Alkalinity Titrations for Ponil Creek Watershed New Mexico Data

Abstract

This is a collection of 10 zipped files which include: One TXT file (Readme); One XLSX file (original data); Eight CVS files (spreadsheet tabs from original data).

Method: I collected 54 water samples from the three branches of the Ponil Creek and preformed titrations to measure alkalinity in mg/L as CaCO3. Each sample was collected in a 250 mL plastic bottle with no headspace, although 100mL was used in the actual titration. Alkalinity titrations were performed with a Thermo Scientific Orion Star pH/Conductivity Meter and Hach Digital Titrator to deliver 0.00125 mL/digit of 1.60 M Sulfuric Acid. Orion Star has been used in similar studies (Melzer, Knapp, Kirkman, Smith, & Blair, 2010) and the samples were titrated within 12 hours in field (as opposed to a lab) for accuracy (Quade, English, & DeCelles, 2003). The creek name, location name, date, time collected, UTM’s (Universal Transverse Mercator location), temperature of water, specific conductance, time analyzed, sulfuric acid concentration, titration data (pH and clicks), and photos were recorded for each sample. Then the USGS Alkalinity Calculator was used to determine the concentration of CaCO3 for each sample (USGS, 2013). These alkalinity titrations will provide the chemical concentration for the weathering flux calculation.