Runoff in the upper Ganglass catchment is generated mainly from the snow melt. A summary of data during these periods is provided in Table 1. The slightly acidic to neutral pH values (5.2–7.3) of the runoff resembles the snow meltwater from the Kashmir valley (Lone & Khan 2007). EC of the meltwater is highest during the late snow melt period (50.99 ± 23.18 μs/cm), followed by early (33.93 ± 9.30 μs/cm) and peak snow melt period (26.15 ± 6.19 μs/cm). Ca and HCO3 are the most dominant ions present throughout the melt period. Cation shows a similar trend of Ca > >Mg > Na > K for the whole melt period. The anions show a regular trend of HCO3 > >SO4 > Cl > NO3 > PO4 for peak and late snow melt periods. A similar trend has been observed in surface water of SE Kashmir (Jeelani et al. 2011; Bhat et al. 2014). Deposition of alkaline dust causing alkalinity and high Ca values in the fresh snow samples of Kashmir valley has also been reported (Lone & Khan 2007).
Major ion composition of meltwater from the upper Ganglass catchment
. | Early melt period 2010 . | Peak melt period 2010 . | Late melt period 2010 . | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
. | Range . | Average ± SD . | Range . | Average ± SD . | Range . | Average ± SD . |
Discharge | 0.02–1.53 | 0.40 ± 0.49 | 0.93–8.46 | 2.15 ± 1.14 | 0.13–0.97 | 0.42 ± 0.24 |
EC | 22.20–55.50 | 33.93 ± 9.30 | 17.60–37.0 | 26.15 ± 6.19 | 33.40–127.10 | 50.99 ± 23.18 |
pH | 5.2–7.3 | 6.6 ± 0.29 | 5.3–7.0 | 6.2 ± 0.41 | 6.4–7.2 | 6.6 ± 0.21 |
Na | 10–69.61 | 20.44 ± 13.54 | 8.09–52.13 | 19.43 ± 9.37 | 24.61–37.74 | 32.24 ± 3.75 |
K | 6.82–25.54 | 12.84 ± 4.42 | 3.69–19.87 | 8.16 ± 2.84 | 9.69–14.97 | 11.73 ± 0.99 |
Ca | 67.35–391 | 228 ± 75.70 | 94.45–243 | 157 ± 44.16 | 190–1,159 | 387 ± 246 |
Mg | 25.83–72.83 | 42.07 ± 12.04 | 24.08–59.08 | 36.95 ± 10.52 | 49.33–282 | 82.25 ± 44.37 |
HCO3 | 110–440 | 253 ± 79.29 | 80–290 | 170 ± 59.62 | 200–1,450 | 452 ± 295 |
PO3 | 0–4.01 | 1.18 ± 0.74 | 0.44–4.36 | 1.36 ± 0.62 | 0.09–2.68 | 0.91 ± 0.75 |
SO4 | 37.96–61.90 | 47.52 ± 7.34 | 41.73–60.94 | 49.73 ± 4.41 | 41.25–62.27 | 48.91 ± 4.56 |
NO3 | 0.16–2.26 | 0.83 ± 0.47 | 0.16–14.52 | 1.37 ± 2.90 | 0.65–1.45 | 1.04 ± 0.27 |
Cl | 8.18–14.10 | 10.98 ± 1.49 | 6.21–13.26 | 10.46 ± 1.55 | 9.59–13.26 | 11.45 ± 0.94 |
H4SiO4 | 7.96–19.09 | 12.94 ± 2.78 | 3.62–38.29 | 15.17 ± 7.04 | 2.42–43.22 | 27.35 ± 6.25 |
TZ+ | 179–513 | 302 ± 90.63 | 135–340 | 222 ± 61.80 | 300–1,307 | 513 ± 274 |
TZ− | 180–494 | 314 ± 75.04 | 131–355 | 233 ± 61.26 | 261–1,506 | 514 ± 295 |
(Ca + Mg)/TZ+ | 0.60–0.92 | 0.88 ± 0.06 | 0.77–0.91 | 0.88 ± 0.03 | 0.84–0.96 | 0.9 ± 0.03 |
(Na + K)/TZ+ | 0.08–0.4 | 0.12 ± 0.06 | 0.09–0.23 | 0.12 ± 0.03 | 0.04–0.16 | 0.10 ± 0.03 |
(Ca + Mg)/(Na + K) | 1.47–11.92 | 8.93 ± 2.50 | 3.33–10.70 | 7.56 ± 1.79 | 5.16–26.93 | 10.48 ± 5.46 |
Ca/Na | 1.07–20.91 | 13.53 ± 4.45 | 2.91–13.66 | 9.07 ± 2.54 | 5.02–33.07 | 11.72 ± 6.55 |
Ca/Mg | 1.7–6.56 | 5.39 ± 0.83 | 2.46–6.09 | 4.3 ± 0.65 | 1.69–11.42 | 4.71 ± 1.71 |
Mg/Na | 0.6–3.29 | 2.43 ± 0.68 | 0.77–3.38 | 2.12 ± 0.58 | 1.60–8.78 | 2.53 ± 1.30 |
HCO3/Na | 2.15–25 | 15.07 ± 5.36 | 2.69–15.19 | 9.59 ± 2.81 | 5.30–41.38 | 13.71 ± 7.91 |
Na/Cl | 1.01–5.71 | 1.87 ± 1.19 | 1.02–5.13 | 1.84 ± 0.84 | 1.98–3.56 | 2.83 ± 0.39 |
K/Cl | 0.62–2.72 | 1.19 ± 0.44 | 0.41–3.20 | 0.80 ± 0.37 | 0.86–1.4 | 1.03 ± 0.12 |
C ratio | 0.65–0.92 | 0.83 ± 0.06 | 0.59–0.86 | 0.76 ± 0.07 | 0.8–0.97 | 0.88 ± 0.04 |
. | Early melt period 2010 . | Peak melt period 2010 . | Late melt period 2010 . | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
. | Range . | Average ± SD . | Range . | Average ± SD . | Range . | Average ± SD . |
Discharge | 0.02–1.53 | 0.40 ± 0.49 | 0.93–8.46 | 2.15 ± 1.14 | 0.13–0.97 | 0.42 ± 0.24 |
EC | 22.20–55.50 | 33.93 ± 9.30 | 17.60–37.0 | 26.15 ± 6.19 | 33.40–127.10 | 50.99 ± 23.18 |
pH | 5.2–7.3 | 6.6 ± 0.29 | 5.3–7.0 | 6.2 ± 0.41 | 6.4–7.2 | 6.6 ± 0.21 |
Na | 10–69.61 | 20.44 ± 13.54 | 8.09–52.13 | 19.43 ± 9.37 | 24.61–37.74 | 32.24 ± 3.75 |
K | 6.82–25.54 | 12.84 ± 4.42 | 3.69–19.87 | 8.16 ± 2.84 | 9.69–14.97 | 11.73 ± 0.99 |
Ca | 67.35–391 | 228 ± 75.70 | 94.45–243 | 157 ± 44.16 | 190–1,159 | 387 ± 246 |
Mg | 25.83–72.83 | 42.07 ± 12.04 | 24.08–59.08 | 36.95 ± 10.52 | 49.33–282 | 82.25 ± 44.37 |
HCO3 | 110–440 | 253 ± 79.29 | 80–290 | 170 ± 59.62 | 200–1,450 | 452 ± 295 |
PO3 | 0–4.01 | 1.18 ± 0.74 | 0.44–4.36 | 1.36 ± 0.62 | 0.09–2.68 | 0.91 ± 0.75 |
SO4 | 37.96–61.90 | 47.52 ± 7.34 | 41.73–60.94 | 49.73 ± 4.41 | 41.25–62.27 | 48.91 ± 4.56 |
NO3 | 0.16–2.26 | 0.83 ± 0.47 | 0.16–14.52 | 1.37 ± 2.90 | 0.65–1.45 | 1.04 ± 0.27 |
Cl | 8.18–14.10 | 10.98 ± 1.49 | 6.21–13.26 | 10.46 ± 1.55 | 9.59–13.26 | 11.45 ± 0.94 |
H4SiO4 | 7.96–19.09 | 12.94 ± 2.78 | 3.62–38.29 | 15.17 ± 7.04 | 2.42–43.22 | 27.35 ± 6.25 |
TZ+ | 179–513 | 302 ± 90.63 | 135–340 | 222 ± 61.80 | 300–1,307 | 513 ± 274 |
TZ− | 180–494 | 314 ± 75.04 | 131–355 | 233 ± 61.26 | 261–1,506 | 514 ± 295 |
(Ca + Mg)/TZ+ | 0.60–0.92 | 0.88 ± 0.06 | 0.77–0.91 | 0.88 ± 0.03 | 0.84–0.96 | 0.9 ± 0.03 |
(Na + K)/TZ+ | 0.08–0.4 | 0.12 ± 0.06 | 0.09–0.23 | 0.12 ± 0.03 | 0.04–0.16 | 0.10 ± 0.03 |
(Ca + Mg)/(Na + K) | 1.47–11.92 | 8.93 ± 2.50 | 3.33–10.70 | 7.56 ± 1.79 | 5.16–26.93 | 10.48 ± 5.46 |
Ca/Na | 1.07–20.91 | 13.53 ± 4.45 | 2.91–13.66 | 9.07 ± 2.54 | 5.02–33.07 | 11.72 ± 6.55 |
Ca/Mg | 1.7–6.56 | 5.39 ± 0.83 | 2.46–6.09 | 4.3 ± 0.65 | 1.69–11.42 | 4.71 ± 1.71 |
Mg/Na | 0.6–3.29 | 2.43 ± 0.68 | 0.77–3.38 | 2.12 ± 0.58 | 1.60–8.78 | 2.53 ± 1.30 |
HCO3/Na | 2.15–25 | 15.07 ± 5.36 | 2.69–15.19 | 9.59 ± 2.81 | 5.30–41.38 | 13.71 ± 7.91 |
Na/Cl | 1.01–5.71 | 1.87 ± 1.19 | 1.02–5.13 | 1.84 ± 0.84 | 1.98–3.56 | 2.83 ± 0.39 |
K/Cl | 0.62–2.72 | 1.19 ± 0.44 | 0.41–3.20 | 0.80 ± 0.37 | 0.86–1.4 | 1.03 ± 0.12 |
C ratio | 0.65–0.92 | 0.83 ± 0.06 | 0.59–0.86 | 0.76 ± 0.07 | 0.8–0.97 | 0.88 ± 0.04 |
Units: EC in μS/cm; H4SiO4 in μmol/l; dissolved ions, TZ+, TZ− in μeq/l.