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Hydrogen ion input to the hubbard brook experimental forest, New Hampshire, during the last decade

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Abstract

Being downwind of eastern and midwestern industrial centers, the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest offers a prime location to monitor long-term trends in atmospheric chemistry. Continuous measurements of precipitation chemistry during the last 10 yr provide a measure of recent changes in precipitation inputs of H ion. The weighted average pH of precipitation during 1964–65 to 1973–74 was 4.14, with a minimum annual value of 4.03 in 1970–71 and a maximum annual value of 4.21 in 1973–74. The sum of all cations except H ion decreased from 51 μeq 1−1 in 1964–65 to 23 μeq 1−1 in 1973–74 providing a significant drop in neutralizing capacity during this period. Based upon regression analysis, the input in equivalents of H ion and nitrate increased by 1.4-fold and 2.3-fold respectively, from 1964–65 to 1973–74. Input of all other ions either decreased or showed no trend. Based upon a stoichiometric formation process in which a sea-salt, anionic component is subtracted from the total anions in precipitation, SO4 =, contribution to acidity dropped from 83% to 66%, whereas NO3 − increased from 15% to 30% during 1964–65 to 1973–74. The increased annual input of H ion at Hubbard Brook during the past 10 yr is highly correlated with the increased input of nitrate in precipitation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.

    Gene E. Likens

  2. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 370 Prospect Street, 06511, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.

    F. Herbert Bormann

  3. Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell Univeristy, 14853, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.

    John S. Eaton

  4. Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, P.O. Box 640, 03824, Durham, New Hampshire, U.S.A.

    Robert S. Pierce

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, 03755, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA

    Noye M. Johnson

Authors
  1. Gene E. Likens
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  2. F. Herbert Bormann
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  3. John S. Eaton
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  4. Robert S. Pierce
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  5. Noye M. Johnson
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Likens, G.E., Bormann, F.H., Eaton, J.S. et al. Hydrogen ion input to the hubbard brook experimental forest, New Hampshire, during the last decade. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 6, 435–445 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00182884

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00182884

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