Organisational Structure - Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany

Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
Accumulation of these in plants was also analysed.
The palynostratigraphical records show occurrence
of mangrove forest during Early Holocene in the
estuary that declined during Late Holocene. The
anthropogenic pressure from Chennai city is fast
deteriorating the aesthetic value of the estuary.
Palynostratigraphical studies from Kolleru Lake (AP)
indicates the shrinking of lake in the present day due
to pressure of aquacultutre and pisciculture practiced
in large scale decreasing the biodiversity in the area.
Preliminary analysis shows high concentration of
heavy metals (arsenic, lead, and copper) in surface
soil and sedimentary soil profile studied from
Pichavaram (TN). High concentration of these was
observed in the leaves of mangroves.
A. Farooqui
Component 3: Studies of lake sediments in Rajasthan desert proxy climate signals
Carried out LM and SEM studies of palyno taxa
of families Malvaceae, Capparidaceae and
Sterculiaceae collected from Rajasthan in order to
facilitate the specific identification of the recovered
fossil pollen and to ascertain the affinities of the
genera and species to determine possible evolutionary
trends in these families. Completed the pollen
analytical investigations of 1.40 m deep sedimentary
profile from Pachpadra, an extinct salt lake in Barmer
district. The pollen diagram has been divided into
three zones; each prefixed by the abbreviations PP,
signifying the investigated site. Pollen zone PP-I
(125-140 cm) is palynologically barren and is mainly
comprised of sandy material with very little clay. PP-
II (70-125 cm) reflects poor occurrence of Poaceae,
Cyperaceae, Tubulifloreae, etc. comprising sandy
surface and with little clay. Pollen zone PP-III (0-70
cm) revealed good frequency of palyno-taxa, viz.
Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Tubulifloreae, Brassicaceae,
Convolvulaceae, Portulaca sp., Solanum
xanthocarpum amongst non-arboreal and Mimosa sp.,
Syzyzium sp., Holoptelea, Ephedra sp., etc. of
arboreal. Pollen of Pinus roxburghii, transported to
the site has also been recorded. Pollen of Dendropthoe
falcata, the epiphyte Loranthaceae has also been
recovered. Completed pollen analytical investigation
of 4.00 m deep sedimentary profile from Bagundi,
another extinct salt lake, situated 30 km from
Pachpadra town towards Barmer. Studies have
revealed the dominance of non-arboreal over arboreal
as witnessed in Pachpadra profile. Most of the
samples turned out non-productive, except for the
upper part (0-90 cm) with blackish clay sediment.
Finalized manuscript based on the studies of surface
samples from Bagundi.
C. Sharma & C. Srivastava
Component 4 :Palaeomangroves and palaeoclimate in Andaman and Nicobar Islands during
Quaternary Period
Pollen analysis in ten samples (nos. 11-20) of
Quaternary section (BS-1595; 36,550 ±870 yr. BP)
from R.K. Puram, Little Andaman was done. The
palynodebris exhibited poor assemblage of pollen
grains, fungal spores, fern spores, microforaminifera,
etc. The pollen of Poaceae, Urticaceae, Acanthaceae,
Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Oleaceae along
with mangrove constituents (Rhizophora,
Excoecaria, Heritiera) have been encountered in
varying frequencies. Trilete and monolete fern spores
were found in great abundance in some of the
samples. Reworked striate, disaccate pollen of older
horizons were also encountered.
A. Khandelwal
Pollen of Holoptelea integrifolia X 1000
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