Abstract
The Teesta River Basin is situated in the northeastern Himalayas and is known for its stunning natural features, including diverse ecosystems, glaciers, hot springs, and perennial river streams. The composition of isotopes (δ18O, δD, and 87Sr/86Sr) can serve as potential indicators of fluvial and lithological feeds as the river flows from the high-altitude glacial sources to the downstream of a basin. This study employs a quantitative approach to analyze the sources of water in the Teesta River system, focusing on its flow, lithological composition, and geothermal origins. A Monte Carlo-based three-endmember isotope mixing model is constructed to determine the contribution of source endmembers to the discharge of the river. Results show a maximum mean contribution from groundwater (48 ± 6.0%) with other inputs from rainfall (37 ± 4.3%) and snow/glacial melt (15 ± 5.8%). A state-of-the-art basin-specific Monte Carlo-based four-endmember strontium (Sr) model is also developed to segregate the contribution of dissolved Sr flux from different lithologies. The model shows the maximum mean contribution of Sr from silicate lithologies (177 ± 138.2 nm). The river samples collected from glaciated locations show maximum Sr contribution from carbonate lithologies. Moreover, two natural thermal springs at North Sikkim are investigated for stable isotopic composition and heavy metals. Arsenic contamination (67.05 ppb) with a high amount of tin (2095.35 ppb) is found in the thermal spring near the Changme glacial snout, which hints at an isolated geothermal system with an arsenic source.
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Data availability
The datasets used in this study is available in the supplementary information provided by Das et al. 2022a, b and Ali et al. 2020 as follows: https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/gzs2kfkghm/1, http://www.terrapub.co.jp/journals/GJ/archives/data/54/MS604.pdf.
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Upon request, the Matlab code will be made available.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Das et al., 2022a, b and Ali et al., 2020 for providing necessary datasets in their supplementary information as https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/gzs2kfkghm/1 and http://www.terrapub.co.jp/journals/GJ/archives/data/54/MS604.pdf respectively. The authors are also thankful to IUAC for extending Q-ICPMS established under the National Geochronology Facility funded by the Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) with project reference number MoES/P.O. (Seismic)8(09)-Geochron/2012, Dr. Anita Punia and Ms. Shreya Sharma for their support. We thank Dr. Sudhir Kumar, Director, NIH Roorkee and Hydrological Investigations Division, NIH Roorkee for giving us access to the analytical facility to carry out this work. Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE) (xxCESPNDTRL01140xRIB004), the Forest Environment and Wildlife Management Department, the state administration of the Government of Sikkim and the Indian Army are also thanked for their tremendous support during the field investigation. We are grateful to the anonymous Reviewers and the Editor/s, for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve earlier versions of the manuscript.
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Mondal, S.K., Bharti, R. Tracing hydrological, lithological and geothermal sources of Himalayan river system: a case study from the Teesta River Basin. Environ Earth Sci 83, 273 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11573-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11573-7