Factors influencing seasonal chemistry patterns in Virginia mountain streams

The relative influence of seasonal patterns in hydrological flow and seasonal differences in biological and geochemical activity on stream chemistry patterns is difficult to discern because they covary; temperate systems are characterized by lower mean flow in the summer (i.e. corresponding to deeper flow paths, elevated temperature, and biological activity), and higher mean flow in the winter (i.e. corresponding to shallower flow paths, depressed temperature, and biological dormancy). Using 2018 data, when seasonal stream flow conditions reversed, and two prior conventional water years, the relationship between monthly acid-relevant analyte concentrations and streamflow were compared within and between winter and summer to provide insight into controls on characteristic seasonal chemistry patterns at two mid-Appalachian sites with distinct geology (weatherable mafic and weather resistant siliciclastic). Acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) increased (1) with lower flow, in both seasons and (2) in summer, for all flow conditions. The compounding impacts resulted in a doubling of concentration from typical winter with high flow to summer with low flow at both sites. Base cation patterns tracked ANC at the mafic site, resulting in an ~ 60% increase of from winter with high flow to summer with low flow; distinctions between summer and winter contributed more to the seasonal pattern (72%) than changes in flow. Sulfate increased at the mafic site (1) with higher flow, in both seasons and (2) in winter, for all flow conditions, resulting in an ~ 50% increase from summer with low flow to winter with high flow; distinctions between winter and summer conditions and flow contributed similarly (40-60%) to the typical seasonal chemical pattern. The biogeochemical mechanism driving differences in stream chemistry between summer and winter for the same flow conditions is likely increased rates of natural acidification from elevated soil respiration in summer, resulting in greater bedrock weathering and sulfate adsorption. Findings highlight the significance and consistency of growing vs dormant season variations in temperature and biological activity in driving intra-annual patterns of stream solutes. This data set informs parameterization of hydro-biogeochemical models of stream chemistry in a changing climate at a biologically relevant, seasonal, timescale.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10533-024-01163-x.