Response of Soil Water Chemistry to Simulated Changes in Acid Deposition in the Great Smoky Mountains
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 7
Abstract
Watershed recovery from acidic deposition, such as the Noland Divide Watershed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is difficult to predict because of complex biogeochemical processes exhibited in soils. Laboratory soil columns and in situ pan lysimeters were used to investigate soil solution response to simulated reductions in acid deposition. Controlling for influent , , and concentrations in the column experiments, effluent pH declined similarly to 4.4 among five experimental scenarios from an initial pH of approximately 4.7 and 6.1. Influent-effluent chemical comparisons suggest nitrification and/or desorption controls effluent pH. Sulfate adsorption occurred when influent was greater than and desorption occurred below , which would equate to approximately a 61% reduction in current deposition levels. Base cation depletion occurred in column experiments, in which and reductions were measured. Cation depletion rates were pH dependent, primarily caused by soil cation exchange and not weathering. In these soils with base saturation below 7%, complete and depletion was estimated as 90 to 140 years. Protons released by desorption via ligand exchange are expected to cause further base cation depletion, thereby delaying watershed recovery. Field experiments found sorption dynamics to be limited by kinetics and hydrologic interflow rates, illustrating how precipitation intensity can influence ion transport from soil to stream. Results from this study provide important information for predicting watershed recovery in the future and suggest needs for further research.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service Cooperative Agreement Grant No. USDI1443-CA-5460-98-006 (Amendment 10) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the University of Tennessee Natural Research Policy Center, U.S. EPA Grant No. USEPAEM-83298901-1. Special thanks are given to Joe Parker, Keil Neff, Tom Zimmerman, and Lee Mauney for collecting soil samples, constructing the field experiment site, and chemical analysis. The writers are thankful for the support of Dr. Nancy Finley, former Natural Resource Research Director at the GRSM. The writers appreciate the help of Zhengxin Li for help with soil sieving and installation of soil columns. Dr. Michael Essington provided helpful suggestions with the project’s study design.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 7 • July 2011
Pages: 617 - 628
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 14, 2010
Accepted: Jan 3, 2011
Published online: Jan 5, 2011
Published in print: Jul 1, 2011
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