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Acid-base chemistry and aluminum transport in an acidic watershed and pond in New Hampshire

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Abstract

Cone Pond is one of the few acidic, clear-water ponds in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a region dominated by high inputs of strong acids from atmospheric deposition and low base content of bedrock. Monitoring was conducted for 13 months to compare and contrast the acid-base chemistry of the terrestrial and aquatic portions of the watershed. Variations in Al concentration and speciation in drainage waters were correlated with changes in the supply of naturally occurring organic ligands. During the study period, the pond retained 28% of Al inputs, including nearly half of the inputs of organically complexed Al. Chemical equilibrium calculations indicated that the entire water-column was oversaturated with respect to the solubility of synthetic gibbsite during summer, as was the hypolimnion during winter. Retention of Al resulted from an increase in pH in the hypolimnion concomitant with SO4 2− reduction, and from loss of organic anions in epilimnetic waters. Acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) generated in the pond primarily through SO4 2− reduction and base cation (C B ) release was balanced by ANC consumed as a result of Al retention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, RR 1 Box 779, Campton, NH, 03223, USA

    Scott W. Bailey

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, 220 Hinds Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Charles T. Driscoll

  3. Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 640, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    James W. Hornbeck

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  1. Scott W. Bailey
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  2. Charles T. Driscoll
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  3. James W. Hornbeck
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Bailey, S.W., Driscoll, C.T. & Hornbeck, J.W. Acid-base chemistry and aluminum transport in an acidic watershed and pond in New Hampshire. Biogeochemistry 28, 69–91 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02180678

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02180678

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