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Environmental Earth Sciences

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01-04-2015 | Original Article

River water quality across the Himalayan regions: elemental concentrations in headwaters of Yarlung Tsangbo, Indus and Ganges River

Authors: Yulan Zhang, Mika Sillanpää, Chaoliu Li, Junming Guo, Bin Qu, Shichang Kang

Published in: Environmental Earth Sciences | Issue 8/2015

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Abstract

To study the water quality across the Himalayan region, a total of 43 river water samples were collected in September 2012 from the Yarlung Tsangbo (Brahmaputra), Indus and Ganges basins. We measured the common water quality parameters (pH, EC, TDS, and water temperature) and analyzed the element concentrations (As, Cr, S, Sr, Tl, B, Ba, Ca, Al, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, and Ti) using ICP-AES. The results show that all the rivers have an alkaline environment with pH from 7.9 to 8.9. TDS has a positive relationship with Ca and Mg concentrations. The elemental contents are comparable among the samples from different river basins. The enrichment factor of As in river water across Himalayas showed a high value at 30, indicating the impacts of anthropogenic activities. The river water quality in this region is under the influence of climate change on the glacier melting, which will affect the water chemistry and the seasonal discharge of river runoff.

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Title: River water quality across the Himalayan regions: elemental concentrations in headwaters of Yarlung Tsangbo, Indus and Ganges River
Authors: Yulan Zhang
Mika Sillanpää
Chaoliu Li
Junming Guo
Bin Qu
Shichang Kang
Publication date: 01-04-2015
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Environmental Earth Sciences / Issue 8/2015
Print ISSN: 1866-6280
Electronic ISSN: 1866-6299
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3702-y

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