Size distribution of dissolved (<200 nm) organic carbon and aluminium in alkaline and humic lakes

Chemical equilibrium calculations treating humic substances as the simple diprotic phtalic acid, predicted no Al-humus at pH>6.5 in humic lake water. However, dissolved ( 50% of the Al occurred in the fraction <5 nm. Only in this fraction the Corg and Al were linearly correlated (r=0.515, P<0.001). This result suggests the presence of organic ligands in the DOC pool of humic waters having smaller molecular sizes and higher Al stability constants than the humic substances used to model aquatic Al speciation.