Shillong, Oct 22: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma recently said awareness would be raised about the ‘Meghalyan Age’, the age that has witnessed the maximum destruction of nature through human interference.
So, first things first, the Meghalayan Age is a geological time scale that began around 4,200 years ago and continues to the present day. It represents the most recent phase of the Holocene Epoch, our current geological epoch.
Named after the Mawmluh Cave in Meghalaya, India, this age is significant due to evidence of a severe drought that contributed to the decline of various ancient civilizations.
All credit for naming this age after Meghalaya and its major findings goes to Prof. Ashish Sinha from the University of California, USA. Sinha in 2003 was doing research on Indian monsoon and during his visit to one of the wettest places on earth – Sohra, took Stalagmite samples from Mawmluh cave for further studies in the US.
The samples remained in pristine form as most caves do such natural preservation and provided the best chemical signatures how 4200 years back the earth suddenly dried up owing to scant or no rainfall.
Prof Sinha further carried out studies together with other scientists in the USA and the findings were published in 2012 in the International Commission on Stratigraphy. The age was named the “Meghalayan”.
The age was determined with carbon dating. When rainwater dissolves Uranium in rocks these are locked inside Stalagmites. As Uranium decays, it’s possible to date them.
Oxygen from rainwater embedded in stalagmites is analyzed. The ratio of the Oxygen Isotopes (16O and 18O) and their distribution in the Stalagmites can be analysed to find the amount of rainfall in a specific age.
Therefore, both the age (4200) and the amount of rainfall distribution was found by Prof Sinha and the other collaborating scientists. It was found that during the Meghalayan age there was a drought like situation and major civilisations suffered or perished.
This drought was also a result of human interference with nature and the best example is the Mawmluh cave itself which has faced the brunt of human exploitation of nature through mindless mining.
Therefore, when Sangma says awareness would be raised about the Meghalayan age he also probably means raising awareness on preservation of the environment, which is one of the foundations of Meghalayan age.
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