Debris-Covered Glaciers (Proceedings of a workshop held at Seattle, Washington, USA, September 2000).
IAHS Publ. no. 264, September 2000, pp. 277–288.

Abstract Glacier meltwaters were sampled at approximately weekly intervals at the outlet of the debris-covered glacier, Lirung Glacier (28°12.9′N, 86°39.9′E; 4000 m a.m.s.l.), in the Nepal Himalayas from 16 May (pre-monsoon) to 26 October (post-monsoon) 1996. The average water discharge during the monsoon period (19 June–13 September) was 2.85±0.35 times higher than that during the pre- and post-monsoon periods. During the monsoon period the average TDS concentration was lower (0.57 times) and the average daily TDS flux was higher (1.63±0.23 times) than during the pre- and post-monsoon periods. The major cation and anion compositions in equivalent l^-1 were Ca²⁺ >> Mg²⁺ ≥ Na⁺ ≥ K⁺ >> NH₄⁺ and Alk > SO₄^2- >> NO₃^- > Cl^-, respectively. The composition of the major species was, however, quite constant throughout the observed period. The dominance of Ca²⁺, Alk and SO₄^2- indicates that sulphide oxidation coupled with carbonate dissolution is the dominant chemical weathering processes occurring within the subglacial drainage system of this glacier as widely observed in other alpine glacierized basins. The monsoon season affected the weathering fluxes of solutes through the enhanced meltwater mass but not the weathering mechanism(s) within the subglacial drainage system of the glacier.