Abstract
Nitrate (NO −3 ) is one of the most serious pollutants encountered in shallow groundwater system. To secure the sustainable development of alluvial groundwaters, therefore, it is important to understand the source(s) and extent of nitrate pollution. In this paper, we have studied the hydrogeochemistry of alluvial groundwaters (n=137) that were collected from irrigation and domestic wells in the Wolha, Daesan, and Yongdang areas on the border of a lower reach of Nakdong River, Korea. The analyzed nitrate concentrations range widely from below the detection limit to 383.4 mg/L NO −3 (median=55.4 mg/L). About 58% of the examined samples have the nitrate concentrations exceeding the Korean Drinking Water Standard (44.3 mg/L NO −3 ) Agricultural practices in the study sites are the main cause of serious nitrate pollution and control the hydrochemical facies change from Ca−HCO3 type toward Ca−NO3(CI) type for the waters. However, the hydrochemical facies change also reflects the water-rock interaction and redox reactions in aquifer. The correlations between nitrate concentration and other physicochemical data can be effectively used to understand the hydrochemical evolution and origins of major ions in waters. The δ15N values of nitrate in waters (n=18) indicate two sources of nitrate pollution: (1) nitrates (δ15N=4.3–6.2‰) originated from synthetic fertilizers applied in agricultural land, and (2) nitrates (δ15N=15.0–19.9‰) from animal manure and human wastes that were discharged from adjacent villages located at hydrogeologically upstream site. Based on the δ15N and nitrate concentration data, we quantitatively evaluate the degree of hydrologic mixing between the two nitrate sources (and corresponding two water bodies), which occurs through local infiltration process along the groundwater flow direction.
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Min, JH., Yun, ST., Kim, K. et al. Nitrate contamination of alluvial groundwaters in the Nakdong River basin, Korea. Geosci J 6, 35–46 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02911334
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02911334