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Spatial variations in and controls on the calcite saturation index in Acton Lake, Ohio
Author(s) -
GREEN WILLIAM J.,
CANFTELD DONALD E.,
STEINLY BRUCE A.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
freshwater biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2427
pISSN - 0046-5070
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2427.1985.tb00223.x
Subject(s) - calcite , saturation (graph theory) , eutrophication , mineralogy , bicarbonate , hard water , degree of saturation , spatial distribution , chemistry , environmental chemistry , environmental science , geology , soil science , nutrient , mathematics , organic chemistry , combinatorics , remote sensing , soil water
SUMMARY.1 Acton Lake is a small, hardwater, eutrophic reservoir located in the southwestern corner of Ohio. Over a period of 5 weeks in mid‐summer 1979, water samples were collected from the lake and its streams and analyzed for seven major ionic species and for temperature, dissolved O 2 , pH and conductivity. Geochemically the waters are characterized by high calcium and bicarbonate concentrations. 2 Data obtained on all samples were used to compute calcite saturation indices (SI) and to map the spatial distribution of this function throughout the system. The saturation indices were corrected for activity and ion pairing effects and yet are still to our knowledge among the highest values reported for a natural water. 3 The good correlations obtained between the SI and both the pH and dissolved oxygen clearly indicate that biological activity is the dominant control on the degree of saturation in this largely isothermal lake. To account for the extreme departure from chemical equilibrium, it is proposed that dissolved organic matter may be poisoning freshly formed calcite surfaces and preventing them from serving as effective nucleation centers.