Vulnerability of selected lakes and streams in the Middle Atlantic region to acidification: a regional survey

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:6242578

Arnold, D E; Light, R W; Paul, E A

About 45% of the unpolluted, relatively undeveloped waters sampled in the nine Middle Atlantic States are vulnerable to acidification on the basis of alkalinity being less than 200 ..mu..eq/1, or calcium content less than 200 ..mu..eq/1. Differences in water chemistry between lakes and streams, as groups, were small. Alkalinity is probably the most useful and relatively accurate predictor of sensitivity to acidification. Calcite saturation index is also a valid predictor, but has no advantage over alkalinity. Comparisons with historical data on the same waters indicated no significant overall change in pH but some decrease in the alkalinity of many waters. The accuracy of the historical data cannot be evaluated, however, so no firm conclusions regarding change can be drawn from it. The calcium-pH plot of Henriksen is a fairly good predictor of lake pH values as related to calcium content. It predicted that about 28% of the sampled lakes were acidified. Neither bedrock nor soil class is a particularly strong predictor of sensitivity to acidification. Bedrock class is somewhat related to alkalinity of Middle Atlantic States waters, but soil type is not, at least when determined from rock and soil maps presently available. Thus, some published maps showing geographic areas which are sensitive to acid precipitation, but which are based on bedrock alone, may be misleading. There was only one case of a potentially toxic aluminum/pH combination among the sampled waters.

• Research Organization: Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA). Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
• OSTI ID: 6242578
• Report Number(s): FWS/OBS-80/40.19; ON: TI86900216
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACID NEUTRALIZING CAPACITY
ACID RAIN
ACIDIFICATION
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ALTITUDE
ALUMINIUM
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CALCIUM
CHEMISTRY
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DATA
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEDERAL REGION II
FEDERAL REGION III
FEDERAL REGION IV
FIELD TESTS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
INDICATORS
INFORMATION
MAGNESIUM
MANGANESE
MARYLAND
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METALS
NAPAP
NEW JERSEY
NEW YORK
NORTH AMERICA
NORTH CAROLINA
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PENNSYLVANIA
PH VALUE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POTASSIUM
RAIN
RESPONSE MODIFYING FACTORS
SENSITIVITY
SODIUM
SOILS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
TENNESSEE
TESTING
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TURBIDITY
USA
VIRGINIA
WATER CHEMISTRY
WATER QUALITY
WEST VIRGINIA