Characteristics of Limestone Solution in the Southern Rocky Mountains and Selkirk Mountains, Alberta and British Columbia
The temperature, pH, and carbonate hardness of 415 water samples were determined in four limestone areas in the southern Rocky Mountains and Selkirk Mountains of Canada. Sampling covered all of the major carbonate rock formations of the region, ranged across the floral lifezones and included surface and sub-surface examples. In the forest zone at Crowsnest Pass, solute concentration in a major karst spring was inversely proportional to discharge; solute concentrations in a nearby creek and lake showed little variation with discharge. In tundra and alpine desert zones at Mt. Castleguard, solute concentrations were lower than in the forest, and marked depletion of PCO2 was indicated in some restricted cases. In the Maligne River basin, limestone forest and tundra waters were again contrasted. Solute concentrations in the trunk river and in lakes and underground channels along its course were determined by the mixing of karst and non-karst waters. At the Nakimu Caves there is a strong contrast between limest...