[1] We have identified 15 new Australasian microtektite sites along a transect roughly N-S in the central Indian Ocean. These locations, in addition to the existing 46 sites, total to 61 microtektite sites in the oceans. We carried out regression analysis of a selected area between 12-26°N and 98-112°E, at 0.5°intervals using three microtektite data sets separately: 41 sites, 46 sites (number of sites known up to the years 1994 and 2006, respectively), and the entire data set of 61 sites. This area was chosen because, on the basis of various lines of evidence, several investigators suggested impact craters for the strewn field within this broad area. The 41 site data set defines an impact site at about 12°N and 106°E. Whereas the contours joining the highest values of the square of the correlation coefficient by using 46 site and 61 site data sets define an area located in NE Thailand-central Laos, the center of this site is at 18°N and 104°E. Therefore with progressive increase in microtektite data the location of the impact site seems to get defined more rigorously. On the basis of the equations for the concentration of the ejecta and the distance from the source region, the calculated crater size has a diameter range between 33 and 120 km. Interestingly, the lower size limit of 33 km has been found closer to ground truth by verification from the microtektite data of the Ivory Coast strewn field.

This paper describes the hydrographic observations in the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) during two cruises carried out in March-June 2003 as part of the Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment. The surface hydrography during March-April was dominated by the intrusion of low-salinity waters from the south; during May-June, the low-salinity waters were beginning to be replaced by the highsalinity waters from the north. There was considerable mixing at the bottom of the surface mixed layer, leading to interleaving of low-salinity and high-salinity layers. The flow paths constructed following the spatial patterns of salinity along the sections mimic those inferred from numerical models. Time-series measurements showed the presence of Persian Gulf and Red Sea Waters in the SEAS to be intermittent during both cruises: they appeared and disappeared during both the fortnight-long time series.

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Bathymetry across the carbonate platform off western India indicated small-size pinnacles and their lateral coalescence into 2-6-m high mounds landward, and linear elongated carbonate ridges and troughs, mounds and banks up to a height of 20-m seaward of the platform. Seismic data indicated that these mounds were transparent with no rigid internal structure and can be defined as bioherms. The sediments were abundantly aragonite faecal pellets, Halimeda grains and ooids and their radiocarbon ages ranged from 11 to 7.5 ka BP. It appears that the growth of Halimeda bioherms on the platform was facilitated by intense upwelling during the early Holocene. The terrigenous sediments brought by rivers were deposited in the inner shelf and have not affected the growth of bioherms. It is estimated that the platform comprises at least 1.85 Gt of mass CaCO 3 accumulated during the early Holocene and comparable to those on the Great Barrier Reef. Halimeda bioherms produce abundant carbonate sediments and their growth period represents a geological carbonate sink and release of high CO 2 to the atmosphere. Detailed shallow seismic studies and sediment cores are needed to quantify the exact mass content of CaCO 3 and model climate change during the early Holocene.

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