Abstract
Large quantities of the nitrate leaching below the crop root-zone, particularly during the wet season, in the tropical Far North Queensland (FNQ) of Australia, may be entering off and on-site the water bodies. The objectives of this study were to (i) provide quantitative information on NO3-N in the shallow fluctuating groundwater (GW) that develops during the rainy season (January through May) in the Johnstone River Catchment (JRC) of FNQ and (ii) determine whether this NO3-N is potentially transportable to creeks/streams. The NO3-N concentration and GW table heights were monitored, at least at weekly intervals, in 6 piezometers, installed to 8.5–12.0 m depth in 6 different soil types under fertilized sugarcane (Saccharum Officinarum-S) in the JRC during the 1999 rainy season.Depending on the location of piezometers on the landscape and time of water sampling, the GW table fluctuated between from 1.5 to 11.5 m abovethe piezometer bottom. The NO3-N concentration in the fluctuating GW also showed spatio-temporal dynamics and it ranged from 0.60 to 3.70 mg L-1. The NO3-N adsorbed at anion exchanges sites, up to 10 m depth, ranged from 154 to 3956 kg ha-1, compared with 21 kgha-1 under rainforest. In the fluctuating GW, the NO3-N concentration increased with increasing GW table height and the NO3-N adsorbed at anion exchange sites (R2 = 0.96). The NO3-N load in the GW ranged from 40 to 110 kg ha-1 and it increased with increasing GW table and GW NO3-N concentration. The estimated N-load in the GW that was discharged into creeks/streams when the GW receded ranged from 21 to 81 kg ha-1. The results provide evidence that a(i) a major proportion of the NO3-N that was leaching below the sugarcane root-zone entered the shallow GW that developed during the rainy season, and (ii) a significant proportion of the NO3-N inthe GW was transported to creeks/streams when the GW table receded.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Black, A. S. and Waring, S. A.: 1979, ‘Adsorption of nitrate, chloride, and sulphate by some highly weathered soils from southeast Queensland’, Austr. J. Soil Res. 17, 271-282.
Black, A. S. and Waring, S. A.: 1976a, ‘Nitrate leaching and adsorption in a Krasnozem from Redland Bay, Qld. I. Leaching of banded ammonium nitrate in a horticultural rotation’, Austr. J. Soil Res. 14, 171-180.
Black, A. S. and Waring, S. A.: 1976b, ‘Nitrate leaching and adsorption in a Krasnozem from Redland Bay, Qld. II. Soil factors influencing adsorption’, Austr. J. Soil Res. 14, 181-188.
Bonell, M, Gilmour, D. A. and Cassells, D. S.: 1983, ‘A preliminary survey of the hydraulic properties of the rainforest soils in the tropical North-East Queensland and their implications for the runoff process’, Catena 4, 57-78.
Cotching, Bill: 1995, ‘Long-term management of Krasnozems in Australia’, Austr. J. Soil Water Conserv. 8, 18-27.
Daniells, J.W.: 1995, Results of a Survey of Research/development Priorities and Crop Management Practices in the North Queensland Banana Industry, Department of Primary Industries, QB 95001, Brisbane, Australia.
Gillman, G. P. and Abel, D. J.: 1987, ‘A Summary of Surface Charge Characteristics of the Major Soils of the Tully-Innisfail Area, North Queensland’, CSIRO Division of Soils, Divisional Report No. 85, Canberra, Australia.
Gillman, G. P. and Sinclair, D. F.: 1987, ‘The grouping of soils with similar charge properties as a base for agrotechnology transfer’, Austr. J. Soil Res. 25, 275-285.
Hair, I. D.: 1990, Hydrogeology of the Russell and Johnstone Rivers Alluvial Valleys, North Queensland, ISBN 1034 7399, Department of Resource Industries, Brisbane, Australia.
Hydrographic Procedure for Water Quality Sampling: 2000, in D. G. Alexander (ed.), Water Monitoring Group, Water Resource Information and Systems Management, Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane, Australia
Isbell, R. F.: 1994, ‘Krasnozems - A profile’, Austr. J. Soil Res. 32, 915-929.
Ishiguro, M. K., Song, C. and Yuita, K.: 1992, ‘Ion transport in an allophanic Andisol under the influence of variable charge’, Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 56, 1789-1793.
Katou, H., Clothier, B. E. and Green, S. R.: 1996, ‘Anion transepts involving competitive absorption during transient water flow in an Andisol’, Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 60, 1368-1375.
Moody, P. W., Reghenzani, J. R., Armour, J. D., Prove, B. G. and McShane, T. J.: 1996, ‘Nutrient Balances and Transport at Farm Scale-Johnstone River Catchment’, in A. G. Eyles, H. M. Hunter and G. E. Rayment (eds), Proceedings of Conference of Downstream Effects of Land Use, Rockhampton, Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane, Australia, April 1995.
Moody, P. W.: 1994, ‘Chemical Fertility of Krasnozems: A Review’, in A. Foulton and L. Sparrow (eds), Conference of A.I.A.S., Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia.
Prove, B. G. and Moody, P. W.: 1997, ‘Nutrient Balance and Transport from Agricultural and Rainforest Lands’, Final Report, Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane, Australia.
Rasiah, V. and Armour, J. D.: 2001, ‘Nitrate accumulation under cropping in the Ferrosols of far north Queensland wet tropics’, Austr. J. Soil Res. 39, 329-341.
Rayment, G. R. and Higginson, F. R.: 1992, Australian Laboratory Handbook of Soil and Water Chemical Method, Inkata Press, Sydney, Australia.
SAS: 1991, ‘SAS/STAT Procedure Guide for Personal Computers’, Version 5, Statistical Analysis Systems Institute Inc., Cary, NC.
Soil Survey Staff: 1996, Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 7th ed., USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC.
Wong, M. T., Hughes, F. R. and Rowell, D. L.: 1990, ‘Retarded leaching of nitrate in acid soils from the tropics: Measurement of the effective anion exchange capacity’, J. Soil Sci. 41, 655-663.
Yellowlees, D.: 1991, ‘Land Use Patterns and Loading of the Great Barrier Reef Region’, in D. Yellowless (ed.), Proceedings of Land Use Pattern, James Cook University, Sir George Fisher Centre for Tropical Marine Studies, Townsville, Australia, April 1991.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rasiah, V., Armour, J.D., Yamamoto, T. et al. Nitrate Dynamics in Shallow Groundwater and the Potential for Transport to Off-Site Water Bodies. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 147, 183–202 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024529017142
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024529017142