Assessing the response of Emerald Lake, an alpine watershed in Sequoia National Park, California, to acidification during snowmelt by using a simple hydrochemical model
- Geological Survey, Doraville, GA (United States)
A sparsely parameterized hydrochemical model has been developed by using data from Emerald Lake watershed, which is a 120-ha alpine catchment in Sequoia National Park, California. Greater than 90% of the precipitation to this watershed is snow; hence, snowmelt is the dominant hydrologic event. A model which uses a single alkalinity-generating mechanism, primary mineral weathering, was able to capture the pattern of solute concentrations in surface waters during snowmelt. An empirical representation of the weathering reaction, which is based on rock weathering stoichiometry and which uses discharge as a measure of residence time, was included in the model. Results of the model indicate that current deposition levels would have to be increased between three-fold and eight-fold to exhaust the alkalinity of the lake during snowmelt if their is a mild acidic pulse in the stream at the beginning of snowmelt as was observed during the study period. The acidic pulse in the inflow stream at the onset of snowmelt was less pronounced than acidic pulses observed in the meltwater draining the snowpack at a point using snow lysimeters or in the laboratory. Sulfate concentrations in the stream water were the most constant; chloride and nitrate concentrations increased slightly at the beginning of snowmelt. Additional field work is required to resolve whether an acidic meltwater pulse occurs over a large area as well as at a point or whether, due to physical and chemical processes within the snowpack, the acidic meltwater pulse is attenuated at the catchment scale. The modest data requirements of the model permit its applications to other alpine watersheds that are much less intensively studied than Emerald Lake watershed.
- OSTI ID:
- 6940000
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 90-4000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Assessing the response of Emerald Lake, an alpine watershed in Sequoia National Park, California, to acidification during snowmelt by using a simple hydrochemical model. Final report
Snow deposition, melt, runoff, and chemistry in a small alpine watershed, Emerald Lake Basin, Sequoia National Park. Final report, 1 July 1984-31 March 1987
Related Subjects
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
ACID RAIN
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
CALIFORNIA
NATURE RESERVES
LAKES
ACIDIFICATION
WATER POLLUTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
CHLORIDES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
HYDROLOGY
MONITORING
NITRATES
SNOW
STOICHIOMETRY
SULFATES
WATERSHEDS
WEATHERING
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RAIN
RESOURCES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
USA
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
010900 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Environmental Aspects