IMPRINTS OF LATE QUATERNARY CLIMATIC AND SEA-LEVEL CHANGES ON EAST AND SOUTH INDIAN COAST

Along the coast of East and South India, a slow and minor sea level fa ll as an immediate response to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) followed by strong aridity and fast retreat of the sea to the outer shelf are indicated by coastal ironstones, traces of channels in nearshore shall ow seismic reflectors, and submerged, structureless, multimineral plac er sands. Nearshore peat beds and inland beach ridges reflect perturba tions during Early to Mid-Holocene sea level rise. The Little Ice Age witnessed shifts in littoral sediment budget, possibly as a result of reduced transport of sediments from the Himalaya to the Bay of Bengal.