Stable water isotope modeling reveals spatio-temporal variability of glacier meltwater contributions to Ganges River headwaters

Boral, Soumita; Sen, Indra Sekhar; Ghosal, Dibakar; Peucker‐Ehrenbrink, Bernhard; Hemingway, Jordon D.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.123983

Cited by 51 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…S-2) and the reasons behind combining them is justified in the Supplementary Information (Section S-1.2). A detailed description of the mixing model and the model assumptions is given by Boral et al (2019) and further discussed in the Supplementary Information.…”

Section: Approaching the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This observation is contrary to conventional understanding that ice meltwater proportions are highest during the pre-monsoon or summer months due to elevated temperatures and therefore higher ice meltwater runoff. This observation can be explained by several mechanisms such as a larger snow covered area during pre-monsoon period causing reduced ice meltwater flow in pre-monsoon, a time lag between ice meltwater production and transport, the volumetric effect between the monsoon and pre-monsoon period, and the impact of monsoonal rainfall on ice meltwater runoff, due to "rain-induced glacier ice melting" (Boral et al, 2019). The ice meltwater contribution in Salween River was 88 ± 2 % in October and for Mekong River it was 59 ± 22 % between May to August.…”

Section: Quantifying the Contributions To River Flow And Its Attendanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracing ‘Third Pole’ ice meltwater contribution to the Himalayan rivers using oxygen and hydrogen isotopes

Boral¹,

Sen²

2020

Geochem. Persp. Let.

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doi: 10.7185/geochemlet.2013 Global warming is adversely affecting the melting rates of Himalayan glaciers, which feed a number of large river systems in the Indian sub-continent. Regional scale assessment of glaciers and their link to rivers are mostly quantified using remote sensing data and modelling techniques. Here we present an alternative stable water isotope modelling approach. New oxygen and hydrogen isotopes ( 18 O/ 16 O and 2 H/ 1 H, expressed as δ 18 O and δD) data from the headwater of Indus River were analysed with a comprehensively compiled δ 18 O and δD dataset of Himalayan rivers to quantify the volumetric flow of glacier ice meltwater in the headwaters of the rivers Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. The isotope mixing model reveals that the discharge weighted annual average glacier ice meltwater contribution in headwaters (>2000 m) of the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra are 47 ± 13 %, 44 ± 13 %, and 29 ± 10 %, respectively, which corresponds to a minimum of 33.5 ± 6.5 Gt yr -1 of melted ice mass. Our results show that annual glacier ice meltwater contributions vary across the river basins, with Indus River receiving the highest contribution. We conclude that stable water isotope modelling is an alternative approach to study regional scale glacier-river interactions to address the future impact of climate change over glaciated Himalayan catchments.

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Section: Approaching the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quantifying the Contributions To River Flow And Its Attendanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing ‘Third Pole’ ice meltwater contribution to the Himalayan rivers using oxygen and hydrogen isotopes

Boral¹,

Sen²

2020

Geochem. Persp. Let.

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“…Because many of these models are sensitive to the precipitation driving, the precipitation data available from the high altitude catchments is usually not of very decent quality [17]. Lack of information for temporal and spatial rainfall variability causes a huge uncertainty in snowmelt runoff forecasting [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change Scenarios and Effects on Snow-Melt Runoff

2020

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Climate change is an important environmental issue, as progression of melting glaciers and snow cover is sensitive to climate alteration. The aim of this research was to model climate alterations forecasts, and to assess potential changes in snow cover and snow-melt runoff under the different climate change scenarios in the case study of the Zayandeh-rud River Basin. Three cluster models for climate change (NorESM1-M, IPSL-CM5A-LR and CSIRO-MK3.6.0) were applied under RCP 8.5, 4.5 and 2.6 scenarios, to examine climate influences on precipitation and temperature in the basin. Temperature and precipitation were determined for all three scenarios for four periods of 2021-2030, 2031-2040, 2041-2050 and 2051-2060. MODIS (MOD10A1) was also applied to examine snow cover using temperature and precipitation data. The relationship between snow-covered area, temperature and precipitation was used to forecast future snow cover. For modeling future snow melt runoff, a hydrologic model of SRM was used including input data of precipitation, temperature and snow cover. The results indicated that all three RCP scenarios lead to an increase in temperature, and reduction in precipitation and snow cover. Investigation in snowmelt runoff throughout the observation period (November 1970 to May 2006) showed that most of annual runoff is derived from snow melting. Maximum snowmelt runoff is generated in winter. The share of melt water in the autumn and spring runoff is estimated at 35 and 53%, respectively. The results of this study can assist water manager in making better decisions for future water supply.

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“…On the glacier forefronts, periglacial rivers (namely glacier-fed rivers), which integrate upstream catchment processes, also constitute a prominent geomorphological and ecological component in the glacial ecosystem [27]. Owing to the close hydro-ecological coupling relationships, melt ponds profoundly impact their adjacent periglacial rivers [28]. By discharging through highly permeable ice or structural flaws, the meltwater runoff from melt ponds shapes the hydrological regimes, sediment transport, biogeochemical, and contaminant fluxes of periglacial rivers [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting Patterns of the Bacterial Communities in Melting Ponds and Periglacial Rivers of the Zhuxi glacier in the Tibet Plateau

Yao

et al. 2020

Microorganisms

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Since the early 21st century, global climate change has been inducing rapid glacier retreat at an unprecedented rate. In this context, the melt ponds impart increasing unique footprints on the periglacial rivers due to their hydrodynamic connection. Given that bacterial communities control numerous ecosystem processes in the glacial ecosystem, exploring the fate of bacterial communities from melt ponds to periglacial rivers yields key knowledge of the biodiversity and biogeochemistry of glacial ecosystems. Here, we analyzed the bacterial community structure, diversity, and co-occurrence network to reveal the community organization in the Zhuxi glacier in the Tibet Plateau. The results showed that the bacterial communities in melt ponds were significantly lower in alpha-diversity but were significantly higher in beta-diversity than those in periglacial rivers. The rare sub-communities significantly contributed to the stability of the bacterial communities in both habitats. The co-occurrence network inferred that the mutually beneficial relationships predominated in the two networks. Nevertheless, the lower ratio of positive to negative edges in melt ponds than periglacial rivers implicated fiercer competition in the former habitat. Based on the significantly higher value of degree, betweenness, and modules, as well as shorter average path length in melt ponds, we speculated that their bacterial communities are less resilient than those of periglacial rivers.

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Stable water isotope modeling reveals spatio-temporal variability of glacier meltwater contributions to Ganges River headwaters

Cited by 51 publications

References 42 publications

Tracing ‘Third Pole’ ice meltwater contribution to the Himalayan rivers using oxygen and hydrogen isotopes

Tracing ‘Third Pole’ ice meltwater contribution to the Himalayan rivers using oxygen and hydrogen isotopes

Climate Change Scenarios and Effects on Snow-Melt Runoff

Contrasting Patterns of the Bacterial Communities in Melting Ponds and Periglacial Rivers of the Zhuxi glacier in the Tibet Plateau

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