[1] Recharge rates of nitrate (NO 3 À ) to groundwater beneath agricultural land commonly are greater than discharge rates of NO 3 À in nearby streams, but local controls of NO 3 À distribution in the subsurface generally are poorly known. Groundwater dating (CFC, 3 H) was combined with chemical (ions and gases) and stable isotope (N, S, and C) analyses to resolve the effects of land use changes, flow patterns, and water-aquifer reactions on the distributions of O 2 , NO 3 À , SO 4 = , and other constituents in a two-dimensional vertical section leading from upland cultivated fields to a riparian wetland and stream in a glacial outwash sand aquifer near Princeton, Minnesota. Within this section a ''plume'' of oxic NO 3 À -rich groundwater was present at shallow depths beneath the fields and part of the wetland but terminated before reaching the stream or the wetland surface. Groundwater dating and hydraulic measurements indicate travel times in the local flow system of 0 to >40 years, with stratified recharge beneath the fields, downward diversion of the shallow NO 3 À -bearing plume by semiconfining organic-rich valley-filling sediments under the wetland and upward discharge across the valley and stream bottom. The concentrations and d 15 N values of NO 3 À and N 2 indicate that the NO 3 À plume section was bounded in three directions by a curvilinear zone of active denitrification that limited its progress; however, when recalculated to remove the effects of denitrification, the data also indicate changes in both the concentrations and d 15 N values of NO 3 À that was recharged in the past. Isotope data and mass balance calculations indicate that FeS 2 and other ferrous Fe phases were the major electron donors for denitrification in at least two settings: (1) within the glacial-fluvial aquifer sediments beneath the recharge and discharge areas and (2) along the bottom of the valley-filling sediments in the discharge area. Combined results indicate that the shape and progress of the oxic NO 3 À plume termination were controlled by a combination of (1) historical and spatial variations in land use practices, (2) contrast in groundwater flow patterns between the agricultural recharge area and riparian wetland discharge area, and (3) distribution and abundance of electron donors in both the sand aquifer and valley-filling sediments. The data are consistent with slow migration of redox zones through the aquifer in response to recharging oxic groundwater during Holocene time, then an order-of-magnitude increase in the flux of electron acceptors as a result of agricultural NO 3 À contamination in the late twentieth century, to which the redox zone configuration still may be adjusting. The importance of denitrification for NO 3 À movement through formerly glaciated terrains should depend on the source areas and depositional environments of the glacial sediments, as well as geomorphology and recent stream-valley sediment history.
Streambed hydraulic conductivity (K) values were determined at seven stream transects in the Platte River Basin in Nebraska using different instream measurement techniques. Values were compared to determine the most appropriate technique(s) for use in sandy streambeds. Values of K determined from field falling-and constant-head permeameter tests analyzed using the Darcy equation decreased as permeameter diameter increased. Seepage meters coupled with hydraulic gradient measurements failed to yield K values in 40% of the trials. Consequently, Darcy permeameter and seepage meter tests were not preferred approaches. In the upper 0.25 m of the streambed, field falling-and constant-head permeameter tests analyzed with the Hvorslev solution generally had similar K values that were significantly greater than those determined using the Hazen grain-size, Bouwer and Rice slug test for anisotropic and isotropic conditions, and Alyamani and Sen grain-size methods; median differences between these tests and the Hvorslev falling-head 60 cm diameter permeameter were about 8,9, 17, and 35 rnfday, respectively. The Hvorslev falling-head permeameter test is considered the most robust method for measuring K of the upper 0.25 m of the streambed because of the inherent limitations of the empirical grain-size methods and less sediment disturbance for permeameter than slug tests. However, lateral variability in K along transects on the Platte, North Platte, and Wood Rivers was greater than variability in K between valid permeameter, grain-size, or slug tests, indicating that the method used may matter less than making enough measurements to characterize spatial variability adequately. At the Platte River tributary sites, the upper 0.3 m of the streambed typically had greater K than sediment located 0.3 to 2.5 m below the streambed surface, indicating that deposits below the streambed may limit ground waterlsurface water fluxes. The Hvorslev permeameter tests are not a practical measurement approach for these greater depths. Thus, selection of a method for measuring streambed K needs to consider the vertical location of the sediments that are most likely to limit the rate of ground waterlsurface water interaction.
Uranium (U) concentrations in groundwater in several parts of the eastern San Joaquin Valley, California, have exceeded federal and state drinking water standards during the last 20 years. The San Joaquin Valley is located within the Central Valley of California and is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. Increased irrigation and pumping associated with agricultural and urban development during the last 100 years have changed the chemistry and magnitude of groundwater recharge, and increased the rate of downward groundwater movement. Strong correlations between U and bicarbonate suggest that U is leached from shallow sediments by high bicarbonate water, consistent with findings of previous work in Modesto, California. Summer irrigation of crops in agricultural areas and, to lesser extent, of landscape plants and grasses in urban areas, has increased P co 2 concentrations in the soil zone and caused higher temperature and salinity of groundwater recharge. Coupled with groundwater pumping, this process, as evidenced by increasing bicarbonate concentrations in groundwater over the last 100 years, has caused shallow, young groundwater with high U concentrations to migrate to deeper parts of the groundwater system that are tapped by public-supply wells. Continued downward migration of U-affected groundwater and expansion of urban centers into agricultural areas will likely be associated with increased U concentrations in public-supply wells. The results from this study illustrate the potential longterm effects of groundwater development and irrigation-supported agriculture on water quality in arid and semiarid regions around the world.
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