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Determining the Source of Nitrate in Ground Water by Nitrogen Isotope Studies

Abstract
Nitrogen isotope ratios of ammonium and nitrate ions from soil and water samples can be analyzed reproducibly with an experimental error of approximately ±1 parts per thousand (ppt). Two isotopic ranges of soil nitrate are found in the soils of southern Runnels County, Texas. Nitrate from the decomposition of animal waste nitrogen has a del N15 (dN15) of +10 ppt to +22 ppt. The isotopic ratio is controlled by the volatilization of isotopically light ammonia gas during the decomposition of urea in urine. The isotopic composition of ground-water nitrate beneath cultivated fields corresponds with del N15 of natural soil nitrate. Ground waters beneath farmhouse-barnyard complexes have a higher average del N15, indicating the addition of animal waste nitrate. Nitrate derived from the mineralization of organic nitrogen in cultivated soils has a del N15 of +2 ppt to +8 ppt. In southern Runnels County, the major source of nitrate in ground water is natural soil nitrate. Eleven samples of ground water from Macon County, Missouri, have del N15 of +10 ppt to +19 ppt, indicating that the waters are contaminated with nitrate from animal wastes. Nitrates in ground waters from the Upper Glacial aquifer in Queens County, New York, appear to be from an animal waste source, whereas nitrates in ground waters from the Magothy aquifer in Nassau County, New York, appear to be from either natural soil nitrogen or artificial fertilizer.
Authors
Charles W. Kreitler
Citation

Kreitler, C. W., 1975, Determining the Source of Nitrate in Ground Water by Nitrogen Isotope Studies: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Report of Investigations No. 83, 57 p.

Code
RI083
DOI
10.23867/RI0083D
ISSN
2475-367X
Number
83
Number of figures
25
Number of pages
57
Publisher
The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology
Series
Report of Investigation
Year
1975

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