Water, Air, and Soil Pollution

, Volume 44, Issue 3–4, pp 321–337 | Cite as

Changes in soil and stream hydrochemistry during periods of spring snowmelt at a pristine site in mid-Norway

  • Robert C. Ferrier
  • James S. Anderson
  • John D. Miller
  • Nils Christophersen
Article
Received:
Revised:

Abstract

A detailed study of hydrochemical changes during spring snowmelt was undertaken at a pristine site in mid-Norway. The composition of catchment outflow water reflects hydrological pathways through different soil horizons and the contribution of pre-event or long-residence time water. There was evidence of secondary snowpack elution and ionic enrichment of water collected below the organic horizons. The observed time lag in commencement of BC soil horizon flow indicated that during the initial stages of the melt, water did not penetrate the deeper mineral horizons, or that initially the soil was not at field capacity. Increased soil and surface thawing is proposed as an important mechanism affecting the routing and subsequent chemical alteration of soil water leachate. The relative importance of elution, pathways, and dilution processes within the study catchment is discussed and a scenario for the effects of winter anthropogenic inputs at this pristine site is presented.

Keywords

Soil Horizon Organic Horizon Mineral Horizon Outflow Water Chemical Alteration 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Anderson, H. A., Ferrier, R. C., and Miller, J. D.: 1988, AMBIO (submitted).Google Scholar
  2. Bache, B. W.: 1983, Water Science and Technology 15, 33.Google Scholar
  3. Baird, S. F., Buso, D. C., and Hornbeck, J. W.: 1987, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 34, 325.Google Scholar
  4. Bottomley, D. J., Craig, D., and Johnston, L. M.: 1984, Journal of Hydrology 75, 1.Google Scholar
  5. Christophersen, N., Vogt, R. D., Anderson, H. A., Ferrier, R. C., Miller, J. D., Neal, C., and Seip, H. M.: 1989, Water Resour. Res. (submitted).Google Scholar
  6. Driscoll, C. T.: 1984, Int. J. Environ. Anal. Chem. 16, 267.Google Scholar
  7. Dunne, T. and Black, R. D.: 1970, Water Resour. Res. 6, 1296.Google Scholar
  8. Elgmork, K., Hagen, A., and Langeland, A.: 1973, Environmental Pollution 4, 41.Google Scholar
  9. English, M. C., Jeffries, D. S., Foster, N. W., Semkin, R. G., and Hazlett, P. W.: 1987, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 31, 27.Google Scholar
  10. Gaskin, G. J., Miller, J. D., and Stuart, A. W.: 1988, ‘The Use of Inexpensive Automatic Sequential Water Collectors to Study Rainfall Episodes’, Technical Bulletin of the British Geomorphological Research Group (submitted).Google Scholar
  11. Goodison, B. E., Louie, P. Y. T., and Metcalfe, J. R.: 1986, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 31, 131.Google Scholar
  12. Horton, R. E. 1933, Transactions of the American Geophysics Union, 14, 446.Google Scholar
  13. Jacks, G., Olofsson, E., and Werme, G.: 1986, Ambio 15(5), 282.Google Scholar
  14. Johannessen, M. and Henriksen, A.: 1978, Water Resources Research 14(4), 615.Google Scholar
  15. Johnson, D. W. and Cole, D. W.: 1980, Environ. Int. 3, 79.Google Scholar
  16. Marmorek, D. R., Cunningham, G., Jones, M. L. and Bunnell, P.: 1984, Snowmelt Effects Related to Acidic Precipitation; A Structure Review of Existing Knowledge and Current Research Activities, Final report by ESSA Ltd (Vancouver B.C.) to Environment Canada.Google Scholar
  17. Mason, J. and Seip, H. M.: 1985, Ambio 14, 45.Google Scholar
  18. Miller, J. D., Stuart, A. W., and Gaskin, G. J.: 1988, ‘The Construction of Suitable Water Collectors, Including Soil Throughflow, for Acid Rain Studies’, Technical Bulletin of the British Geomorphological Research Group (submitted).Google Scholar
  19. Overrein, L. N., Seip, H. M., and Tollan, A.: 1980, Acid Precipitation — Effects on Forest and Fish. Final report SNSF project. Norwegian Institute for Water Research, FR 19/80, 175 pp.Google Scholar
  20. Philbert, F. J. and Traversy, W. J.: 1973, Proc. 16th Conf. Great Lakes Res. Int. Assoc., 294.Google Scholar
  21. Post, F. A. and Dreibelbis, F. R.: 1942, Soil Sci. Soc. Proc. Am. 7, 95.Google Scholar
  22. Price, A. G. and Hendrie L. K.: 1983, Journal of Hydrology 64, 339–356.Google Scholar
  23. Rodhe, A.: 1981, Nordic Hydrology 12, 21.Google Scholar
  24. Seip, H. M.: 1980, ‘Acidification of Freshwater — Sources and Mechanisms’ in Proceedings of the International Conference on the Ecological Impact of Acid Precipitation, SNF, Norway.Google Scholar
  25. Semkin, R. G. and Jeffries D. S.: 1986, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 31, 215.Google Scholar
  26. Skartveit, A. and Gjessing, Y. T.: 1979, Nordic Hydrology 10, 141.Google Scholar
  27. Thurman, E. M.: 1985, Organic Geochemistry of Natural Water, Nijhoff/Junk, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
  28. Woo, M.: 1976, Catena 3, 155.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1989

Authors and Affiliations

  • Robert C. Ferrier
    • 1
  • James S. Anderson
    • 1
  • John D. Miller
    • 1
  • Nils Christophersen
    • 2
  1. 1.Macaulay Land Use Research InstituteCraigiebucklerScotland
  2. 2.Centre for Industrial ResearchOslo 3Norway

Personalised recommendations