Transportation of Suspended Sediment from Meltwater of the Patsio Glacier, Western Himalaya, India

Discharge and transportation of suspended sediment from the Patsio glacier have been studied for 2 years. During the study period 2011 and 2012, daily mean discharge was measured to be 0.70 and 0.94 m(3)/s, respectively. Daily mean suspended sediment concentration during the study period 2011 and 2012 was found to be 28.1 and 48.8 mg l(-1), respectively. Whereas, daily mean suspended sediment load during the study period was estimated to be 1.70 and 3.96 t day(-1). Suspended sediment concentrations generally follow the discharge pattern of the glacier for both years. High average TDS/TSM ratio of the Patsio glacier meltwater for both years shows the dominancy of chemical weathering over the physical weathering. The physical weathering rate of the study area during year 2011 and 2012 was estimated to be 79.3 and 185 t km(-2) year(-1), respectively. The chemical (cation) weathering rate of the Patsio glacier is much higher than other Himalayan glaciers, which may be due to high intensity of chemical weathering in this glacier.