The legacy and drivers of groundwater nutrients and pesticides in an agriculturally impacted Quaternary aquifer system

Nutrient and pesticide pollution are among the major threats to groundwater quality in agriculturally impacted aquifers. Understanding their legacy effects and drivers are important to protect aquifers from exposures to contamination. However, the complexities of groundwater flowpaths make it difficult to predict the time-scales of groundwater flow and contaminant transport. To determine these controls of groundwater nutrient and pesticides in an aquifer system underlying an intensive agricultural area in the Great Barrier Reef catchment, Australia, we sampled tritium (H-3) to estimate groundwater-age, nutrient and pesticide concentrations to investigate groundwater contamination, and nitrogen (delta N-15-NO3-) and oxygen (delta O-18-NO3-) isotopes to determine groundwater nitrate dynamics. We, then, constructed high-resolution 3D geological and groundwater flow models of the aquifer system to determine the role of the geologic heterogeneity on the observed nutrient and pesticide concentrations. Groundwater H-3 derived ages, and nutrient and pesticide concentrations did not follow distinct spatial trends. delta N-15-NO3- and delta O-18-NO3- values indicated that nitrification and denitrification processes influenced nitrate dynamics in the aquifer system; however, they were not solely able to explain the entire 3D variability. The 3D geologic modelling identified possible preferential flowpaths and perched systems, which helped to explain the observed groundwater-age, nutrient and pesticide variabilities. Old-groundwater (similar to 100-years) was found in shallow depths (<15 m) where perched systems were identified. In areas with preferential flowpaths, young-groundwater (similar to 1-year) with significant nitrate (similar to 12 mg-N/L) and pesticides (up to 315 ng/L) concentrations were detected at deeper depths (>25 m), below perched and locally confined systems. Downward increasing groundwater-age, and decreasing nutrient and pesticide concentrations were detected in the unconfined aquifer, while old-groundwater (similar to 160-years) and lower nitrate (<3 mg-N/L) and pesticides (<2 ng/L) concentrations were detected in the confined systems. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding both the geology and the hydrogeology of an area before deploying monitoring studies and/or making conclusions from tritium, nutrient and pesticide data alone. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Nutrient and pesticide pollution pose significant threats to groundwater quality in agriculturally impacted aquifers. This study in Australia's Great Barrier Reef catchment area used tritium sampling and isotopic analysis to investigate groundwater contamination and nitrate dynamics. The research highlighted the influence of nitrification processes and geological heterogeneity on nutrient dynamics in the aquifer system.