Seasonal variations in acid‐neutralizing capacity in 13 northeast United States headwater streams

Abstract

Variations in acid‐neutralizing capacity (ANC) in 13 streams in the Adirondack, Catskill, and Northern Appalachian Plateau regions of the northeast United States were related to discharge, time of year, and seasonal variations in cation and anion concentrations using periodic regression analysis, ANC varied significantly with both discharge and time of year in 12 streams. Generation of ANC seasonal variations, being dependent upon the precise timing and magnitude of seasonal variations in cation and anion concentrations, was unique to each stream. Greatest seasonal ANC variations occurred in streams where seasonal variations in major anion and cation concentrations were completely out of phase. Maximum errors that could occur because of extrapolation of ANC data from one time of year to another were equal to or greater than maximum errors due to extrapolation of ANC from one discharge to another.