Analysing the short-term reduction in streamflow pH resulting from acidic precipitation |
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| Authors: | W J GBUREK H B PIONKE |
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| Institution: | Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research , USDA-ARS, 117 Research Office Building, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA |
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| Abstract: | Abstract The effects of acidic precipitation on stream chemistry were measured on an east-central Pennsylvania basin. When combined with flow and chemical mass balances, the data can help quantify hydrological source areas and their contributions to acidic storm hydrographs. For small storms on the well-buffered agricultural basin, small volumes of acidic precipitation falling directly on the stream surface react with more alkaline inflows from subsurface flow and surface runoff components to reduce streamflow pH temporarily by approximately one-half unit. During larger storms, the pH of surface runoff approaches that of precipitation, causing a relatively large acidic loading to the stream. However, this large input is buffered by a correspondingly larger subsurface flow component which results in stream pH reductions similar to those observed during the smaller events. Hydrological interpretations derived from a pH based mass balance are reinforced by a mass balance based on electrical conductivity and are consistent with the variable source area concept of basin hydrology. |
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