Phosphate and carbonate mass balances and their relationships to ground-water inputs at Beaver Lake, Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Technical report

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5164021

Brown, B E; Cherkauer, D S

The water and chemical budgets of Beaver Lake, Waukesha County, Wisconsin were examined to determine the role of groundwater and sediments in controlling lake quality in a seepage lake. Groundwater dominates the water budget, providing 70% of annual inflow and 60% of the outflow. The 15-m deep lake diverts flow from a depth of at least 90 m in the glacial aquifer of which it is a part. Acting as a flow-through system, the lake receives inflow predominantly from nearshore springs. Outflow occurs in the deeper parts of the lake. Groundwater provides more than 90% of the mass inflow of the major chemicals examined (Ca, Mg, Na, K, HCO3, SO4, Cl and NO3). It is also the major path of outflow for chemicals, accounting for more than 60% of the lake's loss of all the above ions except Ca and HCO3. Sedimentation of 270 + or - 82 g/sqm/yr of precominatly CaCO3 marl with significant silica and organic matter accounts for removal of 43 and 15% of the Ca and HCO3, respectively. Losses of Mg, Na, K, S and Cl to the sediment are insignificant. Data on NO3 fluxes indicate groundwater provides more N than can be accounted for in water and sediment effluxes. Seasonal denitrification in the lake's hypolimnion may account for the difference.

• Research Organization: Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (United States). Water Resources Center
• OSTI ID: 5164021
• Report Number(s): PB-91-206631/XAB; WIS-WRC--91-01; CNN: DI-14-08-0001-1458
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ACID CARBONATES
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
CALCIUM
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FEDERAL REGION V
GROUND WATER
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INTERFACES
MAGNESIUM
MASS BALANCE
MASS TRANSFER
MATTER
METALS
MINERALS
NITRATES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC MATTER
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHATES
PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POTASSIUM
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SEDIMENT-WATER INTERFACES
SEDIMENTS
SILICA
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
SODIUM
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
USA
VARIATIONS
WATER
WATER CHEMISTRY
WATER POLLUTION
WISCONSIN