SREL Reprint #1903

Influence of summer storms on the solution geochemistry in a coastal plain hydrosequence

Jeffrey M. Novak1 and Lee Burras2

1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, SC, 29802, USA
2University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, 70504, USA

Abstract: An understanding of factors which influence wetland soil solution chemistry is important for soil solutions are known to influence some chemical properties of surface waters. The influence of summer storms on the solution geochemistry in a South Carolina riverine wetland soil was evaluated by comparing pore water collected 24 hr after five summer storm events with pore water acquired during five nonstorm periods. Pore water was collected by tension lysimeters buried at 15 to 152 cm in two locations along a hydrologic gradient. Samples of rain, throughfall and stream water were also collected. Overall, summer storms had no significant influence on the concentrations of anions, cations, DOC, pH and electrical conductivity (EC) in soil pore water at both floodplain locations. There was a tendency for higher concentrations of dissolved NO3-N, NH4-N and PO4-P in soil pore water after periods of high rainfall. In many situations, water chemistry was influenced by the degree of soil saturation. The seasonally wet soil of the floodplain had statistically higher mean concentrations of Ca, Fe, Na, Cl and EC values relative to the drier soil. Throughfall had a significant influence on the concentrations of K and DOC, whereas soil had a significant effect on some anions, cations, pH, and EC. These results suggest that pore water chemistry is primarily a function of the degree of soil saturation during nonstorm periods. Storms had little influence on soil pore water or stream water chemistry.

Keywords: throughfall, wetland soil, stream water, floodplain, land-water interaction

SREL Reprint #1903

Novak, J.M. and L. Burras. 1994. Influence of summer storms on the solution geochemistry in a coastal plain hydrosequence. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 20:15-30. 

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).