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Tonnessen, Kathy A

Volume-weighted mean concentrations of nitrate (NO3?), ammonium (NH4+), and sulfate (SO42?) in precipitation were compared at high-elevation sites in Colorado from 1992 to 1997 to evaluate emission source areas to the east and west of the Rocky Mountains. Precipitation chemistry was measured by two sampling methods, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) and snowpack surveys at maximum accumulation. Concentrations of NO3? and SO42? in winter precipitation were greater on the western slope of the Rockies, and concentrations of NO3? and NH4+ in summer precipitation were greater on the eastern slope. Summer concentrations in general were almost twice as high as winter concentrations....
The sensitivity of high-elevation lakes to acidic deposition was evaluated in five national parks of the Rocky Mountains based on statistical relations between lake acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations and basin characteristics. Acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) of 151 lakes sampled during synoptic surveys and basin-characteristic information derived from geographic information system (GIS) data sets were used to calibrate the statistical models. The explanatory basin variables that were considered included topographic parameters, bedrock type, and vegetation type. A logistic regression model was developed, and modeling results were cross-validated through lake sampling during fall 2004 at 58 lakes. The model...
We suggest an empirical approach for determining critical loads for inorganic nitrogen (N) deposition in wetfall to the central Rocky Mountains (USA). We define "critical loads" as a deposition amount above which natural resources can be negatively affected. The arithmetic average from 1992 to 1996 of annual inorganic N deposition in wetfall at the eight National Acid-Deposition Program (NADP) sites located at elevations >2500 m in the central Rocky Mountains ranged from 2.5 to 3.5 kg�ha-1�yr-1. In contrast, inorganic N deposition was <2.5 kg�ha-1�yr-1 at all 23 NADP sites below 2500 m in elevation. At the Niwot Ridge NADP site in the Colorado Front Range, a simple linear regression of inorganic N in wetfall with...
High-altitude watersheds in the Front Range of Colorado show symptoms of advanced stages of nitrogen excess, despite having less nitrogen in atmospheric deposition than other regions where watersheds retain nitrogen. In two alpine/subalpine subbasins of the Loch Vale watershed, atmospheric deposition of NO3? plus NH4+ was 3.2?5.5 kg N ha?1, and watershed export was 1.8?3.9 kg N ha?1 for water years 1992?1997. Annual N export increased in years with greater input of N, but most of the additional N was retained in the watershed, indicating that parts of the ecosystem are nitrogen-limited. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations were greatest in subsurface water of talus landscapes, where mineralization and...
We evaluated the sensitivity of The Loch, a subalpine lake in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, to acidification in response to increased atmospheric loading of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) using the Model of Acidification of Groundwater in Catchments (MAGIC). Lake water acid-base chemistry was moderately sensitive to changes in both S and N deposition. However, the loads of S deposition that would drive chronic lake water acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) to below 0 or 20 ?eq L?1 were estimated to be 11 and 8 kg S ha?1 yr?1, respectively, assuming constant future N deposition at current levels. Comparable loads for N deposition, assuming constant future S deposition, were estimated to be 21 and 12 kg N ha?1...
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