Meltwater storage and delaying characteristics of Gangotri Glacier (Indian Himalayas) during ablation season

Abstract

Abstract:Himalayan basins have considerable snow-and glacier-covered areas, which are an important source of water, particularly during summer season. In the Himalayan region, in general, the glacier melt season is considered to be from May to October. Changes in hydrological characteristics of the runoff over the melt season can be understood by studying the variation in time to peak and time lag between melt generation and its emergence as runoff. In the present study, the runoff-delaying characteristics of Gangotri Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in the Indian Himalayas, have been studied. For this purpose, hourly discharge and temperature data were collected near the snout of the glacier (4000 m) for three ablation seasons (2004)(2005)(2006). The diurnal variations in discharge and temperature provided useful information on water storage and runoff characteristics of the glacier. In the early stages of the ablation period, poor drainage network and stronger storage characteristics of the glaciers due to the presence of seasonal snow cover resulted in a much delayed response of melt water, providing a higher time lag and time to peak as compared to the peak melt season. A comparison of runoff-delaying parameters with the discharge ratio clearly indicated that changes in time lag and time to peak are inversely correlated with variations in discharge. Impact of such meltwater storage and delaying characteristics of glaciers on hydropower projects being planned/developed on glacier-fed streams in India has been discussed.

Seasonal variation of the solute and suspended sediment load in Gangotri glacier meltwater, central Himalaya, India

“…9). Distribution of hourly discharge from Gangotri glacier shows that minimum runoff is observed in the morning (0700-1000 h) whereas in evening (1700-1900 h) maximum runoff occurs (Singh et al, 2011). This shows that TDS concentrations are inversely correlated with discharge.…”

“…The Bhagirathi River originates from Gaumukh and this is a religious place for Hindu pilgrims. The Gangotri glacier is a cluster of many small and large glaciers comprising three main glacier tributaries, namely, Raktvarn glacier (length 15.90 km; area 55.30 km 2 ), Kirti glacier (length 11.05 km; area 33.14 km 2 ) and Chaturangi glacier (length 22.45 km; area 67.70 km 2 ) with main Gangotri glacier as the trunk part of the cluster system (length 30.20 km; area 86.32 km 2 ) (Naithani et al, 2001;Singh et al, 2006Singh et al, , 2011. The gradient of Kirti glacier is highest (0.317), whereas Gangotri glacier gradient is lowest (0.045) followed by Chaturangi (0.146) and Raktvarn (0.210) glacier, respectively (Naithani et al, 2001).…”

Hydrogeochemistry of Meltwater of the Chaturangi Glacier, Garhwal Himalaya, India

“…This glacier is the longest tributary glacier (length 22.45 km; area 67.70 km 2 ) of the Gangotri glacier system [7,10]. There are several tributary glaciers such as Seeta, Vasuki and Suralaya which make up the Chaturangi glacier system [22].…”

“…The Indian Himalayan mountain range plays an important role for controlling the meteorological and hydrological characteristics of the Indian Peninsular region [2]. The main glaciers in the Indian Himalayan region are Siachen (length 72 km), Gangotri (length 30.2 km; area 86.32 km 2 ), Bara Shigri (length 28 km; area 131.1 km 2 ), Zemu (length 26 km), Milam (length 19 km), Kedarnath (length 14.5 km) and Chhota Shigri (length 9.0 km; area 15.7 km 2 ) [3][4][5][6][7]. The Alaknanda basin and Bhagirathi basin are the two important sub-basins of the Ganga River situated in the Garhwal Himalaya [8].…”

ANN modelling of sediment concentration in the dynamic glacial environment of Gangotri in Himalaya

“…Bhagirathi River originates from Gaumukh, the snout of the glacier, at around 4000 m.s.l elevation and joins with Alaknanda River at Devprayag to form the Ganges. The Gangotri glacier is a cluster of several glaciers of which the main Gangotri glacier, the trunk part of the cluster system, has a length of 30.20 km with 86.32 km 2 area and a gradient of 0.045 (Naithani et al (2001), Singh et al (2006Singh et al ( , 2011. Data used in the current study is from a sampling site, situated at around 3900 m.s.l elevation about 2.0 km downstream from Gaumukh (source: PhD Thesis, UK Haritashya) (Fig.…”