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Effects of biochar application on the vertical transport of NO3-N in the red soil and its simulation. 

JING Yan1,2, CHEN Xiao-min1, LI Qiu-xia1, JIN Ze-wen1, HUANG Qian-ru2, ZHANG Jia-bao2, CHEN Chen1, LU Shao-shan1   

  1. (1College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; 2State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210095, China; 3Red Soil Institute, Jinxian 331717, Jiangxi, China)
  • Online:2014-11-18 Published:2014-11-18

Abstract: Soil column experiments in laboratory were conducted to determine the effect of biochar application on the vertical transport of NO3-N in red soil. Biochar was mixed thoroughly with soil at rates of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 t·hm-2, i.e., biochar/soil ratios of 0, 2.22%, 4.45%, 8.95%, 13.37% and 17.80%. The CXTFIT 2.0 model was used to simulate the breakthrough curve of NO3-N. The results were as follows: the breakthrough curve of NO3-N varied remarkably with the increase of biochar application rate under saturated condition. The peak values of relative concentration (C/Co), leaching rate and cumulative loss of NO3-N all significantly decreased with the increasing biochar application rate. There existed a certain prolongation of the breakthrough curves among all treatments.  The more the biochar was applied, the more obviously the breakthrough curve was prolonged. According to the correlation analysis between the NO3-N breakthrough curves and soil properties, biochar affected the bulk density, organic carbon, total porosity, CEC of red soil, which would exert an effect on the breakthrough curves. The simulation value and the actual obtained value of the breakthrough curves were positively correlated with the correlation coefficients being over 0.850 in all breakthrough curves, which indicated the CXTFIT 2.0 model could best fit the prediction of nitrateN transport and relative infiltration. These results could provide a scientific basis for predicting the effect of biochar on nitrateN in underground water after biochar incorporation into field.