TY - JOUR
T1 - Major ion chemistry and silicate weathering rate of a small Western Ghats river, Sharavati, southwestern India
AU - Amrish, Vadakkeveedu Narayan
AU - Arun, Kumar
AU - Nishitha, D'Souza S.
AU - Balakrishna, Keshava
AU - Udayashankar, Harikripa Narayana
AU - Khare, Neloy
N1 - Funding Information:
The first author (VNA) thanks MAHE for the Dr. TMA Pai Ph.D. Fellowship. Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, is acknowledged for supporting this project through a research project to KB (MoES//CCR/PALEO-10/2015). We thank Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) for providing the discharge data. Ms. Amrutha K, Ms. Akshitha, Mr. Lino Yovan and Mr. Gokul Valsan are acknowledged for their help with ArcMap and Coreldraw software.
Funding Information:
The first author (VNA) thanks MAHE for the Dr. TMA Pai Ph.D. Fellowship. Ministry of Earth Sciences , Government of India, is acknowledged for supporting this project through a research project to KB (MoES//CCR/PALEO-10/2015). We thank Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) for providing the discharge data. Ms. Amrutha K, Ms. Akshitha, Mr. Lino Yovan and Mr. Gokul Valsan are acknowledged for their help with ArcMap and Coreldraw software.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Tropical, small mountainous rivers draining granite/granitic gneiss exhibit intense weathering rates and associated carbon dioxide sequestration, which has implications on the global CO2 budget. However, there is paucity of data from these catchments. This study aimed to understand silicate weathering rates (SWR) and CO2 sequestration rates (CCR) in a small tropical mountainous river, Sharavati in the southwestern India. Bicarbonates, Cl−, Na+, Ca2+ and silica, are predominant in the river, indicating their source from catchment rocks and atmosphere. Groundwater shows a similar abundance of major ions, indicating identical sources. Intense chemical weathering due to hot and humid climate, heavy monsoonal rains and associated river discharge are the main controlling factors of major ion chemistry in the Sharavati river. The presence of clay mineral kaolinite in the catchment corroborates with the above controlling factors. The calculated silicate weathering rate (SWR) is 27 t km−2. y−1 and associated carbon dioxide consumption rate (CCR) is 3.9 × 105 mol km−2. y−1. When compared to other small tropical river basins having similar climate and lithology, CCR of Sharavati is comparable to Jiuhua Mountain rivers, (South China) and twice that of Sorocaba River (Brazil). CCR is 3.9 times higher than the global average on account of the peculiarity of the terrain. It can be concluded from a comparative study of small tropical rivers, that rainfall and runoff are the main parameters controlling the weathering rates irrespective of catchment lithology.
AB - Tropical, small mountainous rivers draining granite/granitic gneiss exhibit intense weathering rates and associated carbon dioxide sequestration, which has implications on the global CO2 budget. However, there is paucity of data from these catchments. This study aimed to understand silicate weathering rates (SWR) and CO2 sequestration rates (CCR) in a small tropical mountainous river, Sharavati in the southwestern India. Bicarbonates, Cl−, Na+, Ca2+ and silica, are predominant in the river, indicating their source from catchment rocks and atmosphere. Groundwater shows a similar abundance of major ions, indicating identical sources. Intense chemical weathering due to hot and humid climate, heavy monsoonal rains and associated river discharge are the main controlling factors of major ion chemistry in the Sharavati river. The presence of clay mineral kaolinite in the catchment corroborates with the above controlling factors. The calculated silicate weathering rate (SWR) is 27 t km−2. y−1 and associated carbon dioxide consumption rate (CCR) is 3.9 × 105 mol km−2. y−1. When compared to other small tropical river basins having similar climate and lithology, CCR of Sharavati is comparable to Jiuhua Mountain rivers, (South China) and twice that of Sorocaba River (Brazil). CCR is 3.9 times higher than the global average on account of the peculiarity of the terrain. It can be concluded from a comparative study of small tropical rivers, that rainfall and runoff are the main parameters controlling the weathering rates irrespective of catchment lithology.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2021.105182
DO - 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2021.105182
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121694544
SN - 0883-2927
VL - 136
JO - Applied Geochemistry
JF - Applied Geochemistry
M1 - 105182
ER -