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Hydrogeochemical characteristics of meltwater draining from Himalayan glaciers: a critical review

  • Review Paper
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Abstract

Hydrogeochemistry of glacial meltwater provides important information about the solute acquisition processes, chemical weathering and associated CO2 consumption, atmospheric and anthropogenic activities, solute dynamics and impact of climate on meltwater chemistry in the glacier environment. This review paper mainly discusses about the hydrogeochemistry of meltwater draining from approximately 25 glaciers situated in the different regions of Himalaya. HCO3− is the major anion in all the studied glaciers except Batal, Dokriani, Chaturangi, Dudu, Bagni, Raktvarn and Gangotri glaciers where SO42− is found to be the dominant anion, indicating possible predominance of sulphuric acid–mediated weathering in these glaciers. Carbonate weathering has been observed as a main solute acquisition process controlling hydrogeochemistry of the Himalayan glaciers meltwater. The pCO2 (effective CO2 pressure) values for the Western and Central Himalayan glaciers meltwater were higher than that of atmospheric (10–3.5 atm.) pCO2 value, representing disequilibrium glacial system with respect to the atmospheric environment. Ca-HCO3 has been identified as a dominant water type in majority of the studied Himalayan glaciers except Chaturangi, Dokriani, Batal, Raktvarn and Gangotri glaciers where Ca-SO4 has been identified as the major water type. In general, major ion concentration in the glaciers meltwater located in the Garhwal and Himachal Himalayan regions is low during the peak flow or monsoon period and high during the late melt or post-monsoon season. The chemical weathering rates of Chhota Shigri (Western Himalayan) glacier is lesser as compared to the Dokriani (Garhwal Himalayan) glacier, which might be due to the availability of high supraglacial moraines and intense rainfall during monsoon season in the basin of Dokriani glacier. The annual CO2 drawdown by the high-altitude basin of Batal glacier due to CO2 consumption rate through chemical (carbonate and silicate) weathering is very low as compared to the Gangotri (Garhwal Himalayan) glacier, which might be due to lesser glacial runoff and smaller size of the Batal glacier with respect to the Gangotri glacier. Climate has significantly affected the solute chemistry of Himalayan glaciers.

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Acknowledgements

The first author of this manuscript Virendra Bahadur Singh is grateful to the UGC, Govt. of India, under the UGC- Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme [Grant No. F.4-2/2006 (BSR)/ES/17-18/0057] for the research grant.

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  1. Department of Geology, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Virendra Bahadur Singh

  2. Department of Chemistry, Sri Aurobindo College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, 110017, India

    Pramod Kumar

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Singh, V.B., Kumar, P. Hydrogeochemical characteristics of meltwater draining from Himalayan glaciers: a critical review. Arab J Geosci 15, 680 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-09903-9

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