Isotopic Characterization of Sulfate in a Shallow Aquifer Impacted by Agricultural Fertilizer.

Autor: Spoelstra J; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1; sschiff@uwaterloo.ca., Leal KA; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1; sschiff@uwaterloo.ca., Senger ND; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1; sschiff@uwaterloo.ca., Schiff SL; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1; sschiff@uwaterloo.ca., Post R; Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, Utopia, Ontario, Canada; rpost@nvca.on.ca.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ground water [Ground Water] 2021 Sep; Vol. 59 (5), pp. 658-670. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Mar 29.
DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13093
Abstrakt: The stable isotope ratios of groundwater sulfate ( 34 S/ 32 S, 18 O/ 16 O) are often used as tracers to help determine the origin of groundwater or groundwater contaminants. In agricultural watersheds, little is known about how the increased use of sulfur as a soil amendment to optimize crop production is affecting the isotopic composition of groundwater sulfate, especially in shallow aquifers. We investigated the isotopic composition of synthetic agricultural fertilizers and groundwater sulfate in an area of intensive agricultural activity, in Ontario, Canada. Groundwater samples from an unconfined surficial sand aquifer (Lake Algonquin Sand Aquifer) were analyzed from multi-level monitoring wells, riverbank seeps, and private domestic wells. Fertilizers used in the area were analyzed for sulfur/sulfate content and stable isotopic composition (δ 18 O and/or δ 34 S). Fertilizers were isotopically distinct from geological sources of groundwater sulfate in the watershed and groundwater sulfate exhibited a wide range of δ 34 S (-6.9 to +20.0‰) and δ 18 O (-5.0 to +13.7‰) values. Quantitative apportionment of sulfate sources based on stable isotope data alone was not possible, largely because two of the potential fertilizer sulfate sources had an isotopic composition on the mixing line between two natural geological sources of sulfate in the aquifer. This study demonstrates that, when sulfate isotope analysis is being used as a tracer or co-tracer of the origin of groundwater or of contaminants in groundwater, sulfate derived from synthetic fertilizer needs to be considered as a potential source, especially when other parameters such as nitrate independently indicate fertilizer impacts to groundwater quality.
(© 2021 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Groundwater published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Ground Water Association. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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