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Areal, Vertical, and Temporal Differences in Ground Water Chemistry: II. Organic Constituents
Author(s) -
Junk G. A.,
Spalding R. F.,
Richard J. J.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1980.00472425000900030031x
Subject(s) - atrazine , alachlor , chemistry , total organic carbon , environmental chemistry , dissolved organic carbon , surface water , hydrology (agriculture) , groundwater , nitrate , irrigation , environmental science , pesticide , agronomy , geology , environmental engineering , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , biology
Abstract Selected organic components in samples collected from monitoring wells and from surface water are shown to follow definite areal, vertical, and temporal trends in concentration. Atrazine (2‐chloro‐4‐[ethylamino]‐6‐[isopropylamino]‐ s ‐triazine), alachlor (2‐chloro‐2′ ,6′ ‐ diethyl‐ N ‐[methoxymethyl]acetanilide) and dieldrin (1,2,3,4,10,10‐hexachloro‐ exo ‐6,7‐ epoxy ‐1,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a‐octahydro‐1,4‐ endo, exo ‐5,8‐dimethanonaphthalene) were measured in 64, 35, and 35 water samples, respectively. The atrazine amounts ranged from < 0.01 to 88 µ g/liter. Peak concentrations were observed in shallow well water downgradient from irrigated fields at the end of the irrigation season. The areal and vertical distributions of atrazine are closely associated with those of nitrate‐nitrogen (NO 3 ‐N), which was measured as an indicator of deep percolation from irrigated croplands. However, temporal variations in atrazine concentrations suggest that it is a nonconservative constituent of ground water. Alachlor and dieldrin amounts were extremely low, being less than 0.1 µ g/liter in all but one water sample which was taken from a well located in an excessively well‐drained area. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was measured in 95 water samples and the amounts ranged from 0.2 to 4.8 mg/liter. Maximums occurred in shallow wells and there were no seasonal associations with either atrazine or NO 3 ‐N. The DOC data suggest percolation from the unsaturated zone and partial removal from solution during vertical transport within the saturated zone.