Dissolved organic carbon trends resulting from changes in atmospheric deposition chemistry.

The use of time series data from 522 remote lakes and streams in North America and northern Europe and a simple model shows that dissolved organic carbon concentrations between 1990– 2004 have increased in proportion to the rates at which atmospherically deposited anthropogenic sulphur and sea salt have declined. It is suggested that acid deposition to these ecosystems has been partially buffered by changes in organic acidity and that the rise in dissolved organic carbon is integral to recovery from acidification.