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SUMMARY
Chemistry of rivers in Iceland and
the rate of chemical denudation
by
Sigurður R. Gíslason and Stefán Arnórsson
Science Institute
University of Iceland
Dunhagi 3
IS-107 REYKJAVÍK
Iceland
The rate of chemical denudation in Ice-
land is at least two times that of the conti-
nents. This is because of high precipita-
tion and run-off and the abundance of re-
active glassy basaltic rocks in Iceland.
Temperature, discharge and total dis-
solved solids are stable in spring-fed rivers
but not in direct run-off and glacier-fed
rivers. The pH of direct run-off rivers and
glacier-fed rivers ranges from 7 to 7.5 and
is controlled by the dissociation of the
aqueous C02 species. The pH of the
spring-fed rivers ranges from 8.5 to 9.5
and is controlled by the dissociation of the
aqueous monomeric silica species. The
spring waters are undersaturated with re-
spect to the C02 of the atmosphere. At-
mospheric C02 dissolves downstream in
the spring-fed rivers and can simultan-
eously lower the pH of the water. How-
ever, the time available for the dissolution
of atmospheric C02 is short, less than one
day, so relatively short spring-fed rivers
can maintain high pH all the way to the
river mouth. The same applies for the dis-
solution of suspended load in the main
stream of the rivers. The time for dissolu-
tion is less than a day, and therefore does
not have a significant effect on the amount
of total dissolved solids in the main
stream.
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