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Nitrate concentrations and nitrate reduction in acid groundwater/lake systems in southern Australia |
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| Authors: | W Berry Lyons Mark E Hines David T Long John M McArthur Susan Welch |
| Institution: | (1) Biogeochemical Systems Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 03824 Durham, NH, USA;(2) Department of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University, 18824 East Lansing, MI, USA;(3) Department of Geological Sciences, University College London, WC1E6BT London, UK;(4) Present address: Department of Geology, University of Alabama, 35487-0338 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA;(5) Present address: College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, 19958 Lewes, Delaware, USA |
| Abstract: | We have analyzed nitrate in saline groundwaters from the Lake Tyrrell region of north-western Victoria and the Norseman-Salmon Gums region of south-eastern Western Australia. These are regions where acid (pH<4) groundwater exists naturally. The nitrate concentrations of these groundwaters are ∼5–10 times lower than nitrate concentrations from other arid and semi-arid regions around the world and in Australia. The source of the nitrate to the groundwater is soil organic matter, not anthropogenic activity. The data from the Lake Tyrrell system suggest that the gain and loss of fixed nitrogen are probably important biogeochemical processes in the early evolution of these waters. Nitrate reduction also occurs in the shallow groundwaters of Western Australia. Nitrate reduction is very low due to the low concentrations of organic matter present. Groundwaters in both of these systems eventually discharge along the edges of playas. This process may concentrate nitrate in the surficial salts of the playa. |
| Keywords: | nitrate nitrate reduction acid groundwater acid lake systems Australia |
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