Chemical composition of precipitation and watershed samples collected at Deep Creek Lake, Garrett County, Maryland. Final report

Technical Report · Tue Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:5887709

Campbell, S

The objective of the four-year study was to determine if acid deposition and acid stream drainage pose a significant threat to Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. The chemical composition of rain in the fourth year did not vary significantly from previous years. The annual volume-weighted mean pH of rain at the site is 3.9 - 4.0. Concentrations of hydrogen and sulfate ions are higher in summer rain, particularly for storms characterized by northwesterly winds. Summertime rain produces about 60 percent of the annual sulfate and hydrogen ion deposition at the site. The average lake water pH has remained stable during the four-year study. Acid input from Cherry Creek, impacted by geological acids, was about equal to the acid deposited directly on the lake surface by rain. During most of the year neutralization of geologic acid drainage by the bottom sediments of Cherry Creek Cove is rapid. A USGS investigation of the geology in the area found extensive alkaline rock outcroppings in the basin and underlaying the lake. It appears that concerns about rapid acidification of the lake are not well founded.

• Research Organization: Martin Marietta Environmental Systems, Columbia, MD (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5887709
• Report Number(s): PB-86-156239/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510200 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACID RAIN
ACIDIFICATION
AIR POLLUTION
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
FEDERAL REGION III
GEOLOGY
LAKES
MARYLAND
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RAIN
SAMPLING
SEDIMENTS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
USA
WATER POLLUTION
WATERSHEDS