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ACID PRECIPITATION AND WEATHERING BY ORGANIC ACIDS IN LABRAI)OR LAKE BASINS 1
Author(s) -
Clair Thomas A.
Publication year - 1992
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.1752-1688.1992.tb03172.x
Subject(s) - weathering , acid rain , carbonic acid , sulfate , precipitation , dissolution , bedrock , environmental chemistry , groundwater , geology , chemistry , mineralogy , hydrology (agriculture) , geochemistry , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , meteorology , physics
ABSTRACT: Thirty‐five lakes in southern Labrador sampled in 1981 were resampled in 1989 and water chemistry values were compared between visits. Results showed higher pH, specific conductance, acid neutralization capacity, color, and base cations values in 1989, though sulfate, the ion most likely to reflect acid precipitation impacts, did not vary. The major ion changes measured were probably due to natural hydrological variations and not to changes in acid inputs. Results from the 1989 data showed a slight, but significant, decrease in water sulfate concentration trend from western to eastern Labrador, though most values, even in the western portion of the study area, fell close to the values considered “background” by Brakke et at . (1989). Base cation concentrations exceeded those which could be predicted from weathering by carbonic and bicarbonic acid. Assuming that little weathering is generated by acid precipitation in this region, the excess cations measured are probably a result of bedrock dissolution from organic acids generated by plant decomposition. Calculations showed that organic acid effect could be responsible for 9 to 52 percent of total weathering in the study basins.