ISOTOPIC AND WATER QUALITY CHARACTERIZATION OF 'RIVER GANGA

Abstract

Stable isotopes and geochemical studies have been applied in the investigation of surface water resources in Ganga river of Uttaranchal State in Northern India. A combination of the chemical and isotope data are investigated along the river Ganga and its tributaries. Of all the methods used to understand hydrologic processes in small catchments, applications of tracers in particular stable isotope tracers have been the most useful in terms of providing new insights into hydrologic processes and providing information related to the contribution of different components of snowmelt runoff, ground water and precipitation data. Seasonal and temporal variability of these parameters reveals many complex phenomena taking place in the catchment. This is because they integrate small-scale variability to give an effective indication of catchment-scale processes. In particular, 180, 2H, are integral parts of natural water molecules that fall as rain or snow (meteoric water) each year over a watershed and, consequently, are ideal tracers of water. Water quality parameters along with isotopes are investigated in order to know geochemical features of the catchment and to find suitable correlation between water quality and isotopic parameters.