Perth Laboratory – Public Seminar Series 2010

Evaluation of a dual isotope technique to trace sources of nitrate in catchments (Download PDF, 2.5 MB)

Dr Kirsten Verburg,
CSIRO Land and Water

*Wednesday 2 June 2010 at 11:00 am, CSIRO Auditorium

Abstract
Prioritisation and targeting of natural resource management for catchment water quality requires knowledge of how a ‘catchment works’: identification of the sources, flow paths and sinks of nutrients and sediments within a catchment. Multi-isotopic tracing approaches can in this context provide useful evidence, often conclusive, about pathways or sources of water and nutrients. A ¹⁵N and ¹⁸O dual isotope technique specific to nitrate appears particularly powerful for agricultural catchments as it has the potential to separate different sources of nitrate in stream water. The analysis technique is, however, not currently available in Australia, and even in the U.S. and Europe it is mostly applied within research projects.

In this seminar Dr Verburg reports back on a visit to Dr Carol Kendall who leads the Isotope Tracers Project at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California. Her group has applied the ¹⁵N and ¹⁸O nitrate dual isotope technique in combination with other isotope techniques in a range of catchment studies in the U.S. Dr Verburg will present an overview of the approach and examples of its application in catchment water quality studies. Her evaluation of the dual isotope technique is intended to inform a discussion about introducing this capability in Australian laboratories.

About the speaker
Dr Verburg has a PhD from Cornell University, USA and joined CSIRO in 1994 as a Postdoctoral Fellow studying the effects of fertiliser and irrigation management on nitrate leaching under sugarcane. Based in Canberra, Dr Verburg is currently a Senior Research Scientist in the Soil and Landscape Science program within CSIRO Land and Water. She leads a Commonwealth Environment Research Facility (CERF) Landscape Logic project that develops and evaluates methods to identify sources of nutrients and sediments within catchments and their pathways to the waterways.

This vist was funded by the Australian Academy of Science and CSIRO.

*This seminar is scheduled for a Wednesday morning instead of the usual Thursday afternoon

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