Vol.:(0123456789) Environment, Development and Sustainability https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00501-6 1 3 Major ion chemistry and atmospheric CO 2 consumption deduced from the Batal glacier, Lahaul–Spiti valley, Western Himalaya, India Virendra Bahadur Singh 1,2  · A. K. Keshari 1  · AL. Ramanathan 3 Received: 15 May 2019 / Accepted: 18 October 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract This study mainly focuses on the source identifcation of various ions in meltwater and estimation of CO 2 consumption rate by chemical weathering in the Batal glacier basin on the basis of 2 years of study (2015 and 2017). The glacier meltwater has been monitored as slightly acidic in nature having mean pH value of 6.6. Ca 2+ was observed as the most dom- inant cation contributing about 76% of TZ + (total cations), whereas SO 4 2− was observed as the most dominant anion contributing about 70% of TZ − (total anions) in the stream melt- water. High ratios of (Ca + Mg) versus TZ + (mean value: 0.89 ± 0.02) and (Ca + Mg) versus (Na + K) (mean value: 8.51 ± 2.07) elucidate that stream water chemistry of the Batal gla- cier is largely controlled by carbonate weathering. Concentration of total dissolved solid in the glacial stream water was higher during the low-melt season (September) and lower dur- ing the high-melt period (July). The average value of daily mean TDS fux of the study area was calculated to be 12.4 t/day. The mean values of CWR (carbonate weathering rate) and SWR (silicate weathering rate) for the Batal glacier basin were calculated to be 97.4 and 22.8 t/km 2 /year, showing higher contribution of CWR as compared to SWR in the inves- tigation area. CO 2 consumption rate by the combined silicate and carbonate (chemical) weathering was estimated to be 11.1 × 10 5 , 28.8 × 10 5 and 35.5 × 10 5  mol/km 2 /year during the study period September 2015, June 2017 and July 2017, respectively. The annual CO 2 drawdown by the Batal glacier basin on the basis of CO 2 consumption rate by chemical weathering is much lower as compared to the Gangotri glacier, which may be due to bigger size and higher meltwater runof of the Gangotri glacier as compared to the Batal glacier. Keywords Major ion chemistry · Seasonal variation · TDS fux · Chemical weathering rate · CO 2 consumption rate · Batal glacier * Virendra Bahadur Singh virendrasinghjnu@gmail.com 1 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India 2 Department of Geology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India 3 School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India