A Relationship Between Nitrate and Iron in Georgia's Groundwater
Author(s)
Vendrell, Paul F.
Parshall, B. Bush
Hitchcock, Rick
Johnson, William C.
Kissel, David E.
Segars, William I.
McSwain, Kristin Bukowski
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Hatcher, Kathryn J.
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Abstract
A mutually exclusive relationship exists
between iron and nitrate-N in the ground waters of
Georgia. No high nitrate was detected in the presence
of high iron and no high iron in the presence of high
nitrate. The proposed mechanism for this relationship
is that anaerobic microbial activity causes a process of reduction in which first nitrate is denitrified and then fetric iron is reduced to ferrous iron. The consequence
of this relationship is that groundwater contamination
by nitrate-N is not widespread in Georgia, due in part
to reducing conditions in at least a portion of the aquifer system. Nitrate-N is commonly used as an environmental indicator to trace the impact of
agricultural land-use activities on groundwater. In
cases where agricultural chemicals or wastes have the
potential to leach into groundwater and iron levels are
high in the groundwater, the absence of nitrate would not rule out other impacts.
Sponsor
Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date
2001-03
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Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings