Journal article
Soil sedimentation and quality within the roadside ditches of an agricultural watershed
The Science of the total environment, Vol.657, pp.1432-1440
03/20/2019
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.113
PMID: 30677909
Abstract
Roadside ditches arc an integral component to the >6.3 million km of roadsides in the U.S. and act as clrainageways for millions of hectares of watershed runoff Our study of six roadside ditches in Lime Creek watershed characterized soil nutrients and heavy metal patterns as well as quantified the physical and hydrological properties of ditch soils. At all ditch sites, we identified significant sedimentation of silt-sized particles, total nitrogen, and soil carbon in shallow roadside ditch soils. A post-settlement surface soil horizon significantly higher in silt content was observed compared to the underlying subsoil and parent rnateiial. Although accumulation of several heavy metals was measured in ditch soils, significant variability was not observed within the ditch environment. Most of the heavy metal concentrations were found to be either similar to or lower than state-wide averages. Higher levels of calcium near the roads were likely due to annual use of road deicers. Overall, we estimated that 42 Mg/ha of total carbon and 5 Mg/ha of total nitrogen are being stored in agricultural ditch soils, which is similar to that of surrounding agricultural land in terms of total carbon storage, but much higher than estimates of total nitrogen storage. Our study of six roadside ditches in an eastern Iowa watershed documented the soil chemistry, morphology, and sediment accumulation that occurred since ditch construction. Further research is needed to develop a better understanding of how the soil and water conditions in the ditches related to the watershed areas that feed them. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Soil sedimentation and quality within the roadside ditches of an agricultural watershed
- Creators
- Matthew T. Streeter - Univ Iowa, Iowa Geol Survey, Iowa City, IA 52242 USAKeith E. Schilling - University of IowaMartin St Clair - United States Army Corps of EngineersZachary Demanett - Iowa Geological Survey; University of Iowa; Iowa City IA USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Science of the total environment, Vol.657, pp.1432-1440
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.113
- PMID
- 30677909
- ISSN
- 0048-9697
- eISSN
- 1879-1026
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- C7-82775-26 / Iowa Nutrient Research Center
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/20/2019
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984383927702771
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