01-05 December 2025
INCOIS, Hyderabad, India.
| Abstract Submission No. | ABS-06-0105 |
| Title of Abstract | Surface sediment studies from Kalpeni Atoll, Lakshadweep |
| Authors | Gangmei Gaichunglu*, Champoungam Panmei, Yumnam Rojit Singh |
| Organisation | IPaL, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee |
| Address | Department of Earthsciences, IIT Roorkee Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India Pincode: 247667 E-mail: gangmei_g@es.iitr.ac.in |
| Country | India |
| Presentation | Poster |
| Abstract | The Lakshadweep Archipelago, comprising coral atolls atop the Laccadive-Chagos Ridge situated in the Arabian Sea represents a distinctive carbonate platform influenced by dynamic Indian Ocean currents. The Kalpeni Atoll is a part of this archipelago, which lies within the Indian Ocean Warm Pool (IOWP), making it highly sensitive to climatic changes. Preliminary studies have shown a significant shift in the Northern Indian Ocean dynamics, viz. increased cyclone intensity and frequency due to ocean warming, with predictions of a sea level rise of ~0.76m and a sea surface temperature increase of ~3.4°C by the end of the 21st century. These changes are expected to intensify mechanical wave energy and current velocities, affecting the low-lying coral islands of Lakshadweep, leading to sediment erosion, reworking and redistribution. Despite several preliminary studies on reef health and general sedimentation around various coral atolls of Lakshadweep, a micropaleontological assessment focusing on benthic foraminifera and their relationship with sediment dynamics remain sparse. Therefore, twenty-five surface sediments collected from Kalpeni Atoll were used to investigate the benthic foraminiferal distribution integrating grain size analysis, foraminiferal taxonomy and statistical correlation with regional hydrodynamics. Grain size analysis reveals a grainstone-dominated, sand rich texture with bimodal to polymodal distributions, suggestive of strong hydrodynamic forcing. Within this reef-lagoonal setting, calcareous forms of foraminifera are dominant, while arenaceous forms are relatively scarce, reflecting a lack of finer sediments. This supports the inference of a coarse-dominated depositional setting. Three families of foraminifera viz. Calcarinidae, Miliolidae, and Amphisteginidae are most abundant, with Miliolids suggestive of high energy conditions. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive information regarding the distribution of reef associated benthic foraminifera in Kalpeni and associated local hydrodynamic processes and regional oceanographic influences, offering a framework for comparative studies across tropical reef systems. |
| Are you part of IIOE-2 endorsed project | no |
| Keywords | Kalpeni Atoll, Lakshadweep Archipelago, Benthic foraminifera, Indian Ocean, Tropical reef system |
| For Awards | no |