Loch Valley Explained
| Loch Valley |
| Pushpin Map: | Scotland Dumfries and Galloway |
| Location: | Galloway, Scotland |
| Coords: | 55.1042°N -4.4389°W |
| Type: | freshwater loch |
| Inflow: | Mid Burn, Loch Narroch |
| Outflow: | Gairland Burn |
| Basin Countries: | United Kingdom |
| Area: | 37.2ha |
| Elevation: | ~320m (1,050feet) |
| Reference: | [1] |
Loch Valley is a loch in Galloway Forest Park to the east of Buchan Hill, north of the Rig of the Jarkness and southwest of Craignaw. It drains via Gairland Burn down to Loch Trool.
The loch has a catchment area entirely on the Loch Doon granite, is oligotrophic,[1] and has suffered from gradual acidification since the mid-19th century[2] leading to the elimination of the original Brown Trout population.[3] It has recovered to some extent, with the pH increasing slowly from around 4.4 in 1978 to 5.2 in 2003.[4]
Between 1983 and 2003 the loch's dissolved organic carbon levels increased,[5] and the loch had a sediment accumulation rate of around 0.01 g cm−2 yr−1 from 1850 to 1975.[6]
Water Analysis
Concentrations of different elements in samples from June 2006[7] | Element | Concentration μg/l |
|---|
| CaCO3 | -100 |
| Li | 0.352 |
| Al | 130 |
| V | 0.263 |
| Cr | 0.199 |
| Fe | 45.9 |
| Fe DRC | 43.9 |
| Mn | 11.0 |
| Co | 0.063 |
| Ni | 0.852 |
| Cu | 0.209 |
| Zn | 3.43 |
| As | 0.226 |
| Se | 0.198 | |
Notes and References
- Web site: An estimate of the extent of dystrophic, oligotrophic, mesotrophic and eutrophic standing fresh water in Great Britain . 2008-06-28 . Joint Nature Conservation Committee . April 2001 . MA Palmer . DB Roy . amp .
- Richard W. Battarbee . November 1989 . The Acidification of Scottish Lochs . The Geographical Journal . 155 . 3 . 353–360 . 10.2307/635210 . The Geographical Journal, Vol. 155, No. 3 . 635210.
- Web site: Evaluating the ecological and conservation status of freshwater fish communities in the United Kingdom . 2008-06-28 . P S Maitland . 2004 . Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 001 . Scottish National Heritage . 35 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071024134010/http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_reports/F01AC6.pdf . 2007-10-24 . dead .
- Web site: 16 August 2004. Recovery from Acid Rain Gives Hope to Scottish Upland Salmonid Populations. 2008-06-25. Fisheries Research Services.
- Web site: Freshwater Environment Group . 2008-06-28 . Fisheries Research Services.
- Web site: Sediment accumulation rate changes in European lakes: A first report . 2008-06-28 . Integrated Project to evaluate the Impacts of Global Change on European Freshwater Ecosystems . Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London . February 2006 . Neil Rose . David Morley . amp . https://web.archive.org/web/20091110044755/http://www.eurolimpacs.ucl.ac.uk/oldsite/docstore/Deliverable_089.pdf . 2009-11-10 . dead .
- Web site: FRS METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF TRACE METALS (INCLUDING RARE EARTH ELEMENTS) IN FRESHWATER SAMPLES BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY . 2008-06-28 . Craig D Robinson . Sylvie Charles . Iain A Malcolm . Sandhya Devalla . May 2007 . Fisheries Research Services.
