PREDICTING THE REGIONAL OCCURRENCE OF ACID SURFACE WATERS IN SCOTLAND USING AN APPROACH BASED ON GEOLOGY, SOILS AND LAND-USE

Existing soil survey information has been used to classify ground water and soil water into acidification sensitivity classes for Scotland. Variations in the buffering capacity of waters percolating the solid geology and soils have been mapped together with land use to predict the likely occurrence of acid surface waters. By ranking geology and soils separately into sensitivity classes it has been possible to consider the occurrence of acid surface waters under different flow conditions. The results predict that acid waters under all conditions of flow may occur in large areas of upland Scotland.