Abstract
Annual exports of Cu, Pb, and Cd were estimated for eleven headwater and two lake outflow streams in the District of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. COCl2-APDC coprecipitation coupled with anodic stripping voltammetry was used to determine metal concentrations. Concentrations of all three metals were similar to those reported from other temperate forested ecosystems, being usually less than 1 ug L−1 with Cd undetectable (<25 ng L−1) in many samples. There was limited evidence for a spring peak in metal concentrations associated with the snowpack melt.
Annual export (mass per unit area per year) of each metal was calculated; variability between streams was small. Exports of Pb appear to be related to the organic content of the water. Copper export was correlated with watershed area, not with organic acids, implying that a different transport mechanism and possibly a different source are important for this metal.
The exports of Pb and Cu were much lower in all streams than the estimated annual atmospheric metal depositions reported for this area in the literature. Terrestrial retention was higher than 95% for all catchments, while lake retention was slightly lower in some cases. Despite the small fractional loss of trace metal from the watersheds, terrestrial inputs can comprise a significant portion of the total metal load to typical lakes in this region because of size of the catchments relative to the lake areas.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andren, A. W. and Lindberg, S. E.: 1977,Water, Air and Soil Poll. 8, 199.
Andren, A. W., Lindberg, S. E., and Bate, L. C.: 1975, ORNL-NSF-EATC-13. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Tennessee. 68 pp.
Bolter, E. and Butz, T. R.: 1975, in T. C. Hutchinsonet al. (eds.)International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment, Vol. II, Pt. I. Institute of Environ. Studies, Univ. of Toronto. pp. 353–362.
Boyle, J. E. and Edmond, J. M.: 1975, in T. R. P. Gibb, Jr. (ed.)Analytical Methods in Oceanography. Advances Chem. Series 148, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. pp. 44–55.
Boyle, E. A. and Edmond, J. M.: 1977,Anal. Chim. Acta. 91, 189.
Dethier, D. P.: 1979,Water Resour. Res. 15, 787.
Dillon, P. J.: 1984, personnel communication.
Dillon, P. J. and Evans, R. D.: 1982,Hydrobiologia 91, 121.
Dillon, P. J., Jeffries, D. S., Snyder, W., Reid, R., Yan, N. D., Evans, D., Moss, J., and Scheider, W. A.: 1978,J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 35, 809.
Evans, H. E., Smith, P. J., and Dillon, P. J.: 1983,Can. J., Fish. Aquat. Sci. 40, 570.
Evans, R. D. and Rigler, F. H.: 1985,Water, Air, and Soil Poll. 24, 141.
Getz, L. L.: 1977, ‘Transport and Distribution in a Watershed Ecosystem’, in W. R. Boggess and B. G. Wixson (eds.)Lead in the Environment, NSF/RA-770214. pp. 105–134.
Jeffries, D. S. and Snyder, W. R.: 1981,Water, Air and Soil Pollut. 15, 127.
Jeffries, D. S. and Snyder, W. R.: 1983, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Limnology Section, Water Resources Branch. Data Report DR83/2. 101 pp.
McKnight, D. M., Feder, G. L., Thurman, E. M., Wershaw, R. L., and Westall, J. C.: 1983,Sci. Total Environ. 28, 65.
Munger, J. W., and Eisenreich, S. J.: 1983,Environ. Sci. Technol. 17, 32A.
Nriagu, J. O. and Coker, R. D.: 1980,Environ. Sci. Technol. 14, 443.
Nriagu, J. O., Wong, H. K. T., and Coker, R. D.: 1981,Water Res. 15, 91.
Scheider, W. A., Cox, C. M., and Scott, L. D.: 1983a,Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Limnology Section, Water Resources Branch, Data Report DR 83/6, 241 p.
Scheider, W.A., Reid, R. A., Locke, B. A., and Scott, L. D.: 1983b,Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Limnology Section, Water Resources Branch, Data Report DR 83/1. 40 pp.
Schnitzer, M. and Kerndorff, H.: 1981,Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 15, 97.
Schut, P. H.: 1984, M.Sc. Thesis, Trent University, 112 p.
Seip, H.M.: 1980, in T. C. Hutchinson and M. Havas (eds.)Effects of Acid Precipitation on Terrestrial Ecosystems, Plenum, New York. pp. 77–94.
Siccama, T. G. and Smith, W. H.: 1978,Environ. Sci. Technol. 12, 593.
Smith, W. H. and Siccama, T. G.: 1981,J. Environ. Qual. 10, 323.
Stahr, K., Zottl, H. W., and Hadrich, Fr.: 1980,Soil Sci. 130, 217.
Stevenson, F. J. and Welch, L. F.: 1979,Environ. Sci. Technol. 13, 1255.
Stolzberg, R. J.: 1975, in T.R.P. Gibbs, Jr. (ed.),Analytical Methods in Oceanography, Advances Chem. Series 148, American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C. pp. 30–43.
Swanson, K. A. and Johnson, A. H.: 1980,Water Resour. Res. 16 373.
Turner, R. R., Lindberg, S. E., and Talbot, K.: 1977, in D. L. Carrell (ed.)Watershed Research in Eastern North America, Vol II. Smithsonian Institute, Edgewater, Maryland. pp. 661–680.
Van Hook, R. I., Harris, W. F., and Henderson, G. S.: 1977,Ambio 6, 281.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schut, P.H., Douglas Evans, R. & Scheider, W.A. Variation in trace metal exports from small Canadian shield watersheds. Water Air Soil Pollut 28, 225–237 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00583489
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00583489