Atrazine in a corn cultivated area and its relation with the landscape position

Abstract

Atrazine is still being used in no-till corn production in Brazil. This herbicide can be moved by overland flow and leached in the soil profile. In both ways, it can pollute water, either by reaching the groundwater or lakes and streams close to the crop field. This study evaluated the presence of atrazine in a dystrophic Yellow-Red Argisol and a dystrophic Melanic Gleisol in a corn field, where atrazine has been applied for 11 years. Overland flow was the main process of atrazine transport on hillslope and leaching was the most important process in the floodplain. Frequency and location of atrazine application in the landscape define this herbicide contamination process.