Ground-water flow, geochemistry, and effects of agricultural practices on nitrogen transport at study sites in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces, Patuxent River Basin, Maryland

Abstract

The effects of agricultural practices on nitrogen transport were assessed at two 10-acre study sites in the Patuxent River Basin, Maryland, from 1986 to 1992. Nitrogen load was larger in ground water than in surface runoff at both sites. Denitrification and (or) long traveltimes of ground water at the study site in the Piedmont Province resulted in lower concentrations of nitrate than at the site in the Coastal Plain Province. The study period was brief compared to the traveltimes of nitrogen in ground water of several decades. Therefore, the effects of agricultural practices were observed only in parts of both sites. At the Piedmont site, nitrate concentration in two springs was 7 milligrams per liter 2 years after corn was grown under no-till cultivation and decreased to 3.5 milligrams per liter during 4 years while cultivation practices and crops included no-till soybeans, continuous alfalfa, and contoured strips alternated among corn, alfalfa, and soybeans. Nitrogen load in ground water decreased from 12 to 6 pounds per acre per year. At the Coastal Plain site, the concentration of nitrate in ground water decreased from 10 milligrams per liter after soybeans were grown under no-till cultivation for 2 years to 9 milligrams per liter after soybeans were grown under conventional till cultivation for 3 years. No-till cultivation in 1988 resulted in a greater nitrogen load in ground water [12.55 (pounds/acre)/year], as well as greater ground-water recharge and discharge, than conventional till cultivation in 1991 [11.51 (pounds/acre)/ year], even though the amount and timing of precipitation for both years were similar.