Water and solute mass balance of five small, relatively undisturbed watersheds in the U.S.

Peters, Norman E.; Shanley, James B.; Aulenbach, Brent T.; Webb, R. M.; Campbell, Donald H.; Hunt, Randall J.; Larsen, Matthew C.; Stallard, Robert F.; Troester, Joseph W.; Walker, John F.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.04.044

Cited by 43 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Within each site, we chose a small, undisturbed catchment for our Hg investigations. These catchments are the same as those reported in an intercomparison of water and solute mass budgets at the five sites (Peters et al, 2006). At Sleepers River, VT, Hg was sampled at the 41-ha W-9 catchment (called Sleepers herein) (Shanley et al, 2004), a forested, glaciated, calcareous catchment with mucky histosols in riparian zones and depressions.…”

Section: Site Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trout Lake, WI, is a forested low-relief landscape mantled with sandy till and dotted with numerous lakes and wetlands. We sampled the 1395-ha middle site on Allequash Creek (Allequash) (Walker et al, 2003), a catchment nested within the Allequash Creek site reported in Peters et al (2006). The 41-ha Panola Mountain, GA site (Panola) (Peters, 1989) is forested except for a 3-ha granodiorite outcrop in the headwaters.…”

Section: Site Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The high THg flux at Icacos is due in part to high wet Hg deposition, which is the highest measured in the USA , and high stream runoff, which averages 3610 mm year À1 (Peters et al, 2006). However, the stream THg flux (55.4 mg m À2 year…”

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confidence: 96%

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Comparison of total mercury and methylmercury cycling at five sites using the small watershed approach

Shanley

Mast

Campbell

et al. 2008

Environmental Pollution

101

108

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Martin M., "Comparison of total mercury and methylmercury cycling at five sites using the small watershed approach" (2008 High-flow sampling reveals strong contrasts in total mercury and methylmercury cycling in five diverse USA watersheds. AbstractThe small watershed approach is well-suited but underutilized in mercury research. We applied the small watershed approach to investigate total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) dynamics in streamwater at the five diverse forested headwater catchments of the US Geological Survey Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program. At all sites, baseflow THg was generally less than 1 ng L À1 and MeHg was less than 0.2 ng L À1. THg and MeHg concentrations increased with streamflow, so export was primarily episodic. At three sites, THg and MeHg concentration and export were dominated by the particulate fraction in association with POC at high flows, with maximum THg (MeHg) concentrations of 94 (2.56) ng L À1 at Sleepers River, Vermont; 112 (0.75) ng L À1 at Rio Icacos, Puerto Rico; and 55 (0.80) ng L À1at Panola Mt., Georgia. Filtered (<0.7 mm) THg increased more modestly with flow in association with the hydrophobic acid fraction (HPOA) of DOC, with maximum filtered THg concentrations near 5 ng L À1 at both Sleepers and Icacos. At Andrews Creek, Colorado, THg export was also episodic but was dominated by filtered THg, as POC concentrations were low. MeHg typically tracked THg so that each site had a fairly constant MeHg/THg ratio, which ranged from near zero at Andrews to 15% at the low-relief, groundwater-dominated Allequash Creek, Wisconsin. Allequash was the only site with filtered MeHg consistently above detection, and the filtered fraction dominated both THg and MeHg. Relative to inputs in wet deposition, watershed retention of THg (minus any subsequent volatilization) was 96.6% at Allequash, 60% at Sleepers, and 83% at Andrews. Icacos had a net export of THg, possibly due to historic gold mining or frequent disturbance from landslides. Quantification and interpretation of Hg dynamics was facilitated by the small watershed approach with emphasis on event sampling.

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Section: Site Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Site Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of total mercury and methylmercury cycling at five sites using the small watershed approach

Shanley

Mast

Campbell

et al. 2008

Environmental Pollution

101

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Mass balance models and the mass flux calculations have been developed to assess the hydrologic and hydrochemical cycling of solutes (Baresel and Destouni 2005;Ethier et al 2008;Likens 2001;Peters et al 2006), which can provide a quantitative understanding of the heavily modified watershed by making both spatial and temporal generalizations. Most mass balance models were developed for nonionizing organic chemicals and metals (Lessard et al 2013;Mackay et al 1996;Peters et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most mass balance models were developed for nonionizing organic chemicals and metals (Lessard et al 2013;Mackay et al 1996;Peters et al 2006). For some pollutants such as COD and NH 4 -N, there are more challenges because they are chemically and biologically reactive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources and mass fluxes of the main contaminants in a heavily polluted and modified river of the North China Plain

et al. 2014

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Many rivers in China and other newly industrialized countries have suffered from severe degradation of water quality in the context of rapid economic growth. An accounting method was developed to investigate the source and mass fluxes of the main contaminants in the Ziya River, a severely polluted and heavily modified river in a semiarid area of the North China Plain, where chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 -N) were the most important indicators of pollution. The results showed that the urban sewage with high concentration of COD and NH 4 -N dominated the streams, contributing to 80.7 % of the streamflow, 92.2 % of COD, and 94.5 % of NH 4 -N. The concentrations of COD and NH 4 -N in streams varied from 24.0-195.0 to 5.8-43.8 mg/L, respectively. Mass fluxes of COD and NH 4 -N of all pathways were quantified. Much of the polluted water was diverted to irrigation, and some eventually flowed into the Bohai Sea. Installation of adequate wastewater treatment facilities and making strict discharge standards can help improve the water quality. Our findings imply that a simple accounting method provides an extremely well-documented example for load estimation and can be useful for intervention strategies in heavily polluted and modified rivers in newly industrialized countries.

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Precipitation isotopes link regional climate patterns to water supply in a tropical mountain forest, eastern Puerto Rico

Scholl

Murphy

2014

Water Resour. Res.

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Like many mountainous areas in the tropics, watersheds in the Luquillo Mountains of eastern Puerto Rico have abundant rainfall and stream discharge and provide much of the water supply for the densely populated metropolitan areas nearby. Projected changes in regional temperature and atmospheric dynamics as a result of global warming suggest that water availability will be affected by changes in rainfall patterns. It is essential to understand the relative importance of different weather systems to water supply to determine how changes in rainfall patterns, interacting with geology and vegetation, will affect the water balance. To help determine the links between climate and water availability, stable isotope signatures of precipitation from different weather systems were established to identify those that are most important in maintaining streamflow and groundwater recharge. Temporal isotope values exhibit a reverse seasonality from those observed in higher latitude continental watersheds, with higher isotopic values in the winter and lower values in the summer. Despite the higher volume of convective and low-pressure system rainfall, stable isotope analyses indicated that under the current rainfall regime, frequent trade -wind orographic showers contribute much of the groundwater recharge and stream base flow. Analysis of rain events using 20 years of 15 -minute resolution data at a mountain station (643 m) showed an increasing trend in rainfall amount, in agreement with increased precipitable water in the atmosphere, but differing from climate model projections of drying in the region. The mean intensity of rain events also showed an increasing trend. The determination of recharge sources from stable isotope tracers indicates that water supply will be affected if regional atmospheric dynamics change trade-wind orographic rainfall patterns in the Caribbean.

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Water and solute mass balance of five small, relatively undisturbed watersheds in the U.S.

Cited by 43 publications

References 32 publications

Comparison of total mercury and methylmercury cycling at five sites using the small watershed approach

Comparison of total mercury and methylmercury cycling at five sites using the small watershed approach

Sources and mass fluxes of the main contaminants in a heavily polluted and modified river of the North China Plain

Precipitation isotopes link regional climate patterns to water supply in a tropical mountain forest, eastern Puerto Rico

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