Chemical and sediment mass transfer in the Godavari River basin in India

Abstract

Mass transfer in the Godavari River is predominantly monsoonal since 95% of the total annual load is transported in the wet season. The annual denudation rate varies from one part of the basin to the other, but the basin as a whole is being eroded at a rate higher than that of the world global average. This may be due to the fact that 85% of the basin is covered by intensive human activity. While geology is a controlling factor from a quality point of view, discharge and elevation control quantitatively the annual mass transfer into the Bay of Bengal. The sediment load, representing physical weathering, is about seven times that of the chemical load. Monthly and annual variations in mass transfer as a function of time and space have been observed in the river basin. The annual mass transfer of the river is about 10% of that of the Himalayan drainage system.