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Hydrogeochemical Constraints on Mass Balances in Forested Watersheds of the Southern Appalachians

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The Chemistry of Weathering

Part of the book series: Nato ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 149))

Abstract

Two variables, parent rock type and flushing rate (the amount of water flushed through the weathering profile per hectare per year), control the long-term average dissolved load of streams in forested watersheds of southwestern North Carolina, U.S.A. The same variables explain qualitative stability relations, as shown by stability field diagrams which are, in turn, consistent with the hydrology and kaolinite-gibbsite clay mineralogy of the profiles. Tardy’s Re, a simple semiquantitative mass-balance tool, ranges from 1.36 to 1.65, again qualitatively consistent with the known clay mineralogy of the systems. The consistency of hydrology, aqueous geochemistry and clay mineralogy places useful constraints on more sophisticated geochemical mass-balance models.

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Author notes

  1. Michael Anthony Velbel

    Present address: Dept. of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1115, USA

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  1. Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, USA

    Michael Anthony Velbel

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  1. Michael Anthony Velbel
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, The University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA

    James Irving Drever

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© 1985 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Velbel, M.A. (1985). Hydrogeochemical Constraints on Mass Balances in Forested Watersheds of the Southern Appalachians. In: Drever, J.I. (eds) The Chemistry of Weathering. Nato ASI Series, vol 149. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5333-8_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5333-8_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8855-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-5333-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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