Snow-pack dynamics and nutrient content in small watershed ecosystems of the Lake Superior Basin
Stottlemyer JR. 1983. Snow-pack dynamics and nutrient content in small watershed ecosystems of the Lake Superior Basin. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 64(2):65
Snowpack accumulation and chemical composition on the leeward side of Lake Superior were studied the winters of 1980-83. The snowpack can contain over 50% of the annual precipitation (88 cm), and increases almost twofold 100 m above lake level. Thus, anthropogenic atmospheric contaminant loading is greatest in the more sensitive upper watersheds. With snowpack melting, a large amount of chemical substances could impact the watershed. However, the snowpack insulates and keeps the soil thawed most of the winter resulting in a steady release of solutes from the lower 30 cm of the snowpack. The snowpack solute load at the time of melting (early April) is only a small fraction of the total winter input for most compounds and watershed discharge reflects this phenomenon. For winter 1981-82 mean ionic concentrations of Ca, K, NO3, and SO4. in precipitation were 0.32, 0.04, 1.93, and 1.97 mg/l respectively, and in the snowpack 0.17, 0.1 0, 1.57, and 1.34 mg/l respectively.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Stottlemyer, J
- Units
- ISRO
- Keywords
- Aquatic Sciences, Ecology, Nutrients, Physical Sciences, Snowpack, Watershed