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Deforestation and leaching of nitrogen as nitrates into underground water in intertropical zones: The example of Côte d'lvoire

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Environmental Geology and Water Sciences

Abstract

High nitrate contents (up to 200 mgl) have been observed in wells drilled into fractured aquifers lying beneath layers of weathered and decayed rock in the humid tropics where annual rainfall is over 1000 mm and where there is no notable pollution. The source of the nitrates is linked mainly with localized deforestation by man.

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Faillat, J.P., Rambaud, A. Deforestation and leaching of nitrogen as nitrates into underground water in intertropical zones: The example of Côte d'lvoire. Environ. Geol. Water Sci 17, 133–140 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01701569

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