Acidic Lakes and Streams in the United States: The Role of Acidic Deposition

摘要

A statistically designed survey of lakes and streams in acid-sensitive areas ofthe United States, the National Surface Water Survey (NSWS), was used to identify the role of acidic deposition, relative to other factors, in causing acidic conditions in 1,181 lakes and 4,668 streams. Atmospheric deposition is the dominant source of acid anions in 75% of the acidic lakes and 47% of the acidic streams. Organic anions are dominant in one-fourth of the acidic lakes and streams; acidic mine drainage is the dominant acid source in 25% of the acidic streams. Other causes of acidic conditions are relatively unimportant on a regional scale. Nearly all the deposition-dominated acidic systems were found in six well-delineated subpopulations that represent about one-fourth of the NSWS lake population and one-third of the NSWS stream population. (Copyright (c) 1991 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.)