Teri Red Sands, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

A conspicuous feature that occurs on the southeast coastal Tamil Nadu, in southeast India covering vast areas is the red sand, known as teri red sands. On the basis of geomorphic setting and optical ages, the teri sands can be broadly classified into three main types—(i) the inland fluvial teri sands, (ii) the coastal teri sands, and (iii) the near-shoreline teri sand dunes. The inland teri sediments have the highest percentage of clay and silty-sand components, indicating that these were brought and deposited by fluvial process during stronger winter monsoon >15 ka. Luminescence dating of the coastal teri dunes reveals their deposition was prior to ~11 ka, and the near-shoreline dunes were laid down at around 5–6 ka. These coastal dunes were formed during a period of lower sea level and the near-shoreline dunes were formed during a period of comparatively higher sea level. Red coating of the sand grains was post-depositional and occurred after 11 ka for the coastal teri dunes and after 5–6 ka (mid-Holocene) for the near-shoreline teri dunes.