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QUALITY OF RUNOFF FROM MINNESOTA PEATLANDS: I. A CHARACTERIZATION 1
Author(s) -
Clausen John C.,
Brooks Kenneth N.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1983.tb02799.x
Subject(s) - peat , bog , surface runoff , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , streamflow , alkalinity , water quality , groundwater , vegetation (pathology) , chemistry , ecology , geology , drainage basin , medicine , geotechnical engineering , cartography , organic chemistry , pathology , geography , biology
The likelihood of expanded use of Minnesota's 3 million hectares of peatlands prompted the state to initiate a hydrologic study to characterize these groundwater‐linked systems. Determining the quality of streamflow from these peatlands was an integral part of the study. Peatlands could be differentiated either on the basis of streamflow quality or on soil‐vegetation characteristics. The quality of streamflow from 45 undisturbed peatlands was characterized by collecting samples five times in 1979‐80 and analyzing them for 27 water quality characteristics. Runoff pH, specific conductance, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium were used to classify the peatlands as bog, transition, or fen. Bog runoff was lower (α= 0.05) in pH, calcium, sodium, manganese, and ammonia nitrogen than fen runoff, but was higher in acidity, color, aluminum, humic and fulvic acid, and chemical oxygen demand than fen runoff. Bogs had more fibric peat of a lower pH than fens; fens exhibited tall woody shrubs which were virtually absent on bogs.