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Boron Contents and Isotopic Compositions of Hog Manure, Selected Fertilizers, and Water in Minnesota
Author(s) -
Komor S. C.
Publication year - 1997
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/jeq1997.00472425002600050004x
Subject(s) - manure , loam , groundwater , fertilizer , chemistry , environmental chemistry , soil water , nitrate , zoology , environmental science , agronomy , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , soil science , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , biology
Boron‐isotope (δ 11 B) values may be useful as surrogate tracers of contaminants and indicators of water mixing in agricultural settings. This paper characterizes the B contents and isotopic compositions of hog manure and selected fertilizers, and presents δ 11 B data for ground and surface water from two agricultural areas. Boron concentrations in dry hog manure averaged 61 mg/kg and in commercial fertilizers ranged from below detection limits in some brands of ammonium nitrate and urea to 382 mg/kg in magnesium sulfate. Values of δ 11 B of untreated hog manure ranged from 7.2 to 11.2‰ and of N fertilizers were −2.0 to 0.7‰. In 22 groundwater samples from a sand‐plain aquifer in east‐central Minnesota, B concentrations averaged 0.04 mg/L and δ 11 B values ranged from 2.3 to 41.5‰. Groundwater beneath a hog feedlot and a cultivated field where hog manure was applied had B‐isotope compositions consistent with the water containing hog‐manure leachate. In a 775‐km 2 watershed with silty‐loam soils in southcentral Minnesota: 18 samples of subsurface drainage from corn ( Zea mays L.) and soybean ( Glycine max L. Merr.) fields had average B concentrations of 0.06 mg/L and δ 11 B values of 5.3 to 15.1‰; 27 stream samples had average B concentrations of 0.05 mg/L and δ 11 B values of 1.0 to 19.0‰; and eight groundwater samples had average B concentrations of 0.09 mg/L and δ 11 B values of −0.3 to 23.0‰. Values of δ 11 B and B concentrations, when plotted against one another, define a curved mixing trend that suggests subsurface drainage and stream water contain mixtures of B from shallow and deep groundwater.