Contributions of Phosphorus from Groundwater to Streams in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces, Eastern United States

Phosphorus from natural and human sources is likely to be discharged from groundwater to streams in certain geo-chemical environments. Water-quality data collected from 1991 through 2007 in paired networks of groundwater and streams in different hydrogeologic and land-use settings of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces in the eastern United States were compiled and analyzed to evaluate the sources, fate, and transport of phos-phorus. The median concentrations of phosphate in ground-water from the crystalline and siliciclastic bedrock settings (0.017 and 0.020 milligrams per liter, respectively) gener-ally were greater than the median for the carbonate setting (less than 0.01 milligrams per liter). In contrast, the median concentrations of dissolved phosphate in stream base flow from the crystalline and siliciclastic bedrock settings (0.010 and 0.014 milligrams per liter, respectively) were less than the median concentration for base-flow samples from the carbon-ate setting (0.020 milligrams per liter). Concentrations of phosphorus in many of the stream base-flow and groundwater samples exceeded ecological criteria for streams in the region.