Identification of nitrate sources in groundwater by δ15Nnitrate and δ18Onitrate isotopes: a study of the shallow Pleistocene aquifer in the Jericho area, Palestine

Khayat, Saed; Geyer, Stefan; Hötzl, H.; Ghanem, Marwan; Ali, W.

doi:10.1002/aheh.200400615

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…N surplus in ALs and traditional irrigation practices (mainly surface irrigation) can contribute to the leaching of nitrate into the groundwater [71]. Mean nitrate concentrations in superficial aquifers of the Oglio River basin are extremely variable (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Budget, Net Export, and Potential Sinks of Nitrogen in the Lower Oglio River Watershed (Northern Italy)

Soana

Racchetti

Laini

et al. 2011

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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A nitrogen mass balance, realized for the lower Oglio River basin (Po River Plain, northern Italy), suggested an elevated impact of agricultural activities in this watershed. Livestock manure, synthetic fertilizers, biological fixation, atmospheric deposition, and wastewater sludge contributed 51,34,12,2, and 1% of total N (TN) . About 34% of the N surplus was exported annually from the basin while the remaining amount (about 26 800 t N year À1) underwent other unaccounted for processes within the watershed.The relevance of nitrogen removal via denitrification in aquatic compartments within the watershed was evaluated. Denitrification in the secondary drainage network can represent a relevant nitrogen sink due to great linear extension (over 12 500 km), with estimated nitrogen loss up to 8500 t N year À1 . Denitrification in the riverbed and in perifluvial wetlands have the potential to remove only a small fraction of the nitrogen surplus (<3%). Evidence suggests the relevance of groundwater as a site of nitrogen accumulation. IntroductionIncreased reactive nitrogen (N) input to the biosphere by human activities has resulted in the gradual saturation of the N buffering capacity of terrestrial areas and augmented N loads toward surface and ground waters. Reactive N is now accumulating in the environment at all spatial scales, from local to global [1,2]. Farming activity is one of the primary causes for the current high N loads, as an unbalance between livestock manure production and agricultural lands for spreading causes an available N pool generally exceeding the crop requirements and the soil's metabolic capacity [3,4]. The control of N inputs to aquatic systems is of general public interest due to their known ecosystemic consequences, namely eutrophication [5][6][7] and the potential toxicity risks posed by a high nitrate (NO À 3 ) concentration in water resources [8,9]. Rivers are particularly critical because they link terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, and aggregate stressors occurring at the landscape scale. Human-driven alterations such as channelization, impoundment, water withdrawals, reduction of perifluvial vegetation, and wetlands have enhanced soil erosion and runoff processes, affected the biogeochemistry of riparian and in-stream zones and reduced the efficiency of the river network in mitigating N excess [10][11][12].Worldwide N budgets estimate that, on a long-term basis, up to $75% of the N load generated within catchments is generally retained within the basin and not exported via river discharge [2,13]. The ratio between exported and generated N can be considered an integrated measure of the watershed metabolic capacity toward N. The retained N is the result of several processes, among which some are well studied (i.e., crop uptake) while others are scarcely investigated (i.e., denitrification in lotic ecosystems, N storage in soils, and percolation to groundwater) and represent large unknown terms in N budgets [14]. Even if denitrification is accepted as the major sink of N excess in the...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Budget, Net Export, and Potential Sinks of Nitrogen in the Lower Oglio River Watershed (Northern Italy)

Soana

Racchetti

Laini

et al. 2011

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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“…Chemical fertilizers are a vital input for increasing the plants' productivity. Plenty of studies from the literature highlight the contribution of fertilizers (chemical and manure) to the nitrate pollution of groundwater [11,12,16,[23][24][25]41]. The annual nitrogen amount resulting from chemical fertilizers is estimated using the following formula:…”

Section: Fertilizers (Chemical and Manure)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This described situation entails a double drawback as in the one hand the competitive use caused a quantity problem while in the other hand the agricultural practices had led to quality deterioration [1,3,4]. Generally, the elevated nitrate concentrations in the groundwater of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are of increasing concern [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of the Nitrogen Sources in the Eocene Aquifer Area (Palestine)

Almasri

Judeh

Shadeed

2020

Water

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Groundwater is the main source of water in many countries all over the world. Prevention of the pollution of this source is essential for a sustainable utilization. Nitrate pollution of groundwater is a common problem due to the association between intensive agriculture to achieve food security and fertilization. For an efficient management of groundwater pollution from nitrate, the first step would be to quantify the different sources of nitrogen in the aquifer of concern. This paper aims at demonstrating a general approach based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to characterize the spatial distribution of the nitrogen amounts in the area of the Eocene aquifer (Palestine). The aquifer is heavily utilized for agricultural and domestic water supply. Fertilization in the study area is a widespread practice. As a result, the aquifer is undergoing a nitrate pollution problem. The methodology relies mainly on specifying all the sources of nitrogen in the aquifer area using GIS to account for spatiality. Thereafter, GIS attribute tables and Excel spreadsheets were utilized to quantify the magnitudes of nitrogen from the different sources. Maps of the corresponding on-ground nitrate, ammonium, organic nitrogen and total nitrogen were developed for the study area. The results indicate that the total on-ground annual nitrogen loading in the study area is about 3260 tons of which 38% is attributed to fertilizers (chemical and manure) where the dominant form of nitrogen is NH4 (58.3%). The average total on-ground nitrogen loading is 7028 kg-N/km2·year. The estimated annual nitrate leaching to the aquifer is 1968 kg-N/km2. The areas of high sources of nitrogen have long-term impacts on the degradation of the water quality of the aquifer. It is therefore essential to build up on the outcomes of this work and to develop a nitrate fate and transport model for the Eocene aquifer. This model will enable the stakeholders to arrive at the efficient alternatives to manage the nitrate contamination of the aquifer.

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“…It causes a condition known as methaemoglobinemia or "blue baby" disease. The WHO assigned the nitrate of 50 mg/l as a health significant value in drinking water [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the Impact of the Ongoing Water Resource Management Plans on Nitrate Concentration in Gaza Coastal Aquifer Using Modeling Approach

Mogheir¹,

AlTatari²

2014

JWARP

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Groundwater crisis in Gaza includes two major folds: shortage of water supply and contamination. The groundwater pollution by nitrates increased rapidly as a result of wastewater leakage, sewage sludge, animal manure and N-fertilizers. The aims of this study are to obtain the impacts of implementing the Gaza Emergency Technical Assistance Programme (GETAP) on the nitrate concentration in groundwater in Gaza Strip using modeling approach. A flow and transport model using a three dimensional, finite difference simulation model (VMODFLOW Pro.) was applied to simulate the Gaza coastal aquifer (GCA). The approach for selecting the management scenarios was carried out depending on the GETAP projects and focuses into the aquifer system during the next 24 years. It was estimated that work as usual scenario will raise the average nitrate concentration by 8.15 mg/l annually, while upgrade and maintain pipe work scenario will reduce the rising of average nitrate concentration by 4.51 mg/l annually. This means that the average nitrate concentration will increase by only 3.63 mg/l annually. Also, it was estimated that scenarios imported water from Israel, construction of short term low volume desalination plant (STLV), Construction of two regional desalination plant and Reuse of treated wastewater in addition to decrease N-fertilizer will annually increase the average nitrate concentration by only (4.67, 2.78, 3.87, 2.15) mg/l, respectively. The results show that applying all the scenarios together will decrease the average nitrate concentration by 2.44 mg/l annually. Regionally, the best scenario to solve the increasing of nitrate concentration problem is a combination of those scenarios. In domestic areas, the best scenarios is STLV and upgrading and maintaining pipe work. In Agriculture areas, the best scenario and the only one that has significant effect is the reuse of treated wastewater in addition to decrease N-fertilizer.

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Identification of nitrate sources in groundwater by δ¹⁵N_nitrateand δ¹⁸O_nitrate isotopes: a study of the shallow Pleistocene aquifer in the Jericho area, Palestine

Cited by 10 publications

References 7 publications

Soil Budget, Net Export, and Potential Sinks of Nitrogen in the Lower Oglio River Watershed (Northern Italy)

Soil Budget, Net Export, and Potential Sinks of Nitrogen in the Lower Oglio River Watershed (Northern Italy)

Identification of the Nitrogen Sources in the Eocene Aquifer Area (Palestine)

Evaluation of the Impact of the Ongoing Water Resource Management Plans on Nitrate Concentration in Gaza Coastal Aquifer Using Modeling Approach

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