Glossary

BACKGROUND

the quality of the soil and water in the area where the fertilizer storage facility is to be constructed. By checking background soil and water quality, soil and water testing done any time after construction of the facility will help determine if there is any contamination due to the fertilizer facility.

DISSOLUTION
the process whereby mineral or rock material is dissolved due to chemical weathering.

GROUND WATER
the water under the surface of the earth that is found within the pore spaces and cracks between the particles of soil, sand, gravel and bedrock.

HYDROGEOLOGY
the study of the ground water.

METHEMOGLOBINEMIA
or blue baby syndrome, is an illness that begins when large amounts of nitrates in water are ingested by an infant and converted to nitrite by the baby's digestive system. The nitrite then reacts with oxyhemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying blood protein) to form methemoglobin, which cannot combine with oxygen. If a large enough amount of methemoglobin is formed in the blood, the tissues may be deprived of oxygen, causing the infant to develop a blue coloration of their mucous membranes and possibly digestive and respiratory problems. This illness is most common in rural areas where agricultural practices are responsible for nitrate-contaminated water in domestic wells.

NITRATE
composed of one atom of nitrogen (N) and three atoms of oxygen (O). It occurs in ground water primarily from agricultural practices (fertilizers, manure, and sludge) and septic systems.

NITRATE-NITROGEN
a means of expressing the nitrate concentration in terms of only the nitrogen present.

POROSITY
the ratio of the volume of pore (non-rock or non-sediment) spaces in a rock or sediment to the total volume (rock or sediment + pore spaces).

PRIMARY POROSITY
the porosity that develops in sediment during the final stages of sedimentation or is present within the particles during deposition.

SECONDARY POROSITIES
in contrast to primary porosity, is the porosity that develops in the rock or sediment after its deposition, by means of such processes as dissolution or fracturing.

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