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Hydrothermal source of radiogenic Sr to Himalayan rivers

¹ Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-1504, USA
² Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
³ Centre des Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, BP 20, Vandouvre-les-Nancy, 54501, France

Hot-spring waters near the Main Central thrust in the Marsyandi River of central Nepal have Sr concentrations to 115 µM with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr to 0.77. Small amounts of hydrothermal water (1% of total river discharge) have a significant impact on the solute chemistry and the budget of radiogenic Sr in the Marsyandi. In the upper Marsyandi, river chemistry reflects carbonate weathering, with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr 0.72. As the Marsyandi flows across the dominantly silicate High Himalayan Crystalline terrane, both ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and [Sr] increase, associated with increases in the concentration of Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl^–, all of which are high in the hydrothermal waters. Cation concentrations decrease along the Lesser Himalayan reach of the river. Hot-spring dissolved CO₂ has a ¹³C value to +5.9, indicating that metamorphic decarbonation reactions contribute CO₂ to the fluids. Hydrothermal CO₂ is partially neutralized in high-temperature weathering reactions, which generate alkalinity and yield abundant radiogenic Sr. Radiogenic hydrothermal carbonate can form from these solutions and later weather, releasing silicate Sr but imparting carbonate characteristics to the overall water chemistry.

Key Words: hot spring • alkalinity • Himalaya • strontium • geothermal system

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