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Rainwater Chemistry and Total Deposition of Acidity from the Northern Savanna to the Southern Coastal Fynbos of South Africa

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Abstract

South Africa is the largest national source of industrial atmospheric pollutants in Africa, and the emission of acid-forming pollutants occurs mainly in the eastern Highveld region of the country. However, spatial information on deposition is very sparse beyond the primary emissions zone. Here we quantify wet and dry deposition at four sites from the far northern savanna (Vaalwater) through the grasslands of the interior coal-producing belt of Mpumalanga (Elandsfontein) and the remote KwaZulu Natal Drakensberg mountains (Cathedral Peak) to the fynbos of the southern coast of the country (Knysna), a distance of over 1200 km. Rainwater samples were collected using automated wet-only samplers and analysed for mineral ions and water-soluble organic acids. Wet deposition fluxes were driven largely by rainfall amount rather than differences in chemical composition for three inland sites, with the highest wet deposited sulphur (S) (5.1 kgS/ha/year) and nitrogen (N) (6.9 kgN/ha/year) found in the Drakensberg mountains, greatly expanding the potentially harmful deposition footprint beyond the industrialised Highveld zone. Furthermore, the study period covered the extreme drought years of 2015–2016; hence, wet deposition fluxes could be significantly underestimated relative to more average rainfall years. Dry deposition fluxes, estimated using passive samplers and inferential methods, were far higher at the industrial Highveld site. Overall, total (wet + dry) deposition of S was greatest at the Highveld site (12.0 kgS/ha/year), but the greatest total N deposition (7.0 kgN/ha/year) was found at the remote Drakensberg site. Measured levels of both S and N deposition are well within the ranges found to cause acidification of soils and surface waters in northern hemisphere studies, or changes in vegetation species composition, and could be much higher in more typical, wetter years.

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Data Availability

All passive sampling and dry deposition data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files. Raw precipitation chemistry datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for rainfall sample collection by the local site operators (Johan Baard of SANParks—Knysna; Ezemvelo KZN staff at the Cathedral Peak ranger station; Sandra Nortje of Olievenhoutsrus Game and Guest Farm—Vaalwater; and the landowner at the farm Elandsfontein).

Funding

Funding for this research was provided through the bilateral National Research Foundation (South Africa)-Research Council of Norway SANCOOP Programme, NRF Grant 91327.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    Mpho K. Mompati, Stuart J. Piketh & Pieter G. Van Zyl

  2. Department of Atmosphere and Climate, NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway

    Wenche Aas

  3. Atmospheric Chemistry Research Group, Chemical Resource Beneficiation, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    Pieter G. Van Zyl & Jacobus J. Pienaar

  4. Dept. of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park Campus, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa

    Christopher J. Curtis

Authors
  1. Mpho K. Mompati
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  2. Stuart J. Piketh
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  3. Wenche Aas
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  4. Pieter G. Van Zyl
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  5. Jacobus J. Pienaar
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  6. Christopher J. Curtis
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Contributions

M.K. Mompati wrote the initial draft of the paper based on his MSc research. C.J. Curtis and S.J. Piketh conceptualised the study and methods, obtained research funding, supervised the lead author for the related MSc study and co-wrote the paper. P.G. van Zyl and J.J. Pienaar facilitated all laboratory analyses of rainfall and passive samples and co-wrote the paper. W. Aas was co-investigator on the project, co-conceptualised the study, obtained research funding and co-wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Christopher J. Curtis.

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Mompati, M.K., Piketh, S.J., Aas, W. et al. Rainwater Chemistry and Total Deposition of Acidity from the Northern Savanna to the Southern Coastal Fynbos of South Africa. Water Air Soil Pollut 233, 275 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05714-6

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