Loch Valley

Loch Valley
The loch viewed from Buchan Hill, looking east. Loch Narroch is visible at the far end.
Location	Galloway, Scotland
Coordinates	55°06′15″N 4°26′20″W / 55.10417°N 4.43889°WCoordinates: 55°06′15″N 4°26′20″W / 55.10417°N 4.43889°W
Type	freshwater loch
Primary inflows	Mid Burn, Loch Narroch
Primary outflows	Gairland Burn
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Surface area	37.2 [1]
Surface elevation	~320 m
References	[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

References

1. MA Palmer and DB Roy (April 2001). "An estimate of the extent of dystrophic, oligotrophic, mesotrophic and eutrophic standing fresh water in Great Britain" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
2. Richard W. Battarbee (November 1989). "The Acidification of Scottish Lochs". The Geographical Journal (The Geographical Journal, Vol. 155, No. 3) 155 (3): 353–360. doi:10.2307/635210. JSTOR 635210.
3. P S Maitland (2004). "Evaluating the ecological and conservation status of freshwater fish communities in the United Kingdom" (PDF). Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 001. Scottish National Heritage. p. 35. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
4. "Recovery from Acid Rain Gives Hope to Scottish Upland Salmonid Populations" (PDF). Fisheries Research Services. 16/08/04. Retrieved 2008-06-25. Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. "Freshwater Environment Group" (PDF). Fisheries Research Services. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
6. Neil Rose and David Morley (February 2006). "Sediment accumulation rate changes in European lakes: A first report" (PDF). Integrated Project to evaluate the Impacts of Global Change on European Freshwater Ecosystems. Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
7. Craig D Robinson, Sylvie Charles, Iain A Malcolm and Sandhya Devalla (May 2007). "FRS METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF TRACE METALS (INCLUDING RARE EARTH ELEMENTS) IN FRESHWATER SAMPLES BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY" (PDF). Fisheries Research Services. Retrieved 2008-06-28.