Journal
HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES
Volume 15, Issue 4, Pages 541-556Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/hyp.169
Keywords
acidification; Appalachian Plateau; oxygen isotopes; sulphur; sulphur isotopes; watershed studies; wilderness
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Upland forested catchments in the Appalachian Plateau region receive among the greatest rates of atmospheric sulphur (S) deposition in the eastern USA, although coal mines and S-bearing minerals in bedrock may also contribute to stream acidity in this region. Watershed mass balance and stable S isotopic values (delta S-34) of sulphate (SO42-) were used to assess the contributions to stream SO42- from atmospheric and lithogenic sources at Yellow Creek (YC), a headwater catchment on the Appalachian Plateau in West Virginia. Oxygen isotopic values (delta O-18) Of water were used to study catchment hydrology. Stream output of SO42- was c. 60% of atmospheric S deposition during a relatively dry year, whereas atmospheric S input was nearly balanced by stream output during a year with above normal amounts of precipitation. The temporal patterns and values of delta S-34 were similar between bulk precipitation and stream water at two upper elevation sites. At the lowest elevation site, stream delta S-34 values were similar to bull; precipitation values during the dormant season but were slightly lower than precipitation during the low-flow summer, probably as the result of a greater proportion of stream water being derived from deep hydrological flowpaths that have contacted S-bearing minerals with low delta S-34 values in coal seams. Stream delta S-34 values at YC were significantly higher than at Coal Run, a catchment containing abandoned coal prospects and having a greater amount of S-bearing minerals than YC. Results suggested that lithogenic S is a relatively minor source acid that atmospheric deposition is the principal source of stream SO42-, and thus stream acidity, at YC. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley gr Sons, Ltd.
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