Environmental chemistry of a rare muddy snowfall occurrence on Alpine zone glaciers of Gulmarg, Kashmir Himalaya, India

Abstract

Events of substantial aeolian dust deposition on seasonal snow covers and glaciers are a common phenomenon in mid-latitude, (subtropical) and even high arctic regions. Such events are emerging as important environmental issues in view of their glacio-chemical and glaciometeorological aspects. The atmosphere, an integral and huge component of biosphere, receives inputs from myriad anthropogenic activities including expanding industrial establishments. Varied emissions, inter alia, noxious gases and particulate pollutants have inherent potential to travel long

Snow Chemistry at Mukteshwar in Central Himalayan Region of India

“…In India, several studies have been reported on rain chemistry mostly in urban areas [2,[21][22][23][24][25][26] with few studies from rural sites [27][28][29][30]. The detailed and updated studies on fresh snowfall chemistry are even rare in rural areas of Himalayan region of India [16,31,32]. Hence, this study was carried out to fill this knowledge gap about the chemical characteristics of snow in central Himalaya by selecting Mukteshwar as a rural representative site.…”