Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budget

The abundance and distribution of dissolved and particulate Rhenium (Re) has been measured in several rivers draining the Himalaya and Peninsular India, from their origin to outflow into the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The large data set resulting from this study on rivers flowing through a v...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Waliur Rahaman, Sunil Kumar Singh, Anil Dutt Shukla
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-08-01
Series:Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GC004083
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849709316046585856
author Waliur Rahaman
Sunil Kumar Singh
Anil Dutt Shukla
author_facet Waliur Rahaman
Sunil Kumar Singh
Anil Dutt Shukla
author_sort Waliur Rahaman
collection DOAJ
description The abundance and distribution of dissolved and particulate Rhenium (Re) has been measured in several rivers draining the Himalaya and Peninsular India, from their origin to outflow into the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The large data set resulting from this study on rivers flowing through a variety of lithologies e.g., the crystallines and sediments of the Himalaya, Deccan basalts, Vindhyan sediments and the Indian shield significantly enhances our understanding of the aqueous geochemistry of Re and also constrains its sources to rivers and fluxes to the sea. The concentration of dissolved Re in rivers of the Himalaya and the Peninsular India shows wide range; 1.4 to 72.7 pmol/kg (mean 7.8 pmol/kg) and 0.5 to 122 pmol/kg (mean 15 pmol/kg) respectively. The discharge weighted average annual flux of dissolved Re transported by the rivers from these regions are ∼5800 and ∼15,700 mol/year respectively. The major source of dissolved Re, as determined from inter‐element associations, is black shales for the Himalayan rivers and pyrites in basalts for the east flowing Deccan rivers. In addition, there are evidences of considerable anthropogenic supply of Re to some of the rivers that have very high Re concentrations. Estimates of anthropogenic supply based on their Re/K ratios suggest that this source accounts for most of the Re in the Peninsular rivers, particularly the Godavari. The annual flux of anthropogenic Re transported by the Peninsular rivers is ∼14,600 mol, most of which is from the Godavari. This anthropogenic flux accounts for ∼70% of the total Re supply by the Indian rivers to the adjacent seas and 3.4% of the global riverine flux to the oceans. The global average, pre‐anthropogenic (natural) concentration of dissolved Re in rivers is estimated to be ∼3 pmol/kg based on Re−K correlation. This value is much lower than the contemporary average determined from the measured concentrations and earlier estimate of natural Re based on Re−SO4 link.
format Article
id doaj-art-70b2dc20df6340da9ca9411e479ef339
institution DOAJ
issn 1525-2027
language English
publishDate 2012-08-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
spelling doaj-art-70b2dc20df6340da9ca9411e479ef3392025-08-20T03:15:20ZengWileyGeochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems1525-20272012-08-01138n/an/a10.1029/2012GC004083Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budgetWaliur Rahaman0Sunil Kumar Singh1Anil Dutt Shukla2Geosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, IndiaGeosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, IndiaGeosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, IndiaThe abundance and distribution of dissolved and particulate Rhenium (Re) has been measured in several rivers draining the Himalaya and Peninsular India, from their origin to outflow into the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The large data set resulting from this study on rivers flowing through a variety of lithologies e.g., the crystallines and sediments of the Himalaya, Deccan basalts, Vindhyan sediments and the Indian shield significantly enhances our understanding of the aqueous geochemistry of Re and also constrains its sources to rivers and fluxes to the sea. The concentration of dissolved Re in rivers of the Himalaya and the Peninsular India shows wide range; 1.4 to 72.7 pmol/kg (mean 7.8 pmol/kg) and 0.5 to 122 pmol/kg (mean 15 pmol/kg) respectively. The discharge weighted average annual flux of dissolved Re transported by the rivers from these regions are ∼5800 and ∼15,700 mol/year respectively. The major source of dissolved Re, as determined from inter‐element associations, is black shales for the Himalayan rivers and pyrites in basalts for the east flowing Deccan rivers. In addition, there are evidences of considerable anthropogenic supply of Re to some of the rivers that have very high Re concentrations. Estimates of anthropogenic supply based on their Re/K ratios suggest that this source accounts for most of the Re in the Peninsular rivers, particularly the Godavari. The annual flux of anthropogenic Re transported by the Peninsular rivers is ∼14,600 mol, most of which is from the Godavari. This anthropogenic flux accounts for ∼70% of the total Re supply by the Indian rivers to the adjacent seas and 3.4% of the global riverine flux to the oceans. The global average, pre‐anthropogenic (natural) concentration of dissolved Re in rivers is estimated to be ∼3 pmol/kg based on Re−K correlation. This value is much lower than the contemporary average determined from the measured concentrations and earlier estimate of natural Re based on Re−SO4 link.https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GC004083Arabian Sea and Bay of BengalHimalayaanthropogenicrheniumweathering
spellingShingle Waliur Rahaman
Sunil Kumar Singh
Anil Dutt Shukla
Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budget
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
Himalaya
anthropogenic
rhenium
weathering
title Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budget
title_full Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budget
title_fullStr Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budget
title_full_unstemmed Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budget
title_short Rhenium in Indian rivers: Sources, fluxes, and contribution to oceanic budget
title_sort rhenium in indian rivers sources fluxes and contribution to oceanic budget
topic Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
Himalaya
anthropogenic
rhenium
weathering
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GC004083
work_keys_str_mv AT waliurrahaman rheniuminindianriverssourcesfluxesandcontributiontooceanicbudget
AT sunilkumarsingh rheniuminindianriverssourcesfluxesandcontributiontooceanicbudget
AT anilduttshukla rheniuminindianriverssourcesfluxesandcontributiontooceanicbudget