Red clays indicate sub-aerial exposure of the Rio Grande Rise during the Eocene volcanic episode.

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) mapping of the western Rio Grande Rise (RGR), South Atlantic, and subsequent exploration and photography of horizontal lava flows exposed in near vertical, faulted escarpments, showed occurrences of red clays/weathered volcanic tops trapped between successive alkaline lava flows. These red clays indicate a hiatus in successive volcanic eruptions. Here, we report detailed mineralogical, geochemical, and rock magnetic characteristics of one such distinct red clay dredged from ~ 650 m water depth in the western RGR. The mineral constituents of the red clay are kaolinite, magnetite, oxidized magnetite (/maghemite), hematite, and goethite, with biogenic calcite and halite occupying voids or precipitated on the surface of the red clay. The chemical index of alteration (CIA) has a value of 93, showing that red clay is a product of extreme chemical weathering of the lava flows. The alkaline volcanic rocks recovered from nearby show an age of ~ 44 Ma, indicating an Eocene age for the volcanism. We show that the red clays are a product of sub-aerial chemical weathering of these Eocene volcanic rocks, in a warm-wet climate, before the thermal subsidence of the RGR to its modern-day bathymetric depth.

A 140-year record of environmental changes in São Sebastião, Brazil.

Over the past two centuries, coastal and estuarine areas have experienced environmental stress due to rapid population growth, leading to higher demand, overexploitation, habitat transformation, and pollution, which have severe consequences on the overall ecosystem and human health. This work aims to understand historical perspectives of such environmental stress in a coastal area of São Sebastião city in the São Paulo State of Brazil, which has witnessed rapid changes in land use over the past 60-70 years. We collected eleven surface sediments and one 64 cm long core from the shallow water depth sector of the São Sebastião Channel (SSC), adjacent to the Araçá Bay region. Sediments were dominantly composed of terrestrial siliciclastic material carrying signatures of both local inputs (i.e., weathered granitic and gneissic rocks of Serra do Mar Mountain ranges) and Plata Plume sediments brought by Brazilian coastal currents. Low sediment accumulation (avg. = 0.10 cm yr-1) between 1880 and 1947 showed a stable environment followed by an abrupt increase in sedimentation (avg. = 0.84 cm yr-1) from 1947 to 2017. This approximate eight-fold increase in sedimentation after 1947 marked significant anthropogenic changes in the region, which is coincidental with major changes in land use through the construction of the port of São Sebastião (1930s) and BR-101 Highway (1980s). While recent surface sediments showed no pollution of heavy metals, anthropogenic Zn enrichment was found between 1880 and 2000. Zn enrichment was from the combined sources, e.g., agriculture activities, domestic sewage, and possibly Zn coated ship paints. Our study also indicates that planned future expansion of São Sebastião port may further increase the sedimentation rate in SSC and impact the ecosystem of Araçá Bay and SSC.

Multiproxy paleoclimate dataset from the Bednikund alpine lake in the Central Himalaya.

We describe here a multiproxy dataset (grain size, environmental magnetism, stable carbon isotope, total nitrogen, and total organic carbon) generated on a ~116 cm long trench profile from the high altitude alpine Badnikund lake in the Central Himalaya. The dataset also includes environmental magnetic and organic geochemistry data on catchment soils of the Bednikund lake. The presented data is related to the research article "Middle Holocene Indian summer monsoon variability and its impact on cultural changes in the Indian subcontinent" [1]. The chronology of the Bednikund lake trench (BBK) profile is well established with seven AMS 14C dates. The multiproxy data is provided in tabular format in an excel file along with ages in Mendeley Data Repository. The multiproxy data can be significantly utilized for regional correlation of Indian summer monsoon (ISM) variability during the middle Holocene as well as for correlation of global climatic events. The data can also be reutilized in paleoclimate modelling for precipitation change over the past ~6000 years.