Chemical weathering of silicate rocks as a function of elevation in the southern Swiss Alps

Drever, James I.; Zobrist, Jürg

doi:10.1016/0016-7037(92)90298-w

Cited by 249 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This indicates that chemical weathering rates are lower at high elevations and larger at low elevations. This phenomenon is supported by the work of Zobrist and Drever (1990) and Drever and Zobrist (1992) who showed exponentially increasing weathering rates of silicate rocks with decreasing elevation in river systems. Low temperatures, thin or absent soils, and short contact times result in less chemical weathering at higher altitudes.…”

Section: Agricultural Land-use and Altitudementioning

confidence: 57%

Influence of catchment quality and altitude on the water and sediment composition of 68 small lakes in Central Europe

et al. 1998

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68 lakes (63 Swiss, 2 French and 3 Italian) located in an altitudinal range between 334 and 2339 m spanning a wide range of land-use have been investigated. The aim of the study was to discuss influences of geographic location, vegetation and land-use in the catchment area on the water and sediment chemistry of small lakes. Detailed quantitative description of land-use, vegetation, and climate in the watershed of all lakes was established. Surface and bottom water samples collected from each lake were analyzed for major ions and nutrients. Correlations were interpreted using linear regression analysis. Chemical parameters of water and sediment reflect the characteristics of the catchment areas. All lakes were alkaline since they were situated on calcareous bedrock. Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus strongly increase with increasing agricultural land-use. Na and K, however, are positively correlated with the amount of urbanization within the catchment area. These elements as well as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Mg, Ca, and alkalinity, increase when the catchment is urbanized or used for agriculture. Total nitrogen and organic carbon in the sediments decrease distinctly if large parts of the catchment consist of bare land. No correlations between sediment composition and maximum water depth or altitude of the lakes were found.Striking differences in the water compositions of lakes above and below approximately 700 m of altitude were observed. Concentrations of total nitrogen and nitrate, total phosphorus, DOC, Na, K, Mg, Ca, and alkalinity are distinctly higher in most lakes below 700 m than above, and the pH of the bottom waters of these lakes is generally lower. Estimates of total nitrogen concentrations, even in remote areas, indicate that precipitation is responsible for increased background concentrations. At lower altitudes nitrogen concentrations in lakes is explained by the nitrogen loaded rain from urban areas deposited on the catchment, and with high percentages of agricultural land-use in the watershed.

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Section: Agricultural Land-use and Altitudementioning

confidence: 57%

Influence of catchment quality and altitude on the water and sediment composition of 68 small lakes in Central Europe

et al. 1998

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“…In fact, global studies on chemical weathering rates applied temperature as an important factor in models for basalt weathering . For a region in the Swiss Alps fluvial silica concentration is correlated with both temperature and elevation (Drever and Zobrist 1992). In case of Japan spatial correlations of temperature with other factors, like climate (precipitation and runoff) and elevation (partly represented by slope) exist.…”

Section: Temperaturementioning

confidence: 98%

“…These include lithology (Bluth and Kump 1994;Hartmann et al 2007a) and runoff (Bluth and Kump 1994) as the most important factors. Chemical weathering and subsequent DSi-fluxes are also influenced by temperature (Drever and Zobrist 1992), land cover (Gislason et al 1996;Moulton et al 2000;Fulweiler and Nixon 2005), mechanical erosion, probably linked to relief or slope (Millot et al 2002;West et al 2005;Lyons et al 2005), as well as lakes and dams because they provide sediment burial sites for diatom opal (amorphous Si = ASi) (Humborg et al 2002(Humborg et al , 2006. The process of ASi deposition within fluvial systems is enhanced by eutrophication providing P and N for excessive diatom blooms (Turner et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting riverine dissolved silica fluxes to coastal zones from a hyperactive region and analysis of their first-order controls

Hartmann

Jansen

Dürr

et al. 2009

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

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Silicate weathering and resulting transport of dissolved matter influence the global carbon cycle in two ways. First by the uptake of atmospheric/soil CO 2 and second by providing the oceanic ecosystems via the fluvial systems with the nutrient dissolved silica (DSi). Previous work suggests that regions dominated by volcanics are hyperactive or even ''hot spots'' concerning DSi-mobilization. Here, we present a new approach for predicting DSi-fluxes to coastal zones, emphasizing ''first-order'' controlling factors (lithology, runoff, relief, land cover and temperature). This approach is applied to the Japanese Archipelago, a region characterized by a high percentage of volcanics (29.1% of surface area). The presented DSi-flux model is based on data of 516 catchments, covering approximately 56.7% of the area of the Japanese Archipelago. The spatial distribution of lithology-one of the most important first order controlsis taken from a new high resolution map of Japan. Results show that the Japanese Archipelago is a hyperactive region with a DSi-yield 6.6 times higher than the world average of 3.3 t SiO 2 km -2 a -1, but with large regional variations. Approximately 10% of its area exceeds 10 times the world average DSi-yield. Slope constitutes another important controlling factor on DSi-fluxes besides lithology and runoff, and can exceed the influence of runoff on DSi-yields. Even though the monitored area on the Japanese Archipelago stretches from about 31°to 46°N, temperature is not identified as a significant first-order model variable. This may be due to the fact that slope, runoff and lithology are correlated with temperature due to regional settings of the Archipelago, and temperature information is substituted to a certain extent by these factors. Land cover data also do not improve the prediction model. This may partly be attributed to misinterpreted land cover information from satellite images. Implications of results for Earth System and global carbon cycle modeling are discussed.

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“…High Elevation catchments are characterized by dilute surface waters, small terrestrial area, limited vegetative cover, thin soils and also bedrock weathering rate is very low (Psenner 1989, Drever & Zobrist 1992Strang et al 2010). The high altitude lakes are pristine habitats, undisturbed by direct anthropogenic activities due to their remoteness in location (Koinig et al 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physico-chemical Characterization of Gosainkunda Lake

Raut

Sharma

Bajracharya

et al. 2013

Nepal Journal of Science and Technology

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High altitude lakes are very sensitive to climate change due to their small catchment area, limited vegetation cover, surface water with low nutrients, and thin soil and low bedrock weathering rates. The present study was focused on high altitude Himalayan Lake Gosainkunda, situated at an elevation of 4300 m in the Langtang National Park, and carried out during the post-monsoon season (October) in 2010. The main aim of the study was to assess the water quality quantitatively considering the anthropogenic as well as natural impacts in the lake. The water samples were collected at six different sites to represent entirely the quality of the lake. The sampling sites were systematically designated as the inlet, outlet, human influence site, littoral zone, middle (central) and the deepest part of the lake.

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Chemical weathering of silicate rocks as a function of elevation in the southern Swiss Alps

Cited by 249 publications

References 7 publications

Influence of catchment quality and altitude on the water and sediment composition of 68 small lakes in Central Europe

Influence of catchment quality and altitude on the water and sediment composition of 68 small lakes in Central Europe

Predicting riverine dissolved silica fluxes to coastal zones from a hyperactive region and analysis of their first-order controls

Physico-chemical Characterization of Gosainkunda Lake

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