A comparison of soil- and water chemistry in a catchment in China with sites in Poland and Norway

Summary

The results from a small catchment outside Guiyang in southwestern China are compared to results from catchments in Poland and Norway. Deposition, soil water, stream water and soils have been sampled and analyzed in all these catchments, using similar techniques. The sulfur deposition is high in the Chinese catchment, as in some of the Polish catchments. Base cations, especially calcium, is an important part of the cations in deposition in Guiyang; in most of the Polish catchments ammonium is important together with calcium. At the Norwegian sites ions originating from sea salts are very important. The concentration of monomeric inorganic aluminum complexes (Ali) in soil water is high in the Guiyang catchment, as in the Polish catchments. However, the high calcium concentrations keep the Ali/(Ca2++Mg2+) ratio relatively low in the Guiyang catchment; only in one plot the molar ratio is commonly observed above one, which often is considered as potentially harmful. Surface waters in two of the Polish sites (Ratanica and Brenna) and in the lower part of the Guiyang catchment have high sulfate and calcium concentrations and almost neutral pH. At the Czerniawka catchment in western Poland, and at the Norwegian sites, the pH in surface water is generally low, indicating lack of neutralization of the soil water before it enters the stream.