Water Quality Characterization of Marusudar River in Chenab Sub-Basin of North-Western Himalaya Using Multivariate Statistical Methods

Autor: Aftab Ahmad Bhat, Sami Ullah Bhat, Arshid Jehangir, Aadil Hamid, Inam Sabha, Umara Qayoom
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Water, Air, & Soil Pollution. 232
ISSN: 1573-2932
0049-6979
DOI: 10.1007/s11270-021-05394-8
Popis: This study describes the importance of multivariate techniques in evaluating the underlying mechanisms responsible for the spatial–temporal dynamics in physicochemical characteristics of a riverine ecosystem. Evaluation and assessment of physicochemical variables of Marusudar River, Chenab valley, and Northwestern Himalayas, India are very important due to the plan for exploiting this river for hydropower generation. In this study, the physicochemical variables were taken from 15 sampling locations spread over the entire river basin (winter 2014, summer, and autumn 2015) were investigated. The results of the study indicate that the datasets obtained are clusterable, and the whole river basin can be categorized in two recognizable clusters with different water quality identified by Hopkin’s statistics, hierarchical cluster analysis, and subsequently validated by the silhouette coefficient measures. Correlation and regression tests showed that water quality variables bear significant positive and negative relationships and significantly explain the significant proportion of variations produced in the dependent variables predictable from the independent variables. The results of Wilks’ statistics corroborate with the principal component analysis of the entire river and cluster-wise dataset, showing the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors as drivers of the overall water quality in the Marusudar River. The water quality of the cluster 2 sites displayed the impact of anthropogenic activities. Furthermore, pH, total dissolved solids, and total hardness were the main and effective contributors to water quality index evaluation and determination. Gibbs and Piper’s analysis indicated the rock-water dominance with calcium-bicarbonate hydrochemical facies in the river basin.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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