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(2006)Journal Article
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(2006)Journal ArticleThe water quality of drainage discharged via pumping from an acid sulfate soil (ASS) affected catchment used for sugar cane farming is temporally very variable and is influenced by the various rain event magnitudes, their antecedents, and the particular phase of the discharge in any rain event. Rainfall episodes can cause substantial changes in acidity and dissolved metal concentrations in ASS drainage waters over very short time scales with minimum pH often reached within a few hours of initiation of the rainfall event. The initial increase in acidity and dissolved metals concentrations often observed can be attributed mainly to `first flush` effects resulting from mobilization of salts present in the upper soil profile. During the middle of a large rainfall event dilution effects may result in a decrease in concentrations of dissolved species, but increases in acidity and dissolved metals (particularly aluminium) concentrations in the recession portion of the hydrograph often occur as small field drains discharge into main channels. These observations assist both in understanding of the hydrogeochemical processes leading to acid and metals release from acid sulfate soils affected catchments, and in developing appropriate strategies to treat contaminated discharge waters from such catchments. © 2005.
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(2006)Journal ArticleCatchments that contain acid sulfate soils can discharge large quantities of acid and dissolved metals into waterways. At McLeods Creek in far northern NSW, Australia, the acidity from the hydrolysis of dissolved metal species, particularly aluminium and iron, contributes to greater than 70% of the total acidity. Therefore, a poor relationship exists between both calculated and titrated acidity and pH because of the dominant influence of these hydrolyzable metal species. Determination of the so-called `cold acidity` by direct titration with NaOH yields results that are difficult to replicate because of the buffering effects of suspended solids, carbon dioxide ingassing, and/or Mn-II and Fe-II oxidation in the sample as the titration end-point is approached. Samples that are pre-treated with sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide produce results ( of `hot acidity`) that can be easily replicated and are similar to calculated acidities based on elemental analysis and speciation calculations. The cold acidity values for titrations of 105 water samples from the chosen field site are often higher than hot acidity values as a result of the loss of carbonate acidity during pre-treatment of samples for hot acidity analysis.