The global scenario of hydrogeochemical research on glacier meltwater: A bibliometric and visualization analysis

Abstract

Abstract Hydro-geochemistry plays a vital role in sustainable development, but only a few reviews have documented the development in this field. It is a bibliometric visualization based on the Web of Science database through Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to analyze the current status of hydrogeochemical research from 2002–2022. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in scientific studies investigating the hydrogeochemical characterization of glacier meltwater. The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database helped to retrieve the research papers published in conjunction with hydrogeochemical investigations of glacier meltwater between 2002 and 2022. From the beginning of 2002 till July 2022, a total of 6035 publications on the hydrogeochemical study of glacier meltwater were compiled. The number of publications produced from the United States of America (USA) and China accounts for about half (50%) of all publications from the top 10 countries. The findings of this study demonstrated that there had been an increase in research into hydrogeochemistry at higher altitudes, but the results have not shown any significant differences. However, developed nations, particularly the United States, emphasize hydrogeochemical research more than developing nations. However, there is not a single nation that consistently advances research in hydrogeochemistry at high elevations. Because of this, additional research might be conducted worldwide utilizing innovative techniques and resources in this research domain. In addition, our understanding of glacier meltwater's role in streamflow components is limited and needs to be expanded through further research in the future.