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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbus, Ohio » Soil Drainage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #97168

Title: DRAINAGE AND TILLAGE IMPACT ON NITRATE MOVEMENT IN PERCOLATING WATERS

Author
item AKIS, R - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item LAL, R - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item CALHOUN, F - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item Fausey, Norman

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/16/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Extensive nitrate contamination of drinking wells and surface waters is sufficiently problematic to warrant the investigation of specific drainage and tillage systems with the goal of reducing nitrate losses. Lysimeter sampling of nitrate concentrations at depths of 25, 50, 100, and 150 cm of soil profiles as well as runoff and tile flow waters were studied under various tillage and drainage systems in an Ohio silt loam. No-till undrained and drained, chisel plow drained and undrained were studied in triplicate. Nitrate concentration ranged from 1.7 to 32 ppm in the soil profiles and from 13 to 29 ppm in the drainage, whereas pH ranged from about 7 to 8.5 in both soil solution samples and tile drainage. There was no obvious trend among treatments observed in these preliminary data.