An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c12.s3.5

v1.c12.s3.5

Manifestations of climatic change are multifold. Changes in sea-level, extent of former ice sheets, lake levels, fluvial sediments of rivers, extent of deserts—all reflect changes in palaeoclimate. These are also manifested in the increase/decrease of cold- warmth-loving flora and fauna in the geological terrestrial and marine sediment records [9.8.1]. For example the cooling of the Pleistocene is marked by the disappearance of discosters and the appearance of cold-loving species like *Globorotalia truncatulinoides* and *Globorotalia menardii* complex (sinistral) at about 1·9 million years. There is a general correlation between the interglacial phases of the n. and the pluvial phases of the tropics. This can also be detected in the changes in the pollen record. For example the onset of deglaciation in Toshmaidan, Kashmir, is datable to *c.* 15000 B.P. and the advent of the early Holocene pluvial is marked in the pollen records of Rajasthan salt lakes at *c.* 10000 B.P. [7.4].