Abstract
The hydrochemistry of meltwater from the Sutri Dhaka Glacier, Western Himalaya, has been studied to understand the influence of the factors controlling the weathering processes of the glaciers during the peak ablation period. The high solar irradiance prompted intense melting, which has raised the stream flow of the glacier. The meltwater has been observed as slightly alkaline (mean pH 8.2) and contains the major anions (HCO3 − > SO4 2− > NO3 − > Cl−) and cations (Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ > Na+ > NH4 +) with Ca2+ (78.5%) and HCO3 − (74.5%) as the dominant species. The piper diagram indicates the category of stream meltwater as Ca2+-HCO3 − type. In addition, it is evident from the Gibbs diagram that the interaction between the meltwater and bedrock controls the ionic concentrations of the glacial meltwater. The high ratio value (~ 0.75) of HCO3 −/(HCO3 − + SO4 2−) indicates that the carbonate weathering is dominant. Fe and Al followed by Mn, Sr, and Ti are the most dominant trace elements present in the meltwater. The significant negative correlation exhibited by the major ions and Sr with the discharge is recommended for the enrichment of these solutes during the lean discharge periods. However, the insignificant correlation of Fe, Al, Mn, and Ti with discharge suggests their physicochemical control. The principal component analysis (PCA) carried has highlighted three dominant composites, i.e., the water-rock interaction, atmospheric dust inputs, and physicochemical changes in the meltwater. Hence, the present study elucidates the export of geochemical solutes from Sutri Dhaka Glacier and factors governing the water chemistry, which helps in the better understanding of hydrochemical processes of the Himalayan glaciers and substantial improvement of our understanding about the glacio-hydrological environments and their response in the scenario of global warming.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Director of National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research and Dr. Rasik Ravindra for their encouragement and the Ministry of Earth Science for providing financial support. The authors also wish to thank BL Redkar, Ashish Painginkar, and Lathika N. Padmanabhan for assistance with the laboratory analysis. The first author would like to thank Dr. Roseline Thakur, Dr. Kanthanathan Mahalinganathan, Dr. Runa Antony, Racheal Chacko, Rupesh Kumar Sinha, Vinay Kumar Gaddam, Dr. Bhanu Pratap, and Sunil Oulkar for their valuable comments. We acknowledge Dr. Andrew Mitchell for his assistance with the PHEERIQC software. We would like to thank the editor and an anonymous reviewer for careful reading and constructive suggestions, which helped us to improve our manuscript. This is NCAOR contribution number 33/2017.
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Singh, A.T., Laluraj, C.M., Sharma, P. et al. Export fluxes of geochemical solutes in the meltwater stream of Sutri Dhaka Glacier, Chandra basin, Western Himalaya. Environ Monit Assess 189, 555 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6268-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6268-9