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Transport and Fate of Nitrate at the Ground-Water/Surface-Water Interface

^a USGS, 413 National Center, Reston, VA 20192
^b USGS, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819
^c Hedeff Essaid, USGS, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94205
^d USGS, 5957 Lakeside Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46278
^e USGS, 10615 SE Cherry Blossom Drive, Portland, OR 97216
^f USGS, 8987 Yellow Brick Road, Baltimore, MD 21237
^g USGS, 5231 S. 19th Street, Lincoln, NE 68512

^* Corresponding author (lpuckett{at}usgs.gov).

Received for publication December 20, 2006. Although numerous studies of hyporheic exchange and denitrification have been conducted in pristine, high-gradient streams, few studies of this type have been conducted in nutrient-rich, low-gradient streams. This is a particularly important subject given the interest in nitrogen (N) inputs to the Gulf of Mexico and other eutrophic aquatic systems. A combination of hydrologic, mineralogical, chemical, dissolved gas, and isotopic data were used to determine the processes controlling transport and fate of NO₃^– in streambeds at five sites across the USA. Water samples were collected from streambeds at depths ranging from 0.3 to 3 m at three to five points across the stream and in two to five separate transects. Residence times of water ranging from 0.28 to 34.7 d m^–1 in the streambeds of N-rich watersheds played an important role in allowing denitrification to decrease NO₃^– concentrations. Where potential electron donors were limited and residence times were short, denitrification was limited. Consequently, in spite of reducing conditions at some sites, NO₃^– was transported into the stream. At two of the five study sites, NO₃^– in surface water infiltrated the streambeds and concentrations decreased, supporting current models that NO₃^– would be retained in N-rich streams. At the other three study sites, hydrogeologic controls limited or prevented infiltration of surface water into the streambed, and ground-water discharge contributed to NO₃^– loads. Our results also show that in these low hydrologic-gradient systems, storm and other high-flow events can be important factors for increasing surface-water movement into streambeds.

Abbreviations: DOC, dissolved organic carbon • DNRA, dissimilatory NO₃^– reduction • PVC, polyvinyl chloride

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