Ion mass budgets for small forested catchments in Finland

Abstract

Ion mass and H⁺ budgets were calculated for three pristine forested catchments using bulk deposition, throughfall and runoff data. The catchments have different soil and forest type characteristics. A forest canopy filtering factor for each catchment was estimated for base cations, H⁺, Cl⁻ and SO ²⁻₄ by taking into account the specific filtering abilities of different stands based on the throughfall quality and the distribution of forest types. Output fluxes from the catchments were calculated from the quality and quantity of the runoff water. Deposition, weathering, ion exchange, retention and biological accumulation processes were taken into account to calculate catchment H⁺ budgets, and the ratio between external (anthropogenic) and internal H⁺ sources.

In general, output exceeded input for Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, HCO ⁻₃ (if present) and A⁻ (organic anions), whereas retention was observed in the case of H⁺, NH ⁺₄ , NO ⁻₃ and SO ²⁻₄ . The range in the annual input of H⁺ was 22.8–26.3 meq m⁻² yr⁻¹, and in the annual output, 0.3–3.9 meq m⁻² yr⁻¹. Compared with some forested sites located in high acid deposition areas in southern Scandinavia, Scotland and Canada, the catchments receive rather moderate loads of acidic deposition. The consumption of H⁺ was dominated by base cation exchange plus weathering reactions (41–79 %), and by the retention of SO ²⁻₄ (17–49 %). The maximum net retention of SO ²⁻₄ was 87% in the HietajÄrvi 2 catchment, having the highest proportion of peatlands. Nitrogen transformations played a rather minor role in the H⁺ budgets. The ratio between external and internal H⁺ sources (excluding net base cation uptake by forests) varied between 0.74 and 2.62, depending on catchment characteristics and acidic deposition loads. The impact of the acidic deposition was most evident for the southern Valkeakotinen catchment, where the anthropogenic acidification has been documented also by palaeolimnological methods.