2 / 2018-08-31 15:38:28

Chemical Composition and Paleoclimatic features of ice and snow over Satopanth Glacier in Uttarakhand

Snow, Ice, Chemical composition, Isotopic Analys

Chemical composition and paleoclimatic features of snow and ice have been studied over a Himalayan Glacier in India. An observational campaign was carried out during 22 Sep 2016 to 2 October 2016 over Satopanth in Western Himalayas. The pH value of ice was found to be 5.6 ±0.4 and snow showed a pH of 5.9 ± 0.35 over the glacier, indicating moderate acidity of the glacier components. Calcium (Ca2+) was the
dominant component in snow (35.2%), while sulfate (SO42-) was dominant in ice samples (52.7%). The neutralization factor was estimated to find the extent of neutralization of acidic fractions by basic components and found that Ca2+ was the prominent neutralizing agent in both snow and ice over the region. Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotopic analyses of snow, surface layer ice and debris covered ice suggest that the moisture source is common for all three components. It is also identified that the interaction of ice with the debris has no impact on the isotopic signatures of the ice.