Annual Hydrochemical Fluxes from Alpine Subalpine Catchments in the Snowy Range, Wyoming

Annual hydrochemical fluxes were calculated from 1989 to 2004 for two alpine-subalpine catchments, West and East Glacier Lake Outlets in the Snowy Range, Wyoming. Mean annual atmospheric deposition inputs within Glacier Lake Ecosystem Experiments Sites (GLEES) were 3.50 kg ha-1 yr-1 and 2.27 kg ha-1 yr-1 for inorganic nitrogen (NO3-N, HNO3-N and NH4-N) and sulfur (S), respectively. Dry deposition, as measured by CASTNET, accounts for less than 20% of total deposition for inorganic N and S. Lakes at GLEES are oligotrophic with a water quality specific conductance range of 5-15uS cm-1. During the 1989 sampling period at West Glacier Lake, cations were in decreasing order of Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, NH4-N and anion were in decreasing order of Cl-, SO4-S, and NO3-N. Chloride inputs were approximately equal to outputs suggesting proper accounting of precipitation and streamflow volumes. Hydrochemical outputs for major cations were greater than inputs and differences attributed to parent material and soil weathering. Inorganic N inputs are greater than outputs for annual hydrochemical fluxes from 1989-2004 suggest that GLEES catchments are accumulating N.