Abstract
DESPITE intensive research, regional changes in lakewater chemistry in response to acidic deposition have not been adequately quantified. Palaeolimnology offers an independent means of testing the fundamental assumptions of acidification theory, but has not previously been used for regional assessment. Here we present rigorous documentation and quantification of regional lakewater acidification in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. The changes in acid-neutralizing capacity and pH that can be inferred from our palaeolimnological reconstructions indicate widespread recent acidification, but the changes are smaller than previously estimated using empirical models, and suggest that the role of watershed and/or in-lake neutralization of acidic input is more important than previously assumed1,2. Model-based estimates of future chemical change and consequent biological responses should therefore be re-evaluated in the light of these results.
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Sullivan, T., Charles, D., Smol, J. et al. Quantification of changes in lakewater chemistry in response to acidic deposition. Nature 345, 54–58 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/345054a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/345054a0
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