Birbal Sahni Institute reconstructs 4,600 years of monsoon history from a lake near Lucknow
16 October 2026
Scientists at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, have reconstructed 4,600 years of climate and environmental history.
They studied Karela Lake at Hulas Khera near Lucknow, an oxbow lake on the Central Ganga Plain.
The methods used were accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating, carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, grain-size analysis, end-member modelling and palynology.
Four major environmental phases were identified, linked to the 4.2 kiloyear arid event, the Roman Warm Period and the Little Ice Age.
The study finds that fluctuations in the Indian summer monsoon shaped lake hydrology, sediment transport, vegetation, microbial activity and early farming adaptation.
It concludes that small oxbow lakes on the Central Ganga Plain are highly sensitive natural archives, and it was published in the Journal of Asian Earth Sciences.
In plain words
Oxbow lake Oxbow lake — A curved lake formed when a meander of a river is cut off from the main channel.
Palynology Palynology — The study of pollen and spores preserved in sediments, used to reconstruct past vegetation.
BSIP Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences — A Lucknow-based autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology that studies ancient life and climate.