Hydro-chemical analysis and ionic flux of meltwater runoff from Khangri Glacier, West Kameng, Arunachal Himalaya, India

Abstract

The detailed hydro-chemical study of meltwater draining from Khangri glacier Arunachal Pradesh has been carried out to evaluate the major ion chemistry and weathering processes in the drainage basin. The investigative results shows that the meltwater is almost neutral to slightly acidic in nature with Mg–HCO3-dominated hydro-chemical facies. In glacial meltwater, Ca+ 2 is the most dominated cation followed by Mg+2, Na+, and K+, while HCO3− is the most dominant anion followed by SO42−, NO3−, and Cl−. The dominant cations such as Ca+2 and Mg+2 show a good relation with the minerals abundance of the rocks. Calcite (CaCO3) and biotite [K(Mg,Fe)3AlSi3O10(F,OH)2] are the most abundant minerals in the deformed carbonate-rich metasedimentary rocks near to the snout with some K feldspar (KAlSi3O8) and quartz (SiO2). This suggests Ca+2 have definitely entered into the water due to the dissolution of calcite and Ca feldspar (CaAl2Si2O8), while one of the source of Mg+2 is biotite. Na feldspar (NaAlSi3O8) has contributed towards the availability of sodium ion, while potassium ion is derived from the chemical weathering of K feldspar and biotite. The chemical weathering is the foremost mechanism controlling the hydro-chemistry of the Khangri glacier because of the least anthropogenic interferences. The mineralogy of surrounding rocks is studied to understand better, the rock–water interaction processes, and their contribution towards ionic concentration of meltwater. The meltwater discharge and individual ion flux of the catchment area have also been calculated, to determine the ionic denudation rate for the ablation season. The high elemental ratio of (Ca + Mg)/(Na + K) (7.91 ± 0.39 mg/l) and low elemental ratio of (Na + K)/total cations (0.11 ± 0.004) indicate that the chemical composition of meltwater is mainly controlled by carbonate weathering and moderately by silicate weathering. The scatter plot result between (Ca + Mg) and total cations confirms that carbonate weathering is a major source of dissolved ions in Khangri glacier meltwater. In addition, the statistical analysis was also used to determine the correlation between physical parameters of glacier meltwater which controlled the solute dynamics.