wAbstract
@Stream water from a stream network of 15 small boreal catchments
(0.03-67 km2) in northern Sweden was analyzed for infiltered
(total) and filtered (0.4Κm) concentrations of iron (Fetot and Fe0.4) and manganese
(Mntot and Mn0.4).
The purpose was to investigate the temporal and spatial dynamics
of Fe, Mn and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) as influenced by
snow melt driven spring floods and landscape properties, in particular
the proportion of wetland area. During spring flood, concentrations
of Fetot, Fe0.4, Mntot, Mn0.4 and DOC increased
in streams with forested catchments (2 wetland area). In catchments
with high coverage of wetlands (30 wetland area) the opposite
behavior was observed. The hydrogeochemistry of Fe was highly
dependent on wetlands as shown by the strong positive correlation
of the Fetot/Altot ratio
with wetland coverage (r2=0.89, p0.001). Furthermore,
PCA analysis showed that at base flow Fetot
and Fe0.4 were positively associated with
wetlands and DOC, whereas they were not associated during peak
flow at spring flood. The temporal variation of Fe was likely
related to varying hydrological pathways. At peak discharge Fetot was associated with variables like silt coverage,
which highlights the importance of particulates during high discharge
events. For Mn there was no significant correlation with wetlands,
instead, PCA analysis showed that during spring flood Mn was apparently
more dependent on the supply of minerogenic particulates from
silt deposits on the stream banks of some of the streams. The
influence of minerogenic particulates on the concentration of,
in particular, Mn was greatest in the larger, lower gradient streams,
characterized by silt deposits in the near-stream zone. In the
small forested streams underlain by till, DOC was of greater importance
for the observed concentrations, as indicated by the positive
correlation of both Fetot and Fe0.4
with DOC (r2=0.77 and r2=0.76, p0.001)
at the smallest headwater forest site. In conclusion, wetland
area and DOC were important for Fe concentrations in this boreal
stream network, whereas silt deposits strongly influenced Mn concentrations.
This study highlights the importance of studying stream water
chemistry from a landscape perspective in order to address future
environmental issues concerning mobility of Fe, Mn and associated
trace metals.x
1. Introduction
2. Site description
@2.1. Geology, quaternary deposits and topography
@2.2. Climate and hydrology
@2.3. Vegetation and land use
3. Methods
@3.1. Water discharge
@3.2. Sample collection
@3.3. Sample treatment and chemical analyses
@3.4. Suspended material
@3.5. Data analyses
@@3.5.1. Principal component analysis (PCA)
@@3.5.2. Weighted discharge
4. Results
@4.1. Discharge and water chemistry
@4.2. Temporal variation of Fe,Mn, DOC and pH in contrasting catchments
@@4.2.1. Forested catchment
@@4.2.2. Wetland catchment
@@4.2.3. Mixed catchment: catchment outlet (C16)
@4.3. Principal component analysis
@@4.3.1. Winter base flow
@@4.3.2. spring peak flow
@4.4. Influence of particulates and landscape properties
@@4.4.1. Particulates
@@4.4.2. Landscape properties
5. Discussion
@5.1. Flow-related variations of Fe and Mn in forested vs.
wetland catchments
@5.2. Fe and Mn hydrogeochemistry: influence of landscape properties
@5.3. Fe and Mn hydrogeochemistry: influence of particulates
6. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References