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U.S. Geological Survey, 301 W. Lexington, Room 227, Federal Building, Independence, MO 64050;
U.S. Geological Survey, Western Region Branch of Regional Research, Groundwater1 Chemistry, 345 Middlefield Road, Mail Stop 434, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
* Corresponding author.
ABSTRACT
Although water from 20 to 25% of shallow farmstead wells in northern Missouri has concentrations of nitrate (NO–3) exceeding 10 mg L–1 as nitrogen (N), many potential sources for this NO–3 are usually present. A field experiment was designed to trace and isolate the amount of a single application of N fertilizer lost to a glacial-till aquifer and runoffrom a 400 m2 corn (Zea mays L.) plot with bromide (Br–) and isotopically labeled (15N) fertilizer. Soil at the plot is a Albaquic Hapludalf of the Adco Series containing a 61 cm claypan beneath 41 to 43 cm of topsoil. Groundwater levels ranged from 0.38 to 2.40 m below the land surface. Transport of water and NO–3 to the saturated zone was not substantially retarded by the claypan. Labeled-N fertilizer accounted for as much as 8.6 mg L–1 of the NO–3 (as N) in groundwater, but only in the top 1 to 2 m of the saturated zone. After two growing seasons (16 mo), <2% of the labeled-N fertilizer was lost to runoff, about 30% was in the saturated zone, 27.3% was removed with the grain, and about 5% remained in the unsaturated zone. A large part of the remaining labeled N may have been lost in gaseous N forms. The presence of labeled NO–3 only in the top 2 m of the aquifer, slow horizontal transport, and winter recharge indicate grass crops such as wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) or rye (Secale cereale L.) might be used to extract near-surface N during the winter recharge period. Also, fall fertilizations can be expected to readily leach. Because groundwater concentrations of labeled NO–3 were still increasing after two growing seasons, rotation of crops requiring small N inputs could be expected to limit the cumulative effect of large annual fertilizer applications on groundwater.
The U.S. Geological Survey spells ground water as two words.
Received for publication April 3, 1995.
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