Finnish lake survey: the role of organic and anthropogenic acidity

Abstract

A lake survey consisting of 987 randomly selected lakes was conducted in Finland in autumn 1987. The survey covered the whole country, and the water quality of the lakes can be considered as representative of the approximately 56 000 lakes larger than 0.01 km2 in Finland. The median TOC concentration is 12 mg L-1 and the median pH 6.3. The proportion of lakes with TOC concentrations > 5 mg L-1 in the whole country is 91 %. Organic anion is the main anion in the full data set (median 89 μeq L-1). The high organic matter concentrations in Finnish lakes are associated with catchment areas containing large proportions of peatlands and acid organic soils under coniferous forest. The survey demonstrated that organic matter strongly affects the acidity of lakes in Finland. The decreasing effect of organic matter on the pH values was demonstrated by both regression analysis and ion balances. At current deposition levels of *SO4 the pH of humic lakes in Finland is determined to a greater extent by high TOC concentrations than by *SO4 in most areas. In lakes with pH values lower than 5.5 the average organic anion contribution is 56 % and non-marine sulfate contribution 39 %. However, in the southern parts of the country, where the acidic deposition is highest, the minerogenic acidity commonly exceeds the catchment derived organic acidity.