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Identification of nitrate sources in the Jing River using dual stable isotopes, Northwest China

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Abstract

Nitrate (NO3−) contamination has become a dominant international problem in the aquatic environment, so identifying the sources and transformations of NO3− is the basis for improving water quality. Since the Jing River is the largest tributary of the Wei River, to understand its water quality, this study collected surface water samples from the Shaanxi section of the Jing River during the dry season. The potential sources of NO3− were analyzed by hydrochemical and bi-isotopic methods, and the SIAR model was used to estimate the proportional contribution of each source. Results indicated that NO3−-N was the main form of inorganic nitrogen in this area, and the average total nitrogen content was 10.23 mg·L−1, which showed that nitrogen pollution was highly serious; the transformation process of nitrogen in this study area was mainly nitrification; The results of Bayesian model showed that manure and sewage contributed to the most NO3− (64.39%) in the dry season, followed by soil nitrogen, which was 26.35%. These results help to adopt better nitrogen management measures to meet the national environmental quality standards for surface water.

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Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Funding

This work was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41991252) and state key laboratory of loess and Quaternary Geology (SKLLQG1912), central higher education foundation of Chang’an University (300102290505).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Jing Hu, Yunning Cao & Weiguo Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region, Ministry of Education, School of Water and Environment, Chang’ an University, Xi’an, 710054, China

    Mengyan Pan, Tianhao Han, Zhi Zhuang & Yuliang Li

  3. Xi’an Institute for Innovative Earth Environment Research, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Kaili Yang

Authors
  1. Jing Hu
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  2. Mengyan Pan
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  7. Yuliang Li
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  8. Weiguo Liu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data preparation, sample collection, and data analysis were performed by Zhi Zhuang, Tianhao Han, Mengyan Pan, Kaili Yang, and Yunning Cao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Jing Hu, Tianhao Han, and Mengyan Pan. Weiguo Liu and Yuliang Li made critical revisions to the first draft, and the final version was written by Jing Hu. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yuliang Li or Weiguo Liu.

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Hu, J., Pan, M., Han, T. et al. Identification of nitrate sources in the Jing River using dual stable isotopes, Northwest China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 68633–68641 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15380-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15380-6

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