Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-19955-8
Lizenz creative commons licence
Titel (primär) Strong hydroclimatic controls on vulnerability to subsurface nitrate contamination across Europe
Autor Kumar, R. ORCID logo ; Heße, F.; Rao, P.S.C.; Musolff, A.; Jawitz, J.W.; Sarrazin, F.; Samaniego, L. ORCID logo ; Fleckenstein, J.H.; Rakovec, O. ORCID logo ; Thober, S.; Attinger, S.
Quelle Nature Communications
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
Department CHS; HDG
Band/Volume 11
Seite von art. 6302
Sprache englisch
Daten-/Softwarelinks https://doi.org/10.5066/f7df6pqs
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41467-020-19955-8/MediaObjects/41467_2020_19955_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41467-020-19955-8/MediaObjects/41467_2020_19955_MOESM2_ESM.pdf
https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41467-020-19955-8/MediaObjects/41467_2020_19955_MOESM3_ESM.mpg
Abstract Subsurface contamination due to excessive nutrient surpluses is a persistent and widespread problem in agricultural areas across Europe. The vulnerability of a particular location to pollution from reactive solutes, such as nitrate, is determined by the interplay between hydrologic transport and biogeochemical transformations. Current studies on the controls of subsurface vulnerability do not consider the transient behaviour of transport dynamics in the root zone. Here, using state-of-the-art hydrologic simulations driven by observed hydroclimatic forcing, we demonstrate the strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity of hydrologic transport dynamics and reveal that these dynamics are primarily controlled by the hydroclimatic gradient of the aridity index across Europe. Contrasting the space-time dynamics of transport times with reactive timescales of denitrification in soil indicate that ~75% of the cultivated areas across Europe are potentially vulnerable to nitrate leaching for at least one-third of the year. We find that neglecting the transient nature of transport and reaction timescale results in a great underestimation of the extent of vulnerable regions by almost 50%. Therefore, future vulnerability and risk assessment studies must account for the transient behaviour of transport and biogeochemical transformation processes.
dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=23863
Kumar, R., Heße, F., Rao, P.S.C., Musolff, A., Jawitz, J.W., Sarrazin, F., Samaniego, L., Fleckenstein, J.H., Rakovec, O., Thober, S., Attinger, S. (2020):
Strong hydroclimatic controls on vulnerability to subsurface nitrate contamination across Europe
Nat. Commun. 11 , art. 6302 10.1038/s41467-020-19955-8