Distribution, Sources and Water Quality Evaluation of the Riverine Solutes: A Case Study in the Lancangjiang River Basin, Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

To examine the chemical composition, potential sources of solutes, and water quality of Lancangjiang River, the concentrations of major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, HCO3−, SO42−, Cl− and NO3−) in 45 river water samples collected in July and August 2019 were determined. Ca2+ and HCO3− are the predominant ions in river water. The extremely low K+ and NO3− concentrations and the sparse population suggest that the anthropogenic inputs are limited. The Pearson correlation coefficients and the elemental ratios Ca2+/Na+ versus Mg2+/Na+, Ca2+/Na versus HCO3−/Na+, [Ca2+ + Mg2+]/[HCO3−] versus [SO42−]/[HCO3−] reveal the mixing processes of different sources; the chemical composition of the river water is controlled by the mixture of carbonate weathering, evaporite weathering and silicate weathering inputs. To quantify the contributions of atmospheric input and rock dissolution, the forward method is employed in this study, which is based on the mass balance equation. The calculation results suggest the carbonate weathering inputs and gypsum dissolution make up the majority of the riverine cations, while silicate weathering and halite dissolution constitutes a relatively small proportion, the contributions of the atmospheric input are limited. The fast dissolution rate of evaporite and carbonate minerals and their lithologic distributions should be the key factor. To evaluate the water quality for drinking and irrigation purposes, the drinking water quality guidelines and the calculated parameters were employed, including sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), soluble sodium percentage (Na%,) and residual sodium carbonate (RSC). The assessments indicate that the river waters in the middle-lower reaches are generally suitable for irrigation and drinking purpose, and will not lead to health and soil problems, such as soil compaction and salinization. While in the upper reaches, the dissolution of carbonate and gypsum minerals transport abundant ions into river water and the river waters are not appropriate to use directly. This result highlights that the water quality status can also be affected by natural weathering processes in the area without anthropogenic inputs, where the long-time monitoring of water quality is also necessary.