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Title: QUANTIFYING A SHALLOW GROUNDWATER LEACHATE FLUX IN A NON-TILLED DRAINED SYSTEM

Author
item Gish, Timothy
item KUNG, K - DEPT OF SOIL SCIENCE
item Daughtry, Craig
item STEENHUIS, TAMMO - DEPT AGRICULTURE & BIO
item KLADIVKO, EILEEN - AGRONOMY, PURDUE UNIVERS.
item NICHOLSON, THOMAS - NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMM
item CADY, R - NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMM

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/15/2005
Publication Date: 11/6/2005
Citation: Gish, T.J., Kung, K.G., Daughtry, C.S., Stennhuis, T.S., Kladivko, E.J., Nicholson, T.J., Cady, R. 2005. Quantifying a shallow groundwater leachate flux in a non-tilled drained system [abstract]. International Annual Agronomy Society Meeting. 2005 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: To accurate quantify solute transport, determine relevance or develop theory to accurately describe chemical behavior, it is crucial to first quantitatively determine a total solute flux, including preferential flow. A protocol extending a flux method previously developed for tile-drained systems was tested for shallow ground water systems without a tile drain. Bromide was surface broadcast applied around three shallow observation wells and irrigated at 4.1 mm/h. Throughout the study the water table height, soil moisture profiles were continuously monitored along with water flows from pumped observation wells. The bromide flux monitored represented a treated soil area of about 30 m2 per well. Results indicated that: 1) about 98 percent of the applied bromide tracer was recovered; 2) at 4.1 mm/h over half of the surface-applied bromide was recovered at a depth of 1.6 m after only 280 mm of irrigation; 3) at this location, bromide fluxes were dominated by preferential flow when subjected to a 4.1 mm/h irrigation rate. Preliminary results suggest this protocol may be a useful tool for quantifying solute transport fluxes in non tile-drained systems that contain a shallow groundwater system.