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Title: Review of Wildfire Effects on Chemical Water Quality

Abstract

The Cerro Grande Fire of May 2000 burned almost 43,000 acres of forested land within the Pajarito Plateau watershed in northern New Mexico. Runoff events after the fire were monitored and sampled by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Changes in the composition of runoff water were noted when compared to runoff water composition of the previous 20 years. In order to understand the chemical water quality changes noted in runoff water after the Cerro Grande Fire, a summary of the reported effects of fire on runoff water chemistry and on soils that contribute to runoff water chemistry was compiled. The focus of this report is chemical water quality, so it does not address changes in sediment transport or water quantity associated with fires. Within the general inorganic parameters, increases of dissolved calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and pH in runoff water have been observed as a result of fire. However, the dissolved sodium, carbon, and sulfate have been observed to increase and decrease as a result of fire. Metals have been much less studied, but manganese, copper, zinc, and cesium-137 have been observed to increase as a result of fire.

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (US)
Sponsoring Org.:
US DOE (US)
OSTI Identifier:
781455
Report Number(s):
LA-13826-MS
TRN: US200301%%427
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 May 2001
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; CALCIUM; CARBON; CESIUM 137; COPPER; MAGNESIUM; MANGANESE; NITROGEN; SULFATES; WATER CHEMISTRY; WATER QUALITY; WATERSHEDS; ZINC

Citation Formats

Kelly Bitner, Bruce Gallaher, and Ken Mullen. Review of Wildfire Effects on Chemical Water Quality. United States: N. p., 2001. Web. doi:10.2172/781455.
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Kelly Bitner, Bruce Gallaher, & Ken Mullen. Review of Wildfire Effects on Chemical Water Quality. United States. doi:10.2172/781455.
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Kelly Bitner, Bruce Gallaher, and Ken Mullen. Tue . "Review of Wildfire Effects on Chemical Water Quality". United States. doi:10.2172/781455. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/781455.
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@article{osti_781455,
title = {Review of Wildfire Effects on Chemical Water Quality},
author = {Kelly Bitner and Bruce Gallaher and Ken Mullen},
abstractNote = {The Cerro Grande Fire of May 2000 burned almost 43,000 acres of forested land within the Pajarito Plateau watershed in northern New Mexico. Runoff events after the fire were monitored and sampled by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Changes in the composition of runoff water were noted when compared to runoff water composition of the previous 20 years. In order to understand the chemical water quality changes noted in runoff water after the Cerro Grande Fire, a summary of the reported effects of fire on runoff water chemistry and on soils that contribute to runoff water chemistry was compiled. The focus of this report is chemical water quality, so it does not address changes in sediment transport or water quantity associated with fires. Within the general inorganic parameters, increases of dissolved calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and pH in runoff water have been observed as a result of fire. However, the dissolved sodium, carbon, and sulfate have been observed to increase and decrease as a result of fire. Metals have been much less studied, but manganese, copper, zinc, and cesium-137 have been observed to increase as a result of fire.},
doi = {10.2172/781455},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2001},
month = {Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2001}
}
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Technical Report:
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DOI:  10.2172/781455
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