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Sediments exposed in the lower Mahi basin at the southern fringe of the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India, provide evidence of three distinct depositional environments, namely marine, aeolian and fluvial. These have been used to reconstruct Late Pleistocene environmental and tectonic history of the region. Infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) chronology of the fluvial and aeolian lithe-units provides evidence of two major fluvial aggradation phases in the region corresponding to Oxygen Isotopic Stages 5 and 3. The basal marine clay is inferred to represent the last interglacial stage and its present elevation at +20 m a.s.l. is attributed to post-depositional tectonism. Comparison of fluvial records from other regions indicates interhemispherically documented wetter phases during Oxygen Isotope Stages 5 and 3. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.