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Water samples from precipitation, glacier melt, snow melt, glacial lake, streams and karst springs were collected across SE of Kashmir Valley, to understand the hydrogeochemical processes governing the evolution of the water in a natural and non-industrial area of western Himalayas. The time series data on solute chemistry suggest that the hydrochemical processes controlling the chemistry of spring waters is more complex than the surface water. This is attributed to more time available for infiltrating water to interact with the diverse host lithology. Total dissolved solids (TDS), in general, increases with decrease in altitude. However, high TDS of some streams at higher altitudes and low TDS of some springs at lower altitudes indicated contribution of high TDS waters from glacial lakes and low TDS waters from streams, respectively. The results show that some karst springs are recharged by surface water; Achabalnag by the Bringi stream and Andernag and Martandnag by the Liddar stream. Calcite dissolution, dedolomitization and silicate weathering were found to be the main processes controlling the chemistry of the spring waters and calcite dissolution as the dominant process in controlling the chemistry of the surface waters. The spring waters were undersaturated with respect to calcite and dolomite in most of the seasons except in November, which is attributed to the replenishment of the CO 2 by recharging waters during most of the seasons.

ABSTRACT:The uranium isotopes during their course of their disintegration decay into other radioactive elements and eventually decay into stable lead isotopes. The cause of environmental concern is the emanation of beta and gamma radiation during disintegration. The present study tends to estimate uranium in groundwater trapped in granite and gneiss rocks. Besides, the study aims at estimating the radiation during natural disintegration process. The water samples were collected and analyzed following inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric technique while water sample collection was given to the regions of Kolar District, South India, due to the representation. The significant finding was the observation of very high levels of uranium in groundwater compared to similar assays reported at other nearby districts. Also, the levels were considerable to those compared to groundwater levels of uranium reported by other scientists. On the basis of this study, it was inferred that the origin of uranium was from granite strata and there was a trend of diffusion observed in the course of flow-path of water in the region.

Abstract:This paper describes the application of environmental isotopes and injected tracer techniques in estimating the contribution of storms as well as annual precipitation to groundwater recharge and its circulation, in the semi-arid region of Bagepalli, Kolar district, Karnataka. Environmental isotopes 2 H, 18 O and 3 H were used to study the effect of storms on the hydrological system, and an isotope balance was used to compute the contribution of a storm component to the groundwater. Some of the groundwater samples collected during the post-storm periods were highly depleted in stable isotope content with higher deuterium excess relative to groundwater from the pre-storm periods. Significant variation in deuterium excess in groundwater from the same area, collected in two different periods, indicates the different origin of air masses. The estimated recharge component of a storm event of 600 mm to the groundwater was found to be in the range of 117-165 mm. There was no significant variation in environmental tritium content of post-storm and pre-storm groundwater, indicating the fast circulation of groundwater in the system. After completion of the environmental isotope work, an injected radiotracer 3 H technique was applied to estimate the direct recharge of total precipitation to the groundwater. The estimated recharge to the groundwater is 33 mm of the 550 mm annual precipitation during 1992.

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