Core sediments from dry lake bed of Hamoun, were subdivided into 3 main sedimentary units using a multi-proxy approach (e.g. petrography, grain size analysis, TOM% and CaCO3% determination) to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmet of the Sistan basin (SE Iran) as a transition zone between the monsoon summer precipitation zone of south Asia and the Mediterranean winter precipitation zone of the Iranian plateau during the Holocene. Data revealed that during the late glacial - early Holocene, lake and its catchment area, western Hindu Kush, were under a more prominent influence of Indian Ocean monsoon and formed a moist and productive environment with less wind action, as shown by the provenance of high TOM lacustrine sediments together with the lack of aeolian fraction. Due to southward migration of ITCZ during the mid Holocene, arid climate manifested by an interplay of seasonal aeolian and fluvial deposition became dominant. These conditions were due to reinforcement of subtropical anticyclones on the Iranian plateau. The presence of green to brownish green medium TOM lacustrine sediments showed that during the late Holocene, Mediterranean-type winter precipitation dominated in the area. During initial part of this period, the Shahr-i Sukhteh civilization raised close to the lake. The environment has been relatively similar with that of today. Some palaeostorms can also be detected during this time interval evidenced by occurrences of high aeolian inputs in the basin.

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