Cross Sections Through the Cape Cod Wastewater Plume for Boron (B), Ammonium (NH₄⁺), Nitrate (NO₃^-), and Oxygen (O₂)

Four vertical cross sections through the wastewater (treated sewage) plume on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, showing the distribution of dissolved boron (B), ammonium (NH₄⁺), nitrate (N0₃^-), and oxygen (0₂) in micromoles per liter (µmol/L) during 1994. Small dots indicate data points. Ground-water flow is from left to right. Boron is used to define the wastewater plume boundary (thick dashed lines in top figure and the ones underneath it). The NH₄⁺ cross-section shows the cloud of NH₄⁺ in the core of the wastewater plume. The distribution of N0₃^- is from ground water that is recharged through the infiltration beds, through the soil above the plume, and from sources upgradient of the plume. Organic matter in the wastewater has absorbed onto aquifer sediments, and the biodegradation of the organic matter and other compounds has removed dissolved 0₂ from ground water within the boundaries of the plume. Elevations are in meters above or (-) below mean sea level. The above graphs are a modified version of figure 3 from Böhlke and others, 2006, and are based on data from Savoie and LeBlanc, 1998.

More Information

• New Information on the Long-Term Fate of Ammonium in Ground Water
• Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling in Groundwater, Cape Cod Study Site
• Physical Chemistry of Stable Isotope Fractionation in Hydrologic Processes
• Sewage Contamination in Sand and Gravel Aquifers, Cape Cod , Massachusetts

References

• Böhlke, J.K., Smith, R.L., and Miller, D.N., 2006, Ammonium transport and reaction in contaminated groundwater–Application of isotope tracers and isotope fractionation studies: Water Resources Research, v. 42, W05411, doi: 10.1029/2005WR004349.
• Savoie, J., and LeBlanc, D.R., eds., 1998, Water-quality data and methods of analysis for samples collected near a plume of sewage-contaminated ground water, Ashumet Valley, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1993-94: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 97-4269, 208 p.
• Smith, R.L., Baumgartner, L.K., Miller, D.N., Repert, D.A., and Böhlke, J.K., 2006, Assessment of nitrification potential in ground water using short term, single-well injection experiments: Microbial Ecology, v. 51, no. 1, p. 22-35, doi: 10.1007/s00248-004-0159-7.

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