Journal article
Groundwater Hydrology and Quality in Drained Wetlands of the Des Moines Lobe in Iowa
Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.), Vol.38(2), pp.247-259
04/01/2018
DOI: 10.1007/s13157-016-0825-9
Abstract
The prairie pothole region covers 700,000 km(2) of North America and once contained millions of pothole wetlands but agricultural drainage was used to convert many these wetlands to agriculture. Termed "drained wetlands" in this study, groundwater hydrology and quality beneath these pothole depressions is poorly understood. In this study we characterized water table levels and nutrient concentrations at eight drained wetland sites in Iowa. During the 2011 to 2014 study period that ranged from drought to above-normal rainfall, water table levels exhibited a clear seasonal pattern, rapidly increasing in the spring with rainfall and decreasing in the late summer due to evapotranspiration (ET) and lateral flow to subsurface drainage tiles. The average water table depth ranged from approximately 90 to 130 cm near the typical tile depth in Iowa (120 cm). Results suggest that ponding observed at the farmed pothole depressions is rarely due to groundwater rise. High concentrations of NO3-N and PO4-P were present in shallow groundwater beneath the drained wetlands, averaging 16.7 and 0.4 mg l(-1), respectively. Overall, both groundwater hydrology and quality of drained wetlands appear to be dominated by the agricultural land use.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Groundwater Hydrology and Quality in Drained Wetlands of the Des Moines Lobe in Iowa
- Creators
- Keith E. Schilling - United States Geological SurveyPeter J. Jacobson - Grinnell Coll, Dept Biol, Grinnell, IA 50112 USAMatthew T. Streeter - Iowa Geol Survey, 340 Trowbridge Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242 USAChristopher S. Jones - Iowa Soybean Assoc, 1255 Prairie Trail Pkwy, Ankeny, IA 50023 USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.), Vol.38(2), pp.247-259
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- DOI
- 10.1007/s13157-016-0825-9
- ISSN
- 0277-5212
- eISSN
- 1943-6246
- Number of pages
- 13
- Grant note
- CD 97723601 / Wetland Program Development Grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/01/2018
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984383299102771
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