Pollution of Lakes and Rivers Chapter 7: Acidification: finding the ‘smoking gun’ Copyright © 2008 by DBS

Pollution of Lakes and Rivers

Chapter 7:Acidification: finding the ‘smoking gun’

Copyright © 2008 by DBS

Contents

• Acidic precipitation: definition and scope of the problem• The four steps in the trans-boundary problem of acidic deposition• Can we use paleolimnological indicators to infer lakewater acidity and related variables?• Have European lakes acidified? And, if so, what are the causes?• How have different levels of acidic deposition affected European lake ecosystems?• Have European lakes acidified simply as a result of natural, long-term acidification?• How have land-use changes affected lake water pH?• Acidification in North America: different lakes and histories, but similar political and scientific debates• Trajectories of acidification in selected North American lakes: the PIRLA-I project• Regional assessments of lake acidification: the PIRLA-II project• Have seepage lakes acidified?• Is atmospheric deposition the only possible cause of lake acidification?• Did acidification result in losses of fisheries?• Are lakes beginning to recover as a result of decreases in anthropogenic emissions?• Can we predict which lakes are more likely to recover?• Can paleolimnological data be used to set critical loads?• Assessing the efficacy of liming programs• How much confidence can we put in computer models to understand the acidification problem?• From rainforest to watershed in a hundred years: acidification in the Southern hemistphere• Acidification from the direct discharge of industrial effluents• Some progress, but many lakes still acidifying

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Acidic Precipitation: Definition and Scope of the Problem

Jacobson, 2002

Sources:Present - acids from fuel burning18th century - acids from fuel burning and sodium carbonate manufacture (alkali industry)



Schindler, 1988

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Acidic Precipitation: Definition and Scope of the ProblemScientists have liked this scenario

to a large-scale unintentional acid titration…


1950-1970’s:

• pH:dropped in natural waters

• Fish populations:showed signs of stress and dropped

• Ecosystems altered:e.g. distribution of producers and consumers

• Mobilization of Al3+:from soils at lower pH

Gradual changes occurring over 100’s of years had been missed


• How to investigate?– Experimental: Acidify a lake– Real-time data– Biogeochemical Modelling– Reconstruct missing data using natural archives


• Schindler et al (1985) experimental lake project

• H2SO4 added in large quantities, lead to 30 % reduction in no. species

– Large changes in phytoplankton no.s– Disruption and cessation of fish

reproduction at pH 5.4– Disruption of invertebrate communities– Decline in lake trout food web species

lead to starvation

• When experiment stopped lake recovered

A) 1979 pH was 5.6B) 1982 pH was 5.1

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’The Four Steps in the Trans-Boundary Problem of Acidic Deposition

• Acid deposition – dry and wet

– Emissions – natural and man-made gases SO2 and NOX

– Transport – gaseous emissions undergo long-range transportation by winds

– Transformation – combine with water to produce acids

– Deposition – washout in areas downwind

June 23 1980

Acid DepositionAcid Rain, Acid Rain NY, Greening Sudbury

CNN 2001

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Can we use Paleolimnological Indicators to Infer Lakewater Acidity?

• Use surface sediment training sets to develop transfer functions to infer lakewater pH, ANC, dissolved aluminum and DOC from bioindicators

– Diatoms (phytoplankton)

– Chrysophytes (algae)

• Five categories

– Alkalibiontic: pH > 7

– Alkaliphilous: pH ~ 7

– Indifferent: equal occurrences either side of pH 7

– Acidophilous: ~ pH 7, wide distribution <7

– Acidobiontic: pH < 7, optimum at 5.5 and under

• Answer is obviously yes!

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Have European lakes Acidified?

• Review of bioindicator studies - Battarbee (1999)

• Causes and timing? Investigated during SWAP paleolimnology programme

– 7 lakes in Europe

– Bioindicators, metals, sulfur, PAHs, SCPs, magnetism

• Hypotheses:

– Natural acidification from soils

– Organic acids from vegetation

– Fossil fuel combustion

– Afforestation and other land use changes

Battarbee et al (1990) and Renberg and Battarbee (1990)

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’How Have Different levels of Acidic Deposition Affected European Lakes?

Renberg and Battarbee (1990)

SWAP – Surface Water Acidification Programme

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’How Have Different levels of Acidic Deposition Affected European Lakes?

Renberg and Battarbee (1990)

Paleolimnological data from Lilla Öresjön (SW Sweden, high sulfate deposition area) and Röyrtjörna (central Norway, low deposition area)

all cores strong correlation between increased deposition of atmospheric contaminants and decreasing diatom inferred pH

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Have European lakes Acidified Naturally?

• Some scientists continued to argue that acidification is a natural process. Occurring over 1000’s yrs

– Leaching of base cations from soils by rainfall– Organic acids from plant decomposition– Based on one area (UK lakes)

• Critical to the debate were questions of magnitude, scale and timingCould natural acidification be responsible for the size of the change seen in the last 100 yrs?

• Needed longer history and finer resolution from the sediment cores



Diatom-based pH history of Lilla Öresjön, southwest Sweden, based on Hustedt pH categories and diatom-inferred pH using weighted averaging

Renberg et al (1990)

Period I: Alkaline

Period II: Naturally acidic (slow change)

Period III: agricultural revolution

Period IV: industrial revolution(fast change)


Results:• Post-1960 changes (pH < 5) were unprecedented in the lakes 12,600 yr history• Indicate man-made acid deposition as a root cause• Also showed pH change on long time-scales with no man-mad input of acid deposition• Also showed pH is naturally variable

Conclusion:• Similar results found at UK SWAP sites – no site was found to have a pH < 5 prior to

the time of acid deposition, all sites showed signs of natural acidification

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’How Have Land-use Changes Affected Lake Water pH?

• Renberg et al (1993a and b)• Skip for now.

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Acidification in North America

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Trajectories of Acidification in Selected North American Lakes

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Regional Assessment of Lake Acidification

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Have Seepage lakes Acidified?

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Is Atmospheric Deposition the Only Possible Cause?

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Did Acidification Result in Loss of Fisheries?

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Are Lakes Beginning to Recover as a Result of Decreases in

Anthropogenic Emissions?

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Can We predict Which Lakes are More Likely to Recover?

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Can Limnological Data be Used to Set Critical Loads?

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Assessing the Efficacy of Liming Programmes

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’How Much Confidence Can We Put in Computer Models?

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Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’From Rainforest to Wasteland in One hundred Years

• Recent study of S. hemisphere has shown how pollution dramatically impacts rainforests of Australia

• Hodgson et al (2000)

• As acid deposition decreases in N. hemisphere it is on the rise in developing countries

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Acidification from the Direct Discharge of Industrial Effluents

• Direct discharge of industrial effluents is another possible source

e.g. Lake Orta (Italy)

Industrial discharge of Cu and Al sulfate from rayon factory (Guilizzoni et al, 2001)

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Some Progress, But Many Lakes Still Acidifying

• Developments in international cross-boundary legislation• Some lakes show signs of recovery• Critical loads are too high – lakes continue to acidify• Problem of acidification has been largely dropped from political and

scientific agendas due to new concerns• Acid deposition is still a problem

Acidification: Finding the ‘Smoking Gun’Summary

• First-major trans-boundary issue to involve environmental scientists

• Naturally industrialists claimed lakes were naturally acidic or other factors were responsible and not air pollutants

• Since little historical pH data were available (the scale was only introduced this past century) indirect proxy methods were used to infer long-term trajectories in lake water pH and other variables

• Paleolimnological studies demonstrated clear connection between acid deposition and acidification of lakes

• Studies were also used to determine recovery of the ecosystem following mitigation measures: cutbacks in emissions and liming

References

• Anderson, N.J. and Korsman, T. (1990) Land-use change and lake acidification: Iron-Age desettlement in northern Sweden as a pre-industrial analogue. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. B 327, pp. 373-376.

• American Fisheries Society (2003)• Atkinson, K.M. and Haworth, E.Y. (1990) Devoke Water and Loch Sionascaig: recent

environmental changes and the post-glacial overview. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. B 327, pp. 349-355

• Battarbee, R.W., Smol, J.P., and Meriläinen, J. (1986) Diatoms as indicators of PH: A historical review. In Smol, J.P., Battarbee, R.W., Davis, R.B., and Meriläinen, J. (eds.), Diatoms and Lake Acidity. Dordrecht: Dr. W. Junk Publishers, pp. 5-14.

• Battarbee, R.W., Mason, J., Renberg, I. and Talling, J.F. (eds.) (1990) Paleolimnology and Lake Acidification. Royal Society of London, London.

• Battarbee, R.W., Allott, T.E.H., Juggins, S., Keiser, A.M., Curtus, C. and Harriman, R. (1996) Critical loads of acidity to surface waters: An empirical diatom-based paleolimnological model. Ambio, Vol. 25, pp. 366-369.

• Battarbee, R.W., Charles, D.F., Dixit, S.S. and Renberg, I. (1999) Diatoms as indicators of surface water acidity. In Stoermer, E.F. and Smol, J.P. (eds.), The Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth Sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 85-127.

References

• Beamish, J. and Harvey, H.H. (1972) Acidification of LaCloche Mountain Lakes, Ontario, and resulting fish mortalities. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Vol. 29, pp. 1131-1143.

• Birks, H.J.B., Line, J.M., Juggins, S., Stevenson, A.C. and ter Braak, C.J.F. (1990) Diatoms and pH reconstruction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. B 327, pp. 263-278.

• Brugam and Lusk (1986)

• Cameron et al (1998)

• Charles, D.F., Battarbee, R.W., Renberg, I., van Dam, H. and Smol, J.P. (1989) paleoecological analysis of lake acidification trends in North America and Europe using diatoms and chrysophytes, In Norton, S.A., Lindberg, S.E. and Page, A.L. (eds.), Acid Precipitation, Volume 4: Soils, Aquatic Processes, and Lake Acidification. Springer-Verlag, Stutgart, pp. 207-276.

• Charles et al (1990)

References

• Charles, D.F. and Whitehead, D.R. (1986) The PIRLA project: Paleoecological Investigation of Recent lake Acidification. Hydrobiologia, Vol. 143, pp. 13-20.

• Charles, D.F. and Smol, J.P. (1990) The PIRLA II project: regional assessment of lake acidification trends. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung von Limnolgen, Vol. 24, pp. 474-480.

• Cumming, B.F., Smol, J.P. and Birks, H.J.B. (1992) Scaled chrysophytes (Chrysophyceae and Syunurophyceae) from Adriondack (N.Y., USA) drainage lakes and their relationship to measured environmental variables, with special reference to lakewater pH and labile monomeric aluminum. Journal of Phycology, Vol. 28, pp. 162-178.

• Cumming, B.F., Smol, J.P., Kingston, J.C., Charles, D.F., Birks, H.J.B., Camburn, K.E., Dixit, S.S., Uutala, A.J. and Selle, A.R. (1992) How much acidification has occurred in Adriondack region (New York, USA) lakes since preindustrial times? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 49, pp. 128-141.

References

• Cumming, B.F., Davey, K., Smol, J.P., and Birks, H.J. (1994) When did Adriondack Mountain lakes begin to acidify and are they still acidifying? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 51, pp. 1550-1568.

• Cosby et al (1995)

• Davis et al (1994)

• Dillon et al (1987)

• Dixit, S.S., Dixit, A.S. and Smol, J.P. (1989) Relationship between chrysophyte assemblages and environmental variables in 72 Sudbury lakes as examined by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 46, pp. 1667-1676.

• Dixit, S.S., Dixit, A.S. and Smol, J.P. (1991) Multivariable environmental inferences based on diatom assemblages from Sudbury (Canada) lakes. Freshwater Biology, Vol. 26, pp. 251-265.

• Dixit, A.S., Dixit, S.S., and Smol, J.P. (1992) Algal microfossils provide high temporal resolution of environmental trends. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, Vol. 62, pp. 75-87.

References

• Dixit, S.S., Dixit, A.S. and Smol, J.P. (1992) Assessment of changes in lake water chemistry in Sudbury area lakes since preindustrial times. Canadaian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 49 (Suppl. 1), pp. 8-16.

• Dixit et al (1993)

• Dixit and Smol (1995)

• Dixit, S.S., Dixit, A.S., Smol, J.P. and Keller, W. (1995) Reading the records stored in lake sediments: A method of examining the history and extent of industrial damage to lakes. In Gunn, J.M. (ed.), Restoration and Recovery of an Industrial Region. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 33-44.

• Dobson et al (1990)

• Duff , K.E. and Smol, J.P. (1995) Chrysophycean cyst assemblages and their relationship to water chemistry in 71 Adriondack park (New York, U.S.A.) lakes. Archiv fűr Hydrobiologie, Vol. 134, pp. 307-336.

• Ek, A.S. and Renberg, I. (2001) heavy metal pollution and lake acidity changes cause by one thousand years of copper mining at Falun, central Sweden. Journal of Paleolimnology, Vol. 26, p. 89-107.

References

• Ford (1990)

• Fritz and Carlson (1982)

• Fry, B. (1986) Stable sulfur isotopic distribution and sulfate reduction in lake sediments of the Adriondack Mountains, New York. Biogeochemistry, Vol. 2, pp. 329-343.

• Gorham, E. (1989) Lakes under a three-pronged attack. Nature, Vol. 381, pp. 109-110.

• Gorham and Gordon (1960)

• Guilizonni, P., Lami, A., Marchetto, A., Appleby, P.G. and Alvisi, F. (2001) Fourteen years of paleolimnological research of a past industrial polluted lake (L. Orta, Northern Italy): an overview. Journal of Limnology, Vol. 60, pp. 249-262.

• Harriman and Morrison (1982)

References

• Harriman and Morrison (1982)

• Hodgson, D.A., Vyverman, W., Chepstow-Lusty, A. and Tyler, P.A. (2000) From rainforest to wasteland in 100 years: The limnological legacy of Queenston mines, Western Tasmania. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, Vol. 149, pp. 153-176.

• Husar et al (1991)

• Jenkins et al (1990)

• Jones, V.J., Stevenson, A.C. and Battarbee, R.W. (1989) Acidification of lakes in Galloway, south west Scotland: A diatom and pollen study of the post-glacial history of Round Loch of Glenhead. Journal of Ecology, Vol. 77, pp. 1-23.

• Kingston et al (1990)

• Kingston et al (1992)

References

• Korhola and Tikkanen (1991)

• Korsman et al (1994)

• Korsman (1999)

• Kreiser et al (1990)

• Krug and Frink (1983)

• Kuylenstierna et al (2001)

• Lamontagne and Schindler (1994)

References

• Meriläinen (1967)

• NAPAP Aquatic Effects Working Group (1991) National Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program 1990 Integrated Assessment Report. Washington, DC: National Acidic precipitation Program.

• Nriagu, J.O. and Coker (1983)

• Nygaard (1956)

• Odén (1968)

• Pennington, W. (1984) Long-term natural acidification of upland sites in Cumbria: Evidence from post-glacial sediments. In Freshwater Biological Association Report 52, pp. 28-46.

• Renberg, I. (1986) A sedimentary record of severe acidification in Lake Blåmissusjön, N. Sweden, through natural soil processes. In Smol, J.P., Battarbee, R.W., Davis, R.B., and Meriläinen, J. (eds.), Diatoms and Lake Acidity. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp. 213-219.

References

• Renberg (1986)

• Renberg, I., Brodin, Y.W., El-Daoushy, F., Oldfield, F., Rippey, B., Sandoy, Wallin, J.E., Timberlid, A. and Wik, M. (1990) Recent acidification and biological changes in Lilla Öresjön, southwest Sweden, and the relation to atmospheric pollution and land-use history. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, Vol. 327, pp. 391-396.

• Renberg, I. and Battarbee, R.W. (1990) The SWAP Paleolimnology Programme: A Synthesis. In Mason, B.J. (ed.), The Surface Waters Acidification Programme. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 281-300.

• Renberg and Hultberg (1992)

• Renberg, I., Korsman, T. and Anderson, N.J. (1993) A temporal perspective of lake acidification in Sweden. Ambio, Vol. 22, pp. 264-271.

• Renberg, I, Korsman, T. and Birks, H.J.B. (1993) Prehistoric increases in the pH of acid-sensitive Swedish lakes caused by land-use changes. Nature, Vol. 362, pp. 824-826.

• Rosenqvist, I.T. (1977) Acid Soil – Acid Water. Ingeniörforlaget, Oslo.

References

• Rosenqvist , I.T. (1978) Alternative sources of acidification of river waters in Norway. The Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 10, pp. 39-49.

• Schindler, D.W., Mills, K.H., Malley, D.F., et al. (1985) Long-term ecosystem stress: The effects of years of experimental acidification on a small lake. Science, Vol. 228, pp. 1395-1401.

• Schindler , D.W. (1988) A dim future for boreal waters and landscapes. BioScience Vol. 48, pp. 157-164

• Smol, J.P., Battarbee, R.W., Davis, R.B., and Meriläinen, J. (eds.) (1986) Diatoms and Lake Acidity: Reconstructing pH from Silaceous Algal Remains in lake Sediments. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht.

• Smol, J.P. (1995b) Application of chrysophytes to problems in paleoecology. In Sabdgren, C., Smol, J.P. and Kristianson, J. (eds.), Chrysophyte Algae: Ecology, Phylogeny and Development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridg, pp. 303-329.

• Smol, J.P., Cumming, B.F., Dixit, A.S. and Dixit, S.S.(1998) Tracking recovery patterns in acidified lakes: a paleolimnological perspective. Restoration Ecology, Vol. 6, pp. 318-326.

• Sullivan, T.J., Crosby, B.J., Driscoll, C.T., Charles, D.F. and Hemond, H.F. (1996) Influence of oraganic acids on model projections of lake acidification. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, Vol. 91, pp. 271-282.

References

• Sweets et al (1990)

• Sweets (1992)

• Uutala (1990)

• Uutala et al (1994)

• Whitehead, D.R., Charles, D.F. and Goldstein, R.A.(1990) The PIRLA project (Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification): An introduction to the synthesis of the project. Journal of Paleolimnology, Vol. 3, pp. 187-194.

• Whiting et al (1992)

• Winkler (1988)

• Yang and Duthie (1993)

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Pollution of Lakes and Rivers Chapter 7: Acidification: finding the ‘smoking gun’ Copyright © 2008 by DBS