Regionalization of soil base cation weathering for evaluating stream water acidification in the Appalachian Mountains, USA
Estimation of base cation supply from mineral weathering (BC w ) is useful for watershed research and management. Existing regional approaches for estimating BC w require generalized assumptions and availability of stream chemistry data. We developed an approach for estimating BC w using regionally...
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Published in | Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 162; pp. 338 - 344 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Kidlington
Elsevier Ltd
01.03.2012
Elsevier |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Estimation of base cation supply from mineral weathering (BC
w
) is useful for watershed research and management. Existing regional approaches for estimating BC
w
require generalized assumptions and availability of stream chemistry data. We developed an approach for estimating BC
w
using regionally specific empirical relationships. The dynamic model MAGIC was used to calibrate BC
w
in 92 watersheds distributed across three ecoregions. Empirical relationships between MAGIC-simulated BC
w
and watershed characteristics were developed to provide the basis for regionalization of BC
w
throughout the entire study region. BC
w
estimates extracted from MAGIC calibrations compared reasonably well with BC
w
estimated by regression based on landscape characteristics. Approximately one-third of the study region was predicted to exhibit BC
w
rates less than 100 meq/m
2/yr. Estimates were especially low for some locations within national park and wilderness areas. The regional BC
w
results are discussed in the context of critical loads (CLs) of acidic deposition for aquatic ecosystem protection.
► Base cation weathering (BC
w
) estimates are needed to model critical load of acidity. ► Estimating BC
w
formerly required generalized assumptions and stream chemistry data. ► We describe a high-resolution approach for estimating BC
w
for regional application.
A new approach is described for deriving regional estimates of effective base cation weathering using empirical relationships with landscape characteristics. |
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Bibliography: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2011.11.025 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0269-7491 1873-6424 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.11.025 |