Accumulation and flow rates of ice on Chhota Shigri glacier, central Himalaya, using radio-active and stable isotopes

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Nijampurkar, V. N., Rao, D. K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1992
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Indian; ice core; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009588; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009588

Abstract Systematic isotopic studies based on natural and artificial radio-isotopes ( 32 Si, 137 Cs), stable isotopes (δ 18 O) and total β activity measurements have been carried out on Chhota Shigri glacier, Himachal Pradesh, central Himalaya, to study the dynamics of the ice, meltwater composition and to identify the deposition of the Chernobyl fall-out in the Himalayan region. Using 32 Si concentrations, the snout ice has been dated at ~ 250 years, based on which the past average surface ice-flow rate has been estimated as ~ 28 m year −1 . Based on δ 18 O variations, in a shallow ice core, the accumulation rate of the ice has been estimated at ~520kgm −2 year −1 . 32 Si measurements of snout ice and englacial meltwaters indicate that at least 55% of the snow meltwater mixed with 45% of the old ice-melt water that emerged from englacial streams in the month of August 1987. Deposition of the artificial radionuclide ( 137 Cs) and the very high total β activity observed in snow samples on Chhota Shigri glacier give the first evidence of Chernobyl fall-out deposition in the Indian Himalaya.