| Abstract: | Over an oceanic peatland, the concentration of Na in fog averaged 38.1 mgl?1 compared with 1.8 mgl?1 in rain, resulting in a significant flux of mineral elements to the surface. Between 16 May and 20 June 1990 the average mass flux of Na to the bog surface by fog, rain, and dry deposition was 21.9, 10.4 and 7.0 mg m?2 d?1. There was little long-term storage of Na within the peatland system, where Na losses measured in stream runoff averaged 34.8 mg m2 d?1, and deep groundwater losses 4 mg m?2 d?1. Calcium and Mg were preferentially retained in the organic soil, whereas K was relatively mobile. Potassium tended to become concentrated in the unsaturated zone. Stream runoff had a consistently higher pH than groundwater, corresponding to higher Ca and Mg concentrations, which may have been from mineral sources in the headwater ponds. Otherwise, the stream water chemistry was closely related to groundwater in the upper layers of the peat deposit. |
