Fate of nitrogen from dairy cow urine through a volcanic vadose zone and into shallow groundwater

Abstract

Nitrate-N leaching from dairy cow urine patches is one of the major contributors to groundwater contamination and degradation of surface waters in New Zealand. To investigate the fate of nitrogen (N) from urine, fresh dairy cow urine was amended with chloride (Cl), and applied onto a loamy sand soil. The movement of the urine pulse was monitored through the vadose zone of gritty coarse sands and pumice fragments and into the shallow groundwater beneath at approximately 5.5m depth.