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1994 MARYLAND BIOLOGICAL STREAM SURVEY WATER CHEMISTRY (WCHEM94)
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THE MARYLAND BIOLOGICAL STREAM SURVEY (MBSS) IS A MULTI-YEAR PROBABILITY-BASED SAMPLING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE STATUS OF BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES IN NON-TIDAL STREAMS OF MARYLAND. THE MBSS STUDY AREA COMPRISES EIGHTEEN DRAINAGE BASINS ACROSS THE STATE OF MARYLAND, PROVIDING BIOLOGICAL, WATER CHEMISTRY, AND PHYSICAL HABITAT DATA FOR APPROXIMATELY 300 FIRST- THROUGH THIRD-ORDER STREAM SITES PER YEAR. DURING 1994, THE PROGRAM CONDUCTED A DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO TEST FIELD PROTOCOLS AND REFINE THE SAMPLING DESIGN PRIOR TO FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MBSS DURING 1995-1997. SAMPLING FOR THE 1994 DEMONSTRATION PROJECT WAS CONDUCTED IN SEVEN BASINS: YOUGHIOGHENY, POTOMAC-WASHINGTON METRO, PATUXENT, WEST CHESAPEAKE, SUSQUEHANNA, CHOPTANK, AND POCOMOKE. THIS DATA SET (WCHEM94) CONTAINS WATER CHEMISTRY DATA FROM SPRING INDEX PERIOD SAMPLING. SAMPLES COLLECTED DURING THIS PERIOD WERE ANALYZED IN THE LABORATORY FOR PH, ACID NEUTRALIZING CAPACITY (ANC), SULFATE, NITRATE, CONDUCTIVITY AND DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON (DOC). THESE VARIABLES DESCRIBE BASIC WATER QUALITY CONDITIONS WITH AN EMPHASIS ON CHANGES RELATED TO ACIDIC DEPOSITION. DATA ARE FROM THE 1994 MBSS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.