1 On the Holocene Evolution of the Ayeyawady Megadelta 2 3 Authors: 4 5 Liviu Giosan1, Thet Naing2, Myo Min Tun3, Peter D. Clift4, Florin Filip5, 6 Stefan Constantinescu6, Nitesh Khonde1,7, Jerzy Blusztajn1, Jan-Pieter Buylaert8, 7 Thomas Stevens9, Swe Thwin10 8 9 Affiliations: 10 11 1Geology & Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic, Woods Hole, USA 12 2Pathein University, Pathein, Myanmar 13 3University of Mandalay, Mandalay, Myanmar 14 4Geology & Geophysics, Louisiana State University, USA 15 5The Institute for Fluvial and Marine Systems, Bucharest, Romania 16 6Geography Department, Bucharest University, Bucharest, Romania 17 7Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, India 18 8Technical University of Denmark, Roskilde, Denmark 19 9Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden 20 10Mawlamyine University, Mawlamyine, Myanmar 21 22 23 24 25 26 Correspondence to: L. Giosan (
[email protected]) 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 *submitted to Earth Surface Dynamics 37 1 38 Abstract: 39 40 The Ayeyawady delta is the last Asian megadelta whose evolution has remained 41 essentially unexplored so far. Unlike most other deltas across the world, the Ayeyawady 42 has not yet been affected by dam construction providing a unique view on largely natural 43 deltaic processes benefiting from abundant sediment loads affected by tectonics and 44 monsoon hydroclimate. To alleviate the information gap and provide a baseline for future 45 work, here we provide a first model for the Holocene development of this megadelta 46 based on radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence-dated trench and drill core 47 sediments collected in 2016 and 2017, together with a re-evaluation of published maps, 48 charts and scientific literature.