Dissolved load

Dissolved load is the dissolved minerals and ions carried by flowing water, usually acquired through chemical weathering of rocks and soils.

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Chemical weathering: The breakdown or alteration of rock through reactions with water, acids, oxygen, or other substances. It releases many of the ions that streams carry in solution.
River: A natural flowing body of water that drains a landscape through a channel. It is the transport system in which dissolved load moves.
Total dissolved solids: The combined mass of dissolved substances in a volume of water. It quantifies the dissolved material carried by a stream sample.
Ocean salinity: The concentration of dissolved salts in seawater. Rivers deliver dissolved ions that contribute to ocean solutes over geological time.
Hydrolysis: A chemical reaction in which a substance reacts with water, often altering minerals in rock. It transforms silicate minerals into dissolved ions and clay minerals.
Solute: A substance dissolved in a solvent to form a solution. Dissolved load consists of solutes carried by river water.
Hydrograph separation: The estimation of streamflow contributions from sources such as rainfall, snowmelt, and groundwater. Groundwater contributions can have distinct dissolved-ion concentrations and influence river load.
Alkalinity: Water's capacity to neutralize added acid, primarily due to bicarbonate and carbonate ions. River-borne alkalinity affects receiving waters and transports weathering products.
Carbonic acid: A weak acid formed when carbon dioxide dissolves in water. It promotes mineral dissolution in soils and contributes bicarbonate to river water.
Ion: An atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. Many common components of dissolved load are charged ions.