Date of Award
8-1987
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Geological and Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Richard N. Passero
Second Advisor
Dr. Alan Kehew
Third Advisor
Dr. W. Thomas Straw
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
In the central part of Schoolcraft Township high yield corn crops are successfully grown on soils developed on permeable outwash deposits. The high yields are made possible with the utilization of modern irrigation techniques and regular application of nitrogen fertilizer.
Excess nitrogen which moves past the root zone is easily converted to nitrate and leached to the shallow ground water. Water quality data from 103 ground-water samples in the vicinity of a 160-acre corn field in Section 11 clearly indicate that nitrate concentrations in the ground water beneath the field and beneath the area immediately downgradient from the field are much higher than natural background levels.
Domestic water wells, located downgradient from fertilized corn fields in central Schoolcraft County, often contain nitrate concentrations in excess of the Environmental Protection Agency's primary standard of 10 mg/l (as N). Ingestion of water from these wells poses serious health threats to infants.
Recommended Citation
Wireman, Michael, "Nitrate Pollution of Ground Water in Glacial Sediments Underlying a Fertigated Site in Kalamazoo County, Michigan" (1987). Masters Theses. 1277.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1277