Abstract

Complete lack of consensus on the Neogene establishment and evolution of the Asian monsoon in general, and Indian monsoon in particular, is remarkable after almost half a century of research. My lecture will introduce novel interpretations base on new terrestrial and oceanic records spanning the last 34 million years from the Bay of Bengal as well the Arabian and Andaman Seas. I discuss a potential solution to the conundrum of monsoon wind-precipitation decoupling and I propose that the Indian monsoon had two distinct flavours during the Neogene that can be largely explained by its heartbeat, or the astronomical forcing, interacting with the paleogeography of South Asia. Lastly I touch on potential effects of this monsoon reinterpretation on elemental cycles, including carbon, during Neogene.