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Watershed Acidification — A Chromatographic Process

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Regional Acidification Models

Summary

Drainage watersheds acidify from the top down. The acidification involves the stripping of base cations, Al, and Fe from various reservoirs. A front of acidification moves downstream from the head of the watershed. As base cations become depleted, they are removed from the watershed. Al and Fe, however, move progressively downstream, eluted by acid and precipitated in higher pH regions of the watershed. As they do, acid neutralizing capacity accumulates in streambeds. This capacity must be stripped by progressive acidification before the stream (and lower lakes) can become chronically acidic. The capacity of this mechanism may be sufficient to retard chronic acidification by years. The mechanism of translocation of Al and Fe and, to a lesser extent, base cations serves to damp episodic pH depressions in streams and extend the recovery from periods of low pH.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Geological Sciences, Univ. of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA

    Stephen A. Norton

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  1. Stephen A. Norton
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Water and Environment Research Institute, P. O. Box 250, SF-00101, Helsinki, Finland

    Juha Kämäri

  2. Institute for Watershed Studies, Western Washington University, 98225, Bellingham, WA, USA

    David F. Brakke

  3. Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 8BB, UK

    Alan Jenkins

  4. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA

    Stephen A. Norton

  5. Norwegian Institute for Water Research, P. O. Box 69, N-0808, Korsvoll, Oslo 8, Norway

    Richard F. Wright

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© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Norton, S.A. (1989). Watershed Acidification — A Chromatographic Process. In: Kämäri, J., Brakke, D.F., Jenkins, A., Norton, S.A., Wright, R.F. (eds) Regional Acidification Models. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83994-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83994-8_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-83996-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-83994-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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