Wet atmospheric deposition and stream water chemistry at the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site (GLEES), southeastern Wyoming, USA, 1989-2018

John Korfmacher1 and Kathleen A. Dwire2

NTN Site WY00 was established adjacent to a high-elevation lake in Wyoming’s Snowy Range in 1986, and seasonal lake and stream water chemistry data collection was initiated at this location in 1989. Both data collection efforts have continued to the present, and analyses of long-term trends are now possible. As part of a larger project to assess water chemistry trends in remote, high-elevation lakes across the central Rocky Mountains, we present data from a site (GLEES) that is intended to serve as a reference watershed relatively free of pollution impacts. Weekly and bi-weekly water samples from the lake outlet were analyzed for concentrations of anions, cations, pH, ANC and conductivity and compared to reported precipitation chemistry values from WY00. Preliminary analyses indicate that analyte concentrations in lake water samples were not closely correlated to that observed from precipitation samples. Additional analyses (including deposition values and estimation of analyte fluxes) are ongoing.

 

1US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, jkorfmacher@fs.fed.us
2US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, kadwire@fs.fed.us