Spatial and Temporal Variation in Groundwater Geochemistry in the High Plains Aquifer System, Southcentral Kansas

Richard, Annick; Lane, Adam E.; Paper, Janet M.; Haller, Ben R.; Hildebrand, John; Feril, Orrin; Stotler, Randy L.; Kirk, Matthew F.

doi:10.1130/abs/2016am-286331

Cited by 1 publication

(13 citation statements)

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“…In the late 1970s and 1980s, nitrate levels exceeded the EPA safety limit of 10 mg/L for public drinking water in three of twenty-four wells (Whittemore 1993). By 2016, seven of twenty-four wells had nitrate concentrations above 10 mg/L (Richard 2018). Indeed, rising groundwater nitrate levels have been correlated with land use in several other studies as well.…”

Section: Chapter 2 -Background Great Bend Prairie Aquifermentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Groundwater nitrate levels in the Great Bend Prairie aquifer were found to be higher in the shallow freshwater than in the more saline bedrock waters in the late 1970s and 1980s (Whittemore 1993). More recent examination shows increasing nitrate levels in twenty of twenty-four wells sampled in 2016, with more rapid increase of nitrate concentrations in shallow aquifer wells (Richard 2018), as shown in Figure 2-2. In the late 1970s and 1980s, nitrate levels exceeded the EPA safety limit of 10 mg/L for public drinking water in three of twenty-four wells (Whittemore 1993).…”

Section: Chapter 2 -Background Great Bend Prairie Aquifermentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The bedrock of the aquifer consists of Cretaceous and Permian shales, sandstones, siltstones, and evaporites (Whittemore 1993). Because parts of the Permian bedrock contain salt deposits, salt intrusion of the lower aquifer waters has been found (Whittemore 1993) but does not seem to be spreading to upper aquifer waters as a result of agricultural overdraft of well water (Whittemore 1993;Richard 2018). The upper aquifer may be protected from salt intrusion by low permeability clays or by horizontal groundwater flow (Whittemore 1993).…”

Section: Chapter 2 -Background Great Bend Prairie Aquifermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In June and July of 2018, we sampled soil around ten monitoring wells in GMD 5. Soil sampling sites were chosen in different land use areas located near wells sampled in 2016 and 2017 (Richard 2018), as indicated in Figure 3-1. Selected sites were as follows: non-irrigated cropland near wells 6, 51, and 50B; irrigated cropland near wells 21, 50A, 42, and 3; and pasture near wells 52, 36, 34, and 10.…”

Section: Soil Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The field area also contains different land uses to compare with each other, including non-irrigated cropland, irrigated cropland, and pasture. Finally, previous research on this portion of the aquifer was conducted by Don Whittemore in the 1970s and by Alexandria Richard from 2016Richard from to 2018 points in time to consider as well as a larger pool of data for statistical analysis (Whittemore 1993;Richard 2018).…”

Section: Chapter 1 -Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Land Use on Microbial Communities in the Great Bend Prairie Aquifer

Richardson¹

2019

Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs

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The High Plains aquifer is a vital source of irrigation and drinking water in the central United States. Aquifer geochemistry and water quality can be significantly affected by microbially mediated redox reactions. Therefore, it is important to understand how environmental controls on aquifer microbial communities affect the health of the aquifer. This study examines the relationship between land use and aquifer microbiology in the Great Bend Prairie aquifer, a portion of the High Plains aquifer in south-central Kansas. In the summer of 2018, we collected samples from soils of different land use near groundwater monitoring wells that were sampled two years prior. The soil samples were collected in replicates of four at each well site, and the groundwater was sampled from wells screened in the shallow and deep aquifer at each site. Results demonstrate significant variation in nitrate levels with land use in both soils and groundwater. Soil extractable NO3-N in irrigated crop soils is significantly higher (86.05 mg/kg) than in pasture (3.84 mg/kg) and non-irrigated crop (29.48 mg/kg) soils on average. Shallow wells below crop soils contain average NO3-N concentrations three times higher than those of the shallow wells below pasture soils and of the deep wells, at 18 mg/L. Coupled with this impact, microbial community composition also varies significantly with land use in both soils and groundwater. Our statistical analysis shows that NO3-N and soil microbial communities are significantly correlated, with land use as the best defining factor in soil community similarity.Groundwater microbial communities were significantly correlated with land use and geographic markers, with well depth as the best defining factor in groundwater microbial community.Specifically, the aquifer contains many genera capable of participating in the nitrification and denitrification processes, including genera within bacterial orders Nitrospirales (nitrification) and Pseudomonadales (denitrification), as well as archaeal phylum Crenarchaeota (nitrification and nitrite reduction). Shallow crop wells have the highest average relative abundances of Pseudomonadales (12.14% ) and Nitrospirales (7.03%), compared to other wells. Deep crop wells have the highest average relative abundances of Crenarchaeota (3.25%). Taken together, our results show that land use not only affects the chemistry and microbiology of soils but also the underlying water table aquifer. These findings advance our understanding of environmental controls on aquifer microbiology. v

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Section: Chapter 2 -Background Great Bend Prairie Aquifermentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Chapter 2 -Background Great Bend Prairie Aquifermentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Chapter 2 -Background Great Bend Prairie Aquifermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soil Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chapter 1 -Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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