Nitrogen transformation and pathways in the shallow groundwater-soil system within agricultural landscapes

Shallow groundwater table fluctuations weaken nitrogen accumulation in the thin layer vadose zone of cropland around plateau lakes, Southwest China

Excessive accumulation of nitrogen (N) in the soil profile in the intensive agricultural region will seriously threaten groundwater quality and safety. However, the impact of shallow groundwater table (SGWT) fluctuations driven by seasonal variations on the N accumulation characterizations in the soil profiles has not been well quantified, particularly in the regions with thin layer vadose zone. Through in-situ monitoring and simulation experiments, the changes in the SGWT and N accumulation of soil profile in intensive cropland around 7 plateau lakes in Yunnan were studied during the rainy season (RS) and dry season (DS), and the N loss in soil profile of cropland driven by SGWT fluctuations was estimated. The results showed that the SGWT and N accumulation in soil profile of cropland around the plateau lakes had obvious seasonal variation characteristics. The proportion of N storage in different forms in 60-100 cm soil layer in the RS was greater than that in the DS, particularly the proportion of NH4+-N storage was as high as 55 %, while N accumulation in surface soil was obvious in the DS. Compared with the DS, due to the rising SGWT in the RS, the maximum storages of TN and NO3--N in the 0-100 cm soil layer decreased by17% and 36 %, respectively. The TN loss intensities from the 0-100 cm soil profiles of cropland around Fuxian Lake, Yilong Lake, Qilu Lake, Dianchi Lake, Yangzong Lake, Erhai Lake, and Xingyun Lake were 74, 54, 127, 105, 93, 72 and 207 kg/ha, respectively. Moreover, if the SGWT was <30 cm, the average TN loss intensity and amount could reach 177 kg/ha and 1250 t, respectively. Therefore, the SGWT regulation was one of the key measures to reducing soil N loss from the thin layer vadose zone of cropland around plateau lakes and improving groundwater quality.

Source-oriented health risk assessment of groundwater nitrate by using EMMTE coupled with HHRA model

Conventional concentration-oriented approaches for nitrate risk diagnosis only provide overall risk levels without identifying risk values of individual sources or sources accountable for potential health risks. Therefore, a hybrid model combining the end-member mixing model tool on Excel™ (EMMTE) with human health risk assessment (HHRA) was developed to assess the source-oriented health risks for groundwater nitrate, particularly in the Poyang Lake Plain (PLP) region. The results indicated that the EMMTE and the Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (MixSIAR) exhibited remarkable consistency in source apportionment of groundwater nitrate. The source contribution of groundwater nitrate in PLP was related to land use types, hydrogeological conditions, and soil properties. Notably, manure and sewage sources, contributing up to 53.4 %, represented the largest nitrate pollution sources, with a significant contribution of soil nitrogen and nitrogen fertilizers. The non-carcinogenic risk for four potential sources was below the acceptable threshold of 1. Given the factors including rainfall dilution and economic development, attention should be directed towards mitigating the health risks posed by manure and sewage. This study can verify the efficacy of EMMTE in source apportionment and offer valuable insights for decision-makers to regulate the largest sources of nitrate contamination and enhance groundwater management efficiency.

Anthropogenic processes drive spatiotemporal variability of sulfate in groundwater from a multi-aquifer system: Dilution caused by mine drainage

The water quality evolution of surface and groundwater caused by mining activities and mine drainage is a grave public concern worldwide. To explore the effect of mine drainage on sulfate evolution, a multi-aquifer system in a typical coal mine in Northwest China was investigated using multi-isotopes (δ34SSO4, δ18OSO4, δD, and δ18Owater) and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model. Before mining, the Jurassic aquifer was dominated by gypsum dissolution, accompanied by cation exchange and bacterial sulfate reduction, and the phreatic aquifers and surface water were dominated by carbonate dissolution. Significant increase in sulfate in phreatic aquifers due to mine drainage during the early stages of coal mining. However, in contrast to common mining activities that result in sulfate contamination from pyrite oxidation, mine drainage in this mining area resulted in accelerated groundwater flow and enhanced hydraulic connections between the phreatic and confined aquifers. Dilution caused by the altered groundwater flow system controlled the evolution of sulphate, leading to different degrees of sulfate decrease in all aquifers and surface water. As the hydrogeochemical characteristic of Jurassic aquifer evolved toward phreatic aquifer, this factor should be considered to avoid misjudgment in determining the source of mine water intrusion. The study reveals the hydrogeochemical evolution induced by mine drainage, which could benefit to the management of groundwater resources in mining areas.

Spatiotemporal successions of N, S, C, Fe, and As cycling genes in groundwater of a wetland ecosystem: Enhanced heterogeneity in wet season

Microorganisms in wetland groundwater play an essential role in driving global biogeochemical cycles. However, largely due to the dynamics of spatiotemporal surface water-groundwater interaction, the spatiotemporal successions of biogeochemical cycling in wetland groundwater remain poorly delineated. Herein, we investigated the seasonal coevolution of hydrogeochemical variables and microbial functional genes involved in nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, iron, and arsenic cycling in groundwater within a typical wetland, located in Poyang Lake Plain, China. During the dry season, the microbial potentials for dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium and ammonification were dominant, whereas the higher potentials for nitrogen fixation, denitrification, methane metabolism, and carbon fixation were identified in the wet season. A likely biogeochemical hotspot was identified in the area located in the low permeable aquifer near the lake, characterized by reducing conditions and elevated levels of Fe2+ (6.65-17.1 mg/L), NH4+ (0.57-3.98 mg/L), total organic carbon (1.02-1.99 mg/L), and functional genes. In contrast to dry season, higher dissimilarities of functional gene distribution were observed in the wet season. Multivariable statistics further indicated that the connection between the functional gene compositions and hydrogeochemical variables becomes less pronounced as the seasons transition from dry to wet. Despite this transition, Fe2+ remained the dominant driving force on gene distribution during both seasons. Gene-based co-occurrence network displayed reduced interconnectivity among coupled C-N-Fe-S cycles from the dry to the wet season, underpinning a less complex and more destabilizing occurrence pattern. The rising groundwater level may have contributed to a reduction in the stability of functional microbial communities, consequently impacting ecological functions. Our findings shed light on microbial-driven seasonal biogeochemical cycling in wetland groundwater.

Occurrence, ecological and health risk assessment of phthalates in a polluted urban river used for agricultural land irrigation in central Mexico

The escalating global concern on phthalate esters (PAEs) stems from their status as emerging contaminants, marked by their toxicity and their potential to harm both the environment and human health. Consequently, this study aimed to evaluate the occurrence, spatial distribution, and ecological and health risks associated with PAEs in the Atoyac River, an urban waterway in central Mexico that receives untreated and poorly treated urban and industrial wastewater. Of the 14 PAEs analyzed in surface water samples collected along the river mainstream, nine were detected and quantified by GC-MS. The concentration of each detected PAE ranged from non-detected values to 25.7 μg L-1. Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHP) were detected in all sampling sites, with concentrations ranging from 8.1 to 19.4 μg L-1 and from 6.3 to 15.6 μg L-1, respectively. The cumulative Σ9PAEs concentrations reached up to 81.1 μg L-1 and 96.0 μg L-1 in sites downstream to high-tech industrial parks, pinpointing industrial wastewater as the primary source of PAEs. Given that the river water is stored in a reservoir and used for cropland irrigation, this study also assessed the ecological and human health risks posed by PAEs. The findings disclosed a high ecological risk to aquatic organisms exposed to di-n-octyl phthalate (DOP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), DEHP, and DnHP. Additionally, a high carcinogenic (CR > 10-4) and noncarcinogenic (HQ > 10) risk for the DEHP exposure through ingestion of crops irrigated with river water was identified for both children and adults. These data on PAEs provide valuable insights for the Mexican government's future strategies in regulating these pollutants in water bodies, thereby minimizing the environmental and human health risks that they pose.

Deterministic factors modulating assembly of groundwater microbial community in a nitrogen-contaminated and hydraulically-connected river-lake-floodplain ecosystem

The river-lake-floodplain system (RLFS) undergoes intensive surface-groundwater mass and energy exchanges. Some freshwater lakes are groundwater flow-through systems, serving as sinks for nitrogen (N) entering the lake. Despite the threat of cross-nitrogen contamination, the assembly of the microbial communities in the RLFS was poorly understood. Herein, the distribution, co-occurrence, and assembly pattern of microbial community were investigated in a nitrogen-contaminated and hydraulically-connected RLFS. The results showed that nitrate was widely distributed with greater accumulation on the south than on the north side, and ammonia was accumulated in the groundwater discharge area (estuary and lakeshore). The heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria and aerobic denitrifying bacteria were distributed across the entire area. In estuary and lakeshore with low levels of oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and high levels of total organic carbon (TOC) and ammonia, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) bacteria were enriched. The bacterial community had close cooperative relationships, and keystone taxa harbored nitrate reduction potentials. Combined with multivariable statistics and self-organizing map (SOM) results, ammonia, TOC, and ORP acted as drivers in the spatial evolution of the bacterial community, coincidence with the predominant deterministic processes and unique niche breadth for microbial assembly. This study provides novel insight into the traits and assembly of bacterial communities and potential nitrogen cycling capacities in RLFS groundwater.

Effect and genesis of soil nitrogen loading and hydrogeological conditions on the distribution of shallow groundwater nitrogen pollution in the North China Plain

The North China Plain (NCP) has experienced increasingly severe groundwater nitrogen (TN) pollution. However, the factors influencing TN distribution are still poorly understood. Previous studies have identified surface soil nitrogen (TSN) loading and intrinsic groundwater vulnerability (Inv) as the main factors controlling groundwater TN pollution. However, in this study, based on 3245 shallow groundwater samples in the NCP, the multiple regression analysis results(R2=0.105, p<0.001) revealed that the TN was not mainly controlled by TSN and Inv. The lower prediction accuracy indicated the large data dispersion of TN, which might be affected by nitrogen attenuation or accumulation. Thus, the NCP was divided into balance, attenuation, and accumulation zones according to the regression equation. The attenuation zone was mainly distributed in the inter-fan and fan edge parts of the pre-mountain alluvial floodplain, as well as the west and south of the runoff area, while the accumulation zone was mainly distributed in the top part of the pre-mountain alluvial floodplain and the east of discharge area. Multi-indicators comparative analysis showed that compared to the balance (Eh= 76.2 mV) and accumulation (Eh=126.7 mV) zones, the attenuation zone has a stronger reducing environment (Eh=30.8 mV) favorable to denitrification, which can reduce the TN pollution (0.49 mg/L) caused by surface nitrogen input and consume more electron donors. Conversely, the stronger oxidizing environment in the accumulation zone limited denitrification, resulting in higher TN concentrations (19.14 mg/L) in the aquifers under the same TSN and Inv conditions as the other two zones. The standardized effects and significance on each path of the structural equation model (SEMs) fully confirmed the reliability of the above zonal analysis. Importantly, the feature importance (23.6%) of random forest and standardized effects (0.455, p<0.001) of SEMs showed that the Eh had the strongest influence on TN. Thus, the redox conditions of the aquifer, in addition to TSN and Inv, played a crucial role in controlling the TN pollution in the groundwater of a large region. The zoning work and the analysis of influencing factors are important to guide scientific prevention and control of groundwater nitrogen pollution.

Nitrogen species and microbial community coevolution along groundwater flowpath in the southwest of Poyang Lake area, China

Nitrate and ammonia overload in groundwater can lead to eutrophication of surface water in areas where surface water is recharged by groundwater. However, this process remained elusive due to the complicated groundwater N cycling, which is governed by the co-evolution of hydrogeochemical conditions and N-cycling microbial communities. Herein, this process was studied along a generalized groundwater flowpath in Ganjing Delta, Poyang Lake area, China. From groundwater recharge to the discharge area near the lake, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), NO₃-N, and NO₂-N decreased progressively, while NH₃-N, total organic carbon (TOC), Fe²⁺, sulfide, and TOC/NO₃^- ratio accumulated in the lakeside samples. The anthropogenic influences such as sewage and agricultural activities drove the nitrate distribution, as observed by Cl^- vs. NO₃^-/Cl^- ratio and isotopic composition of nitrate. The hydrogeochemical evolution was intimately coupled with the changes in microbial communities. Variations in microbial community structures was significantly explained by Fe²⁺, NH₃-N, and sulfide, while TOC/NO₃^- controlled the distribution of predicted N cycling gene. The absence of NH₃-N in groundwater upstream was accompanied by the enrichment in Acinetobacter capable of nitrification and aerobic denitrification. These two processes were also supported by Ca²⁺ + Mg²⁺ vs. HCO₃^- ratio and isotopic composition of NO₃^-. The DNRA process downstream was revealed by both the presence of DNRA-capable microbes such as Arthrobacter and the isotopic composition of NH₄⁺ in environments with high concentrations of NH₃-N, TOC/NO₃^-, Fe²⁺, and sulfide. This coupled evolution of N cycling and microbial community sheds new light on the N biogeochemical cycle in areas where surface water is recharged by groundwater.

Seawater intrusion alters nitrogen cycling patterns through hydrodynamic behavior and biochemical reactions: Based on Bayesian isotope mixing model and microbial functional network

Seawater intrusion is a global coastal environmental issue of great concern and significantly impacts the regional biogeochemical environment and material cycles, including nitrogen cycling. To reveal the mechanism of seawater intrusion altering nitrogen cycling patterns through hydrodynamic behavior and biochemical reactions, the Bayesian mixing model (δ¹⁵N-NO₃^- and δ¹⁸O-NO₃^-) and 16S rDNA gene amplicon sequencing are used to establish nitrogen cycling pathways and microbial functional network. The results show that the nitrate in the coastal groundwater is from manure and septic waste (M&S, over 44 %), soil organic nitrogen (SON, over 20 %), and nitrogen fertilizer (FN, over 16 %). The hydrological interaction has promoted the coupling between material cycling and microbial community in the coastal groundwater systems. Among them, precipitation infiltration has caused the gradual decrease of specific microbes along the flow direction, such as Lactobacillus, Acinetobacter, Bifidobacterium, etc. And seawater intrusion has caused the mutations of specific microbes (Planktomarina, Clade_Ia, Wenyingzhuangia, Glaciecola, etc.) and convergence of microbial community at the salt-freshwater interface in the aquifer. In the coastal intruded aquifer systems, the nitrogen cycling pattern can be divided into oxidation and reduction processes. The oxidation process involves the enhancement of nitrification while the weakening of denitrification and anammox with the increase of aquifer depth. The reduction process consists of the enhancement of denitrification and anammox while the erosion of nitrification and ammonification with increased seawater intrusion. In addition, seawater intrusion can mitigate nitrate contamination by promoting denitrification and anammox in coastal areas.

Spatial variability of source contributions to nitrate in regional groundwater based on the positive matrix factorization and Bayesian model

Groundwater nitrate (NO₃^-) pollution has attracted widespread attention; however, accurately evaluating the sources of NO₃^- and their contribution patterns in regional groundwater is difficult in areas with multiple sources and complex hydrogeological conditions. In this study, 161 groundwater samples were collected from the Poyang Lake Basin for hydrochemical and dual NO₃^- isotope analyses to explore the sources of NO₃^- and their spatial contribution using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and Bayesian stable isotope mixing (MixSIAR) models. The results revealed that the enrichment of NO₃^- in groundwater was primarily attributed to sewage/manure (SM), which accounted for more than 50 %. The contributions of nitrogen fertilizer and soil organic nitrogen should also be considered. Groundwater NO₃^- sources showed obvious spatial differences in contributions. Regions with large contributions of SM (>90 %) were located in the southeastern part of the study area and downstream of Nanchang, which are areas with relatively high population density. Nitrogen fertilizer and soil organic nitrogen showed concentrated contributions in paddy soil in the lower reaches of the Gan and Rao Rivers, and these accumulations were mainly driven by the soil type, land use type, and topography. This study provides insight into groundwater NO₃^- contamination on a regional scale.

Feammox in alluvial-lacustrine aquifer system: Nitrogen/iron isotopic and biogeochemical evidences

Groundwater nitrogen contamination is becoming increasingly serious worldwide, and natural nitrogen attenuation processes such as anaerobic ammonium oxidation coupled to iron reduction ("Feammox") play an important role in mitigating contamination. Although there has been intensive study of Feammox in soils and sediments, still lacks research on this process in groundwater. This study makes effort to demonstrate the occurrence of Feammox in groundwater by combining information from Fe/N isotope composition, the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Poyang Lake Plain of Yangtze River in central China was selected as the case study area. The critical evidences that indicate Feammox in groundwater include favorable hydrogeochemical conditions of the alluvia-lacustrine aquifer systems, the simultaneous enrichment of ¹⁵N in ammonium and ⁵⁶Fe, the relative high abundance of Acidimicrobiaceae bacterium A6, and the joint elevation of the abundance of the Feammox bacteria and the concentration of Fe(III). Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that Geothrix and Rhodobacter may participate directly or cooperatively in the Feammox process. Ammonium-oxidizing archaea (AOA) involved in ammonium-oxidizing or Feammox process may be stimulated by Fe(III) under a low oxygen concentration and weakly acidic condition. Anammox may be indirectly enhanced by products of the nitrogen transformation processes involving Feammox bacteria and AOA. Fe(III) concentration is an important environmental factor affecting the abundance of functional microorganisms related to nitrogen cycling and the composition of ammonium-oxidizing and iron-reducing microbes. Specific geological background (such as the widespread red soils) and anthropogenic input of ammonium, iron, and acidic substances may jointly promote Feammox in groundwater.

Geochemical conditions of natural wetland and paddy fields in the Poyang Lake area, China

Abstract

During the last several decades, wetlands are losing their ecological functions due to increasing anthropogenic loads. One of these functions is the ability to bind elements forming geochemical barriers. The research aimed to study the geochemical conditions of natural wetlands and flooded paddy fields (artificial wetlands) in the Ganjiang River basin to trace geochemical barriers. The research approach was based on a comprehensive analysis of water and aqueous extracts from bottom sediments and paddy soils, including chemical and mineral composition. The samples were collected in November 2019, during the dry season at the end of harvesting. Chemical analysis was performed using standard methods for natural substances: titrimetry, photometry, ionic chromatography, high-temperature oxidation, ICP-MS, and ICP-AES. The mineral composition of the soils and sediments was determined by XRD. It was found that the main physicochemical characteristics (TDS, pH, main component concentrations) of the natural wetland water correspond to the surface water of the study area, whereas the irrigation water is similar to shallow groundwater. The content of trace elements in the irrigation water is higher than in the natural wetland water. Generally, the trace element composition of the natural wetland water corresponds to the geochemical background of the study area. Analysis of the mineral and chemical composition of the paddy soils and sediments indicates the geochemical barriers that accumulate a wide range of elements. In the natural wetland, the geochemical barrier is likely associated with a decrease in oxygen content and advective transport rate in the sediments, whereas in the paddy fields, the precipitation of clay minerals in the soil profile forms the geochemical barrier related to a decrease in filtration properties and advection–diffusion transport.

Graphic abstract