengal 

with the horizontal resolution of 0.25 0 ×0.25 0 . The effect of southern ocean 

swells on the wind induced waves in the Bay of Bengal region is studied 

during the Thane cyclone. The Significant Wave Height (SWH) is observed 

very high (9 m) at offshore region and 6 m at the near shore regions of 

Tamil Nadu coast, India due to the impact of swells on cyclone induced 

waves in the Bay of Bengal region. The wave parameters like swell 

significant wave height, wave approach angel also estimated along the 

east coast of India. 


Forced migration and ocean surges disasters along the 

coastline of lagos, nigeria: lessons learned. 

O A Ediang 1* and AA Ediang 2 

*1 

Marine Division, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, PMB1215 OSHODI 

Lagos, Nigeria 

Email: ediang2000@yahoo.com 

2 

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, 6 Burmal Road, 

Apapa, Lagos,Nigeria. 

Email: ediang2005@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

Climate Change in Nigeria is having a very real impact and needs urgent 

attention. Extreme weather as a manifestation of climate change is 

increasingly problematic for the people along the coastline of Lagos state 

. 

For this study , ocean surges is the focus , whereby there is a rise in sea 

level along the coastline caused by the combination of strong winds and 

atmospheric pressure reported to be transiently low at times of surges. The 

paper talked on the real impact of coastal areas is not from a sole 

reason: various factors-such as sea level rise, increase storminess, 

Inundation-combine and cause greater damage to low-lying coastal 

regions in Lagos. 

The field research did not detect large-scale migration resulting from the 

Lagos coastline flooding caused by ocean surges or significant ruralurban 

migration patterns for flood-affected groups. Instead, the research 

revealed that government of Lagos state and Federal government of 

Nigeria-organised resettlement programmes dominate the 

environmentally induced movement pattern for flood-affected areas. 

Keywords: Marine Environment, Nigeria, Coastal degradation, Data 

Analysis. Migration. 


Shore Specific Sediment Characteristics as an Aid to 

Identify the Deposits of Extreme Events Along the 

Sheltered Coast of Southern Tamilnadu, India 

P.Udayaganesan and J.Xavier Ignaci Muthu 

Alagappa Govt. Arts College, Karaikudi – 630 003, India 

ABSTRACT 

Sedimentological investigations to unravel the evidences for the 

occurrence palaeo high energy events had been carried out along the 

Southern Tamil Nadu coast from Rameswaram to Tuticorin. The selected 

study region forms a part of sheltered coast with respect to tsunamigenic 

source region and often experiences low magnitude storms. Trenches 

were made in several locations identified based on the geomorphologic 

criteria and sub samples collected. Sedimentary units and their structures 

were catalogued. Samples collected were subjected to textural, micro 

faunal and heavy mineral analyses. Study revealed the presence of high 

energy deposits in two significant locations. One being the north western 

part of the Rameswaram island where quartz pebbles occur as an alien 

deposit on the palaeo tidal coral flat regions. Tharuvaikulam coast near 

Tuticorin is another location characterised by the presence of anomalous 

enrichment of black sands as a strange deposit. The unique textural, 

structural and mineralogical characteristics of these two deposits in two 

different locations are strikingly different and had helped to distinguish 

them from that of deposits of normal waves in the respective locations. 

Key words: Sedimentology-Texture, micro faunal and heavy mineral 

analyses-Distinguishing high energy deposits. 


Distribution of Calcareous Microfauna (Foraminifera 

and Ostracoda) in the Trench Samples of Tamil Nadu, 

South India – Evidences For Overwash/High Energy 

Depositional Events 

S.M. Hussain*, P. Elakkiya, K.Elumalai and A.K.Singhvi # 

Dept of Geology, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai – 600 

025, India 

# 

Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad - 380 009, 

India 

*Corresponding author E-mail: smhussain7@hotmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

Paleo-tsunamis are commonly recognized by the presence of marine 

sand sheets with microfossils in lagoons, estuaries and in tidal marshes. 

Tsunami deposits probably occupy significant part of coastal geological 

strata. Evidence for the occurrence of tsunami of the past can be derived 

from the recognition of tsunami deposits as well as from other signatures 

left in the coastal landscape, environment, and sedimentary structures. 

Studies on this subject have been triggered and more attention is paid in 

this part of the world only after the disastrous Sumatra tsunami occurred in 

2004. 

Few trenches were opened up along the coast of Tamil Nadu from 

Ennore to Vedaranyam. The details of the distribution of the microfauna 

and sediment parameters for the trenches are presented in this paper. 

The microfaunal results from our study indicate that the sequences at 28 

to 56 cm in the litho-section of Cuddalore – 1: Brizalina striatula and 

Ammobaculites exiguus; whereas in the litho-section of Cuddalore – 2, the 

occurrence of the following species from the depth of 0 to 19 cm 

Elphidium norvangi, Ammobaculites exiguus, Ammonia tepida, 

Phlyctenopora orientalis, Actinocythereis scutigera indicate a high 

energy deposit. 

In the litho section of Velankanni (from 37 to 63 cm) Neomonoceratina 

iniqua and Quinqueloculina lamarckiana are recorded and 

Neomonoceratina iniqua, Parallina hispitula, Elphidium sp. (from 111 to 

130 cm section). The morphological characters of these micro-fossils 

indicate that many of the broken forms is due to high energy waves 

during different high energy events in the coastal region indicating abrupt 

changes from normal conditions. The typical feature of the sub-sections is 

that they are composed of fine sandy sediments, which show upward 

fining and minor amount of clay to silty sand towards the top is also 

indicating a high energy event. 

The following species are identified in the various depths in the litho 

section of Vedaranyam at two regular intervals, 0 to 25 cm: Asterorotalia 

tripinosa, Quinqueloculina sp. (? may be a 2004 tsunami deposit) and 37 

to 61 cm: Quinqueloculina seminulum, Quinqueloculina lamarckiana (? 

may be a paleotsunamigenic deposit). These micro-fossils are often found 

in the inner shelf regions and they are brought into the continental part 

during transportation or movement of high energy waves. 

Sediment sub-samples recovered from the trench located 500-700 m 

away from present day shoreline at Kameshwaram, near Nagapattinam, 

Tamil Nadu, South East Coast of India, show lithological variation and the 


occurrences of microfossils. In the Litholog of Kameshwaram, the list of 

species recorded from 34 to 43 cm is: Ammonia beccarii, Globigerina 

bulloides, Quinqueloculina sp., Spiroculina orbis, Propontocypris 

bengalensis, Propontocypris crocata and phlyctenopora orientalis. This 

section of sediment deposition may due to a paleotsunami. The OSL 

dates for the sediment samples at depth 34 cm is 333 ± 30 and at depth 

105 cm is 255 ± 24 yrs. The ostracod carapace valve ratio in the present 

study also supports that these deposits are from high energy events. 

The distribution of Ammonia dentata, A. tepida, Quinqueloculina sp., 

Asterorotalia inflata, Asteroroalia tripinosa, Elphidium sp. and Spiroculina 

nitida from 0 to 9 cm depth in the litho section of Seruthur possibly suggest 

a 2004 tsunami deposit. No faunal evidence is recorded subsequently at 

a depth from 9 to 61 cm in this litholog. In Marakanam, Mahabalipuram, 

Poombuhar, Pazhaiyar, Thazhanguda and Alambaraikuppam locations, 

there is no significant faunal evidence is noticed. However, the litholog of 

Ennore, Kovalam, Kodiakkarai and Karaikkal shows the distribution of 

forams and ostracods is observed in the entire section of almost 1 m. The 

sedimentological parameters (calcium carbonate, organic matter and 

sand-silt-clay ratio) were determined from all these samples and they 

show almost a positive correlation with the faunal distribution. The 

occurrence of foraminifers and ostracods in the above trenches is 

characteristic of an assemblage under marine influence preferably the 

shallow marine in nature. Albeit, the trenches were made more or less 500 

– 600 m away from the coast, on the mudflats. 

Keywords: Trench sample, Foraminifera/ Ostracoda distribution, sediment 

parameters, high energy events, Tamil Nadu coast, India 


Geological records of ancient tsunamis from South 

eastern coast of India. 

Srinivasalu . S, Anandasabari. K, Saravana. P, Judith D. Silva. 

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai 600 - 025. 

Email : ponmozhisrini2001@yahoo.co.in 

ABSTRACT 

The coastal sediments have great potential to preserve the geological 

signatures of the past cyclic and noncyclic events. Tsunamis are such 

episodic events which leave their imprints in the coastal sediments. Such 

stratigraphic signatures of tsunamis are beautifully displayed in many 

regions of the world (eg. Atwater et al. 2005, Cisternas et al. 2005). In the 

perspective of tsunami disaster management, the present investigations 

are mired by the lack of information on past tsunami cyclicity. The 

instrumental and historical records of tsunamis have not provided dataset 

for longer periods of time, whereas, the geological records in the 

coastal sediments have assisted in identifying past tsunami events 

(Atwater et al. 2005, Cisternas et al. 2005, Jankaew et al. 2008, Monecke 

et al. 2008). In the present study, an attempt has been made to identify 

ancient tsunamis from the Cauvery delta region using sediment records. 

Though most of the 2004 tsunami deposits have been eroded and 

destroyed by natural and human activities, there are few places where 

the tsunami deposits have been preserved. Despite these difficulties, 

there remain plenty of reasons to expect that the coastal geology of 

Cauvery river delta can and will extend these timelines of the history of 

Indian Ocean tsunami. In the case of Tamil Nadu, tsunami deposits from 

2004 have already been characterized (Srinivasalu et al. 2007). Keeping 

the geomorphology and 2004 tsunami sediment characteristics as the 

key, excavations have been made for candidates on the Cauveri river 

delta. Candidates have been found at 4 sites within 2 km from the 

modern beach. Pre-2004 sheets have been traced across the mudflats 

near the place where the 2004 tsunami inundation were more. 

Stratigraphic cross sections were assembled from correlated pits and field 

estimates of particle size and foraminiferal analyses were made. At 

cuddalore a possible tsunami sand sheet has been identified at a depth 

of 15cm below a layer of fluvial clay. Another clay layer is present below 

this event layer. The top 5cm posses the deposits of 2004 tsunami. The top 

layer (2004 tsunami layer) and the third layer (possible paleo-tsunami 

layer) have laminations with few thin (few mm) heavy mineral layers. 

Foraminifers such as Elphidium norvangi, Elphidium spp and Asterorotalia 

trispinosa are present in both these layers. These marine forms are 

significantly absent in other parts of the excavated trench. The possibilities 

of storm deposit or intertidal deposit have been ruled out since 

Asterorotalia trispinosa lives only around 35m water depth. It is not possible 

for sediments of this depth to get deposited by storm surge or by high 

tides. Similar deposits have been identified in other three sites near 

Poombuhar, Karaikal and Pushpavanam. In all these places, the marine 

sand sheets were sandwiched between the fluvial clay indicating coastal 

flooding. Using Sedimentology and micropaleontology and field 

characteristics, the possibilities of storm surges and other coastal 

processes have been ruled out for the origin of these deposits and they 

have been identified as probable candidates of ancient tsunamis. 


Vulnerability assessment of the southeast coast of India to 

sea-level rise 

V. Ram Mohan 1 , Athira, R.S. 1 , Sri Ganesh 2 , T. Chenthamil Selvan 3 , Kankara, 

R.S 3 . and Mageshwaran, T 4 

1 

Dept of Geology, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai – 600 

025. 

2 

National Institute of Ocean Technology, Pallikaranai, Chennai – 600 100. 

3 

Integrated Coastal and Marine area Management Project Directorate, 

NIOT Campus, Pallikaranai 

4 

National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, MoEF, Anna 

University Campus, Chennai – 600025 

ABSTRACT 

Due to Sea Level Rise (SLR) the coastal settlements are threatened 

particularly in the low lying deltaic regions. The SLR would not only 

inundate the low lying areas but may also increase wave action which is 

leads to erosion of the coast and the net loss would be orders of 

magnitude greater than from direct inundation. It is also realised that the 

global warming may increase the frequency of cyclones and storm surge 

and during these extreme events the natural landforms which protect the 

coast may be destroyed. Under these circumstances, it has become 

necessary to assess the vulnerability of the coastal zone to SLR which will 

help to reduce the impacts. 

In this study the vulnerability of the southeast coast of India is investigated 

based six variables viz., 1. geomorphology, 2. Relief/slope, 3. Rock type , 4. 

Relative sea level rise, 5. Shoreline displacement, 6. Tide range and 7. 

Mean Significant. The vulnerability of the coast is assessed by calculating 

the Vulnerability Index (CVI) which is the square root of the product of the 

ranked variables divided by the number of variables. 

Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Palk Bay areas were selected for the 

study and for the calculation of CVI the shoreline is segmented at 100 m 

interval and each segment was assigned the rank according to their 

vulnerability. The scheme of ranking is given in Table 1. The results show 

that Nagapattinam coast more vulnerable for SLR (CVI 4.47 to 10.21; 

Mean 7.51) than the Palk Bay coast (CVI 1.83 to 10.21; Mean 6.36) and 

Cuddalore coasts (CVI 1.29 to 12.91; Mean 5.29). The percent of the area 

falling under the category of High and Very high vulnerability are 28.6 in 

Cuddalore, 60.81 in Nagapattinam and 39 in Palk Bay which indicates 

that the detaic coastal plains of the Cauvery delta are more vulnerable 

to SLR when compared to the Cuddalore coast which is well protected 

by dune longitudinal ridges. 


Study of Hydrodynamic parameters and Sediment 

Transportation along the Odisha Coast 

Mohan Raj C * , Ramesh R, Purvaja R, SubbaReddy B 

* 

Institute for ocean management 


Anna University Campus,Chennai - 600 025 

mohancivil32@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT 

The hydrodynamic parameters like current and waves play a vital role to 

transport the sediment along near shore regions. The present study is 

focused to understand the circulation features around the Odisha coast. 

Two hydrodynamic models (POM, MIKE 21) are configured to the Odisha 

coast and used to study the seasonal circulation around Odisha, forcing 

with the Climatological winds. Totally seven prominent places (Gopalpur, 

Chilika mouth, Puri, Paradeep, Bhitarkanika, Dhamra port and 

Chandhipur) are selected along the Odisha coast to know the 

magnitude of current and their variation due to the Climatological 

southwest and northeast monsoon winds. The magnitude of current 0.3 - 

0.55 ms -1 is varied during southwest monsoons and similarly 0.2 – 0.4 ms -1 

during the northeast monsoon season. The coastal currents are very 

dominant during monsoon seasons. During the southwest monsoon 

season, the zonal currents are very strong in the Chilika Mouth and causes 

to move the sediments away from the coast, but the meridional currents 

are strong at Bhitarkanika and Dhamra port, causes to erosion or 

accretion sediments along the coast. During the northeast monsoon 

season, the zonal current are strong at Chilika Mouth and Paradeep, but 

the meridional currents are strong at Bhitarkanika and Dhamra Port. The 

upwelling or downwelling process, sediment transport, and shoreline 

changes might be observed high at Chilika Mouth, Bhitarkanika and 

Dhamra port due to strong variation of zonal and meridional currents in 

both seasons. The mud flats and sand spits might be formed at 

Bhitarkanika and Dhamra port due strong surface meridional current. The 

strength of the current Compares less at Chilika Mouth to other locations 

during the southwest monsoon season due to the topographic steering 

effect. 


Artificial Coastal Lakes (Paleo-lagoons) for Taping Storm 

Water Runoff for Arresting Saltwater Intrusion and for 

Artificial Filling of Inland Lakes 

Prof. P. Seralathan (Retd), 

13, 11 th cross, Bharathi Nagar, Vayalur Road, Trichy, Tamil Nadu-620 017. 

EMail: pseran@yahoo.com 

ABSTRACT 

Water is indispensable for the existence and survival of life on Earth. But in 

certain parts of the world it is so clear that we have reached or we are 

fast nearing the stage of depleting all the available water resources. In 

other words, water is moving into the realm of economic goods. In Tamil 

Nadu about 5250 rain fed PWD lakes exists to irrigate about 5.12 lakh 

hectares of total irrigated land (30%). In addition there are 39,000 eris or 

tanks in Tamil Nadu, and are a wonderful example of a natural, noninvasive 

method of using and sharing water. Eris are Tamil Nadu’s 

traditional water harvesting systems. Unlike large lakes like 

Chembarambakkam, Maduranthakam, Red Hill, Veeranam etc. which 

receive considerable water directly from a major river or stream eris 

receive water from the surrounding agricultural, forest lands and villages 

only during monsoon time. Most these lakes and tanks have lost their 

water carrying capacity due to heavy accumulation of silts. 

In Tamil Nadu water is not taped but mined. The groundwater level is 

getting lowered and deteriorated day by day. This is mainly because 

continuous monsoon failures over the past several decades, increase in 

human consumption, for industrial purposes, spurt in building construction 

activities, removal of water retaining over bed sand in the river bed and 

increasing number of bore well sunk into deep aquifer. In the villages most 

of the wells which have been serving as the main mode of irrigation 

before the 1970s of the 20 th century have been totally dried. Normally 

such wells have depths in the range from 50 -100 feet. Now deep bore 

wells have replaced the well cultivation and so the water table has gone 

down beyond 300 m in most places. 

The average rainfall in Tamil Nadu is 925 mm against the average rainfall 

of 1170 mm of India. In the coastal region the rain fall is high (1200 mm) 

and occurs as short spell during NE monsoon and so most of them is 

drained to sea as waste within a short period. But in the inland region the 

rain fall is just 550 mm. This is inadequate to recharge the dry region of 

Tamil Nadu. 

The total assessment of water in Tamil Nadu is 1587 TMC but the demand 

is 1895 TMC. So there is a heavy scarcity (gap) of 307 TMC water (1894.8 - 

1587= 307.8 TMC) in Tamil Nadu. But in reality on an average about 177 

TMC water is go as waste (surplus flow) from various river basins of Tamil 

Nadu to the sea. This has to be arrested at any cost in the coastal region 

by making many coastal lakes using unused paleolagoons and other 

wasteland and from where it should be pumped upward to the next 

higher lakes to meet the water needs of inland region. Such lakes would 

also serve to arrest salt water intrusion during dry season in the coastal 

region. Large coastal lakes like Kaliveli etc. should partly be converted as 

freshwater lakes for such purposes. A detailed mapping programme may 

be drawn to implement such programme. 


Thin-bed Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) of stacked 

tsunami deposits from Phra Thong Island, Thailand 

Chris Gouramanis 1 , Adam D. Switzer 1,2 , Charlie S. Bristow 3 , Kruawun 

Jankaew 4 , 

Charles M. Rubin 1,2 , Lee Ying Sin 1,2 , Dat Tien Pham 1,2 , Ildefonso 

Sorvigenaleon Ramos 1 

1. 

Earth Observatory of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. 

2. 

Division of Earth Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 

Singapore. 

3. 

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck College, 

University of London, London, United Kingdom. 

4. 

Department of Geology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. 

ABSTRACT 

Sandy deposits within muddy swales between coastal beach ridges can 

be used to investigate large scale wash over events, generated by storms 

and tsunami. The main techniques for identifying washover sandy lenses 

are point source augering or pitting and/or trenching. These techniques 

are time and cost intensive. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) presents a 

rapid, non-invasive, spatially-continuous technique for identifying 

subsurface stratigraphy. Although GPR facies are not diagnostic of a 

particular sedimentary characteristic, they do provide an avenue for 

reconnaissance studies, or to help constrain the spatial extent of sand 

deposits. 

Here we present a method for examining thin (

Conference program and abstracts - Coastal-Change.Org

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