Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 4041

Digital image measurement of the area and anatomical structure of tree rings

A microcomputer coupled to a video digitizer was used to develop methods for measuring areas of tree rings and for delineating and measuring microscopic anatomical features. Digitally imaged areas of individual rings of a loblolly pine cross section were within 2.6% of areas measured with a planimeter and were more accurate than areas calculated from radius widths. Various anatomical features were
Authors
Thomas M. Yanosky, Charles J. Robinove

Aqueous geochemistry and diagenesis in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer system, Idaho

Water budget and isotopic analyses of water in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer system confirm that most, if not all, of the water is local meteoric in origin. Solute mass-balance arguments suggest that ∼5 × 109 moles of calcite and 2.6 × 109 moles of silica are precipitated annually in the aquifer. Isotopic evaluations of calcite and petrographic observation of silica support the low-tempera
Authors
Warren W. Wood, Walton H. Low

Influence of irrigation on salinity and nitrate in a stream-aquifer system

Changes in salinity and nitrate concentration in groundwater and surface water in the semiarid Arkansas River valley of southeastern Colorado, USA were related primarily to irrigation practices. Water is applied to fields by flood irrigation through ditches and furrows. Irrigation water is derived in nearly equal amounts from surface water and groundwater pumped from the shallow alluvial aquifer.
Authors
Leonard F. Konikow, M.A. Person

Application of the Flory-Huggins theory to the solubility of solids in glyceryl trioleate

The conventional thermodynamic deviation for ideal solid–liquid solubilities is modified by substituting the Flory–Huggins model for Raoult's law. A comparison of published data for eleven solides in glyceryl trioleate with the predictions of the conventional and modified equations shows that the significantly higher athermal solubilities from the modified equation are in much better agreement wit
Authors
Cary T. Chiou, Milton Manes

Transport of chloride ion in a water-unsaturated soil exhibiting anion exclusion

Miscible displacement techniques were used to create Cl- concentration profiles in unsaturated laboratory columns of Delhi sand (Typic Xeropsamments), each having a nearly uniform water content. The three steady flow rates used resulted in three different, average water contents. Chloride concentrations near the top of the column were smaller and penetration of Cl- in the column was deeper than ex
Authors
Ronald V. James, Jacob Rubin

Geochemical investigations of selected Eastern United States watersheds affected by acid deposition

The effects of acid deposition on surface waters in eastern United States watersheds having similar size, physiography, climate and land use are related to the composition of the underlying bedrock. Watersheds developed on greenstone, calcareous shale, sandstone, granite, and schist differ in their ability to neutralize acid deposition. Surface waters in watersheds developed on greenstone and calc
Authors
Owen P. Bricker

Ground-water flow in low permeability environments

Certain geologic media are known to have small permeability; subsurface environments composed of these media and lacking well developed secondary permeability have groundwater flow sytems with many distinctive characteristics. Moreover, groundwater flow in these environments appears to influence the evolution of certain hydrologic, geologic, and geochemical systems, may affect the accumulation of
Authors
Christopher E. Neuzil

Use of detrended correspondence analysis to evaluate factors controlling spatial distribution of benthic insects

Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) was evaluated for its effectiveness in displaying factors controlling the spatial distribution of benthic insects in an oligotrophic stream where an experimental gradient (copper) that selectively affects population abundances was imposed. DCA proved to be highly sensitive to differences among samples and consistently provided ecologically meaningful species
Authors
H.V. Leland, James L. Carter, Steven V. Fend

Movement and fate of detergents in groundwater: A field study

The major cations, anions, and detergents in a plume of contaminated groundwater at Otis Air Base on Cape Cod (Mass., U.S.A.) have moved approximately 3.5 km down gradient from the disposal beds. We hypothesize that the detergents form two distinct plumes, which consist of alkyl benzene sulfonates (ABS) detergents and linear alkyl sulfonates (LAS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaLS) detergents. The
Authors
E. M. Thurman, L.B. Barber, D. LeBlanc

Adaptation of Selenastrum capricornutum (Chlorophyceae) to copper

Selenastrum capricornutum Printz, growing in a chemically defined medium, was used as a model for studying adaptation of algae to a toxic metal (copper) ion. Cells exhibited lag‐phase adaptation to 0.8 μM total Cu (10−12 M free ion concentration) after 20 generations of Cu exposure. Selenastrum adapted to the same concentration when Cu was gradually introduced over an 8‐h period using a specially
Authors
J.S. Kuwabara, H.V. Leland

Gas-film coefficients for the volatilization of ethylene dibromide from water

Gas-film coefficients for the volatilization of ethylene dibromide (EDB) and water were determined in the laboratory as a function of wind speed and temperature. The ratio of the coefficients was independent of wind speed and increased slightly with temperature. Use of this ratio with an environmentally determined gas-film coefficient for the evaporation of water permits determination of the gas-f
Authors
R. E. Rathbun, D.Y. Tal