Acid precipitation and buffer capacity of lakes in the Sierra Nevada, California

Book · Thu Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6802584

Melack, J M; Stoddard, J L; Dawson, D R

The east central Sierra Nevada received acid precipitation (pH 3.7 to 4.9) during convective storms interspersed through the dry season of 1981. Sulfuric acid contributed about twice the acidity of nitric acid. In contrast, late autumn, winter, and early spring snow (1981-1982) ranged in pH from 5.2 to 6.1 (mean 5.7) and had low ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate concentrations. As of 1981 most of the alpine lakes of the Sierra Nevada remain very weakly buffered, bicarbonate lakes that receive a small loading of acid precipitation and a large annual input of snowmelt uncontaminated by strong acids. If the acidity of the precipitation increases, the pH of the lakes will decrease rapidly because the lakes and their basins have extremely low buffer capacity especially when runoff peaks during snow melt. 27 references.

• OSTI ID: 6802584
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACID RAIN
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
BUFFERS
CALIFORNIA
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
DATA
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEDERAL REGION IX
INFORMATION
LAKES
MELTING
MOUNTAINS
NITRATES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PH VALUE
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
RAIN
SNOW
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
USA