TITLE:
The Coincidence of Nitrate Migration and Salinization Processes Led by Soil Moisture Enhancement in the Hula Valley
AUTHORS:
Moshe Gophen
KEYWORDS:
Hula Valley, Nitrate, Salinization, Peat Soil Moisture
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Hydrology,
Vol.15 No.2,
February
25,
2025
ABSTRACT: The drainage of the Hula wetlands and old Lake Hula was completed in 1957. Agricultural development replaced the natural ecosystem land use with agricultural cultivation. The Hula pre-drainage anaerobic conditions were replaced by organic matter oxidation and Sulfur and Nitrate carbonate enrichments. The ecosystem structure of highly diversified fauna and flora was devastated. During the post-drainage period, enhancement of accumulated carbonates and Gypsum (CaSO4) and organic matter oxidation created soil salinization and nitrate accumulation. Ammonia was oxidized to nitrate, and its accumulation was concerned to Kinneret water quality protection managers. Evaluation of long-term (1994-2024) study through monitoring program of the temporal and seasonal distributional pattern of Nitrate, Sulfate, pH, Alkalinity, and Electrical Conductivity within the Peat soil drained and pore-waters indicates soil moisture as the dominant impact factor which controls two geochemically independent coincide processes, nitrate migration and soil salinization.