Abstract
The generation of alkalinity by SO4 reduction and net storage of reduced S in lake sediments has been estimated from an analysis of sediment cores from 16 lakes in ME, VT, NY, MI, MN, and WY. The cores have been dated by 210Pb. The rate of pre-1850 (background) storage of S in lake sediments suggests that alkalinity contribution to lake water from this process ranged from 0.2 to 9.3 geq L−1, with an average of 4 geq L−1, Background values are similar for all lakes and remain low in the WY lakes up to the present. Maximum alkalinity contributions recorded in sediment, from upper mid-west and eastern lakes, dated between 1850 and 1985 are between 0.4 and 33 geq L−1, with a lake mean maximum of 9.9 geq L−1, Significant increases in recent S storage only occur in eastern lakes. Average values for net S accumulation in the sediment of most lakes for post-1850 sediment are typically less than half of maximum values.
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Norton, S.A., Mitchell, M.J., Kahl, J.S. et al. In-lake alkalinity generation by sulfate reduction: A paleolimnological assessment. Water Air Soil Pollut 39, 33–45 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250946
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250946