Abstract
A systematic study of the major ion chemistry of the Ganga source waters—the Bhagirathi, Alaknanda and their tributaries—has been carried out to assess the chemical weathering processes in the high altitude Himalaya. Among major ions, Ca, Mg, HCO3 and SO4 are the most abundant in these river waters. These results suggest that weathering of carbonate rocks by carbonic and sulphuric acids dominates in these drainage basins. On an average, silicate weathering can contribute up to ∼ 30% of the total cations.
The concentration of total dissolved salts in the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda is 104 and 115mg/l, respectively. The chemical denudation rate in the drainage basins of the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda is, respectively, 110 and 137 tons/km2/yr, significantly higher than that derived for the entire Ganga basin, indicating intense chemical erosion of the Himalaya.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gansser A 1964Geology of the Himalaya (London: Interscience) 289 pp.
Handa B K 1968 Chemical composition of rain water in some parts of North India;Indian J. Met. Geophys. 19 175–180
Krishnaswami S, Trivedi J R, Sarin M M, Ramesh R and Sharma K K 1992 Strontium isotopes and Rubidium in the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system: Weathering in the Himalaya, fluxes to the Bay of Bengal and contributions to the evolution of oceanic87Sr/86Sr;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. (in press)
Nijampurkar V N, Sarin M M and Rao D K 1991 Chemical composition of snow and ice from Chhota Shigri Glacier, Central Himalayas;J. Hydrol. (submitted)
Pal S K 1986Geomorphology of river terraces along Alaknanda Valley, Garhwal Himalaya; (Delhi: B R Publishing Corporation) 119 pp.
Sarin M M and Krishnaswami S 1984. Major ion chemistry of the Ganga-Brahmaputra river systems, India;Nature (London) 312 538–541
Sarin M M, Krishnaswami S, Dilli K, Somayajulu B L K and Moore W S 1989. Major ion chemistry of the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system: Weathering processes and fluxes to the Bay of Bengal;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53 997–1009
Singha D R and Gupta P N 1982 Assessment of silation in Tehri Reservoir;Proc. Int. Symp. Hydrological aspects of mountainous watersheds, Roorkee, I VII-60 pp.
Stallard R F and Edmond J M 1983 Geochemistry of the Amazon, the influence of geology and weathering environment on the dissolved load;J. Geophys. Res. 88 9671–9688
Stallard R F and Edmond J M 1987 Geochemistry of the Amazon, weathering chemistry and limits to dissolved inputs;J. Geophys. Res. 92 8293–8302
Trivedi J R, Sarin M M, Krishnaswami S and Sharma K K 1991 Strontium isotopes in the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system: Weathering in the Himalayas and fluxes to the Bay of Bengal; Preprint Vol., 5th National Symposium on Mass Spectrometry, Ahmedabad EPS-4 pp
Valdiya K S 1980Geology of the Kumaun Lesser Himalaya (Dehra Dun: Wadia Inst. of Himalayan Geology) 291 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sarin, M.M., Krishnaswami, S., Trivedi, J.R. et al. Major ion chemistry of the Ganga source waters: Weathering in the high altitude Himalaya. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Earth Planet Sci.) 101, 89–98 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02839175
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02839175