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: 4097

Hydrologic evaluation methodology for estimating water movement through the unsaturated zone at commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal site Hydrologic evaluation methodology for estimating water movement through the unsaturated zone at commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal site

This report identifies key technical issues related to hydrologic assessment of water flow in the unsaturated zone at low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facilities. In addition, a methodology for incorporating these issues in the performance assessment of proposed LLW disposal facilities is identified and evaluated. The issues discussed fall into four areas:Estimating the water...
Authors
P.D. Meyer, M.L. Rockhold, W.E. Nichols, G.W. Gee

Hydrogeology and simulation of ground-water flow, Picatinny Arsenal and vicinity, Morris County, New Jersey Hydrogeology and simulation of ground-water flow, Picatinny Arsenal and vicinity, Morris County, New Jersey

Ground-water flow in glacial sediments and bedrock at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., was simulated by use of a three-dimensional finite-difference ground- water-flow model. The modeled area includes a 4.3-square-mile area that extends from Picatinny Lake to the Rockaway River. Most of the study area is bounded by the natural hydrologic boundaries of the ground-water system. eophysical logs...
Authors
L. M. Voronin, D.E. Rice

Effects of sampling strategies on estimates of annual mean herbicide concentrations in midwestern rivers Effects of sampling strategies on estimates of annual mean herbicide concentrations in midwestern rivers

The effects of 10 sampling strategies on estimates of annual mean concentrations of the herbicides atrazine, alachlor, and cyanazine in selected midwestern rivers were tested. The accuracy of the strategies was computed by comparing time-weighted annual mean herbicide concentrations calculated from water samples collected from 17 locations on midwestern rivers, with simulated annual mean
Authors
W.A. Battaglin, L.E. Hay

The developing framework of marine ecotoxicology: Pollutants as a variable in marine ecosystems? The developing framework of marine ecotoxicology: Pollutants as a variable in marine ecosystems?

Marine ecosystems include a subset in which at least some interrelated geochemical, biochemical, physiological, population and community characteristics are changed by pollutants. Moderate contamination is relatively widespread in coastal and estuarine ecosystems, so the subset of ecosystems with at least some processes affected could be relatively large. Pollutant influences have...
Authors
Samuel N. Luoma

Observed and simulated movement of bank-storage water Observed and simulated movement of bank-storage water

Detailed hydrologic and water-chemistry data were collected that document the movement of bank-storage water during March 7-April 17, 1990, in an alluvial aquifer adjacent to the Cedar River, Iowa. Hydrologic data included 745 daily ground-water-level measurements from 27 observation wells. Water-chemistry data indicate that bank-storage water had smaller specific conductance and larger
Authors
P. J. Squillace

Inferring shallow groundwater flow in saprolite and fractured rock using environmental tracers Inferring shallow groundwater flow in saprolite and fractured rock using environmental tracers

The Ridge and Valley Province of eastern Tennessee is characterized by (1) substantial topographic relief, (2) folded and highly fractured rocks of various lithologies that have low primary permeability and porosity, and (3) a shallow residuum of medium permeability and high total porosity. Conceptual models of shallow groundwater flow and solute transport in this system have been...
Authors
P.G. Cook, D. K. Solomon, W. E. Sanford, E. Busenberg, Niel Plummer, R.J. Poreda

Numerical evaluation of static-chamber measurements of soil-atmospheric gas exchange--Identification of physical processes Numerical evaluation of static-chamber measurements of soil-atmospheric gas exchange--Identification of physical processes

The exchange of gases between soil and atmosphere is an important process that affects atmospheric chemistry and therefore climate. The static-chamber method is the most commonly used technique for estimating the rate of that exchange. We examined the method under hypothetical field conditions where diffusion was the only mechanism for gas transport and the atmosphere outside the chamber...
Authors
Richard W. Healy, Robert G. Striegl, Thomas F. Russell, Gordon L. Hutchinson, Gerald P. Livingston

Nitrate reduction in sediments of lowland tropical streams draining swamp forest in Costa Rica: An ecosystem perspective Nitrate reduction in sediments of lowland tropical streams draining swamp forest in Costa Rica: An ecosystem perspective

Nitrate reduction and denitrification were measured in swamp forest streams draining lowland rain forest on Costa Rica's Atlantic slope foothills using the C2H2-block assay and sediment-water nutrient fluxes. Denitrification assays using the C2H2-block technique indicated that the full suite of denitrifying enzymes were present in the sediment but that only a small fraction of the...
Authors
J.H. Duff, C. M. Pringle, F.J. Triska

Bacterial dissimilatory reduction of arsenic(V) to arsenic(III) in anoxic sediments Bacterial dissimilatory reduction of arsenic(V) to arsenic(III) in anoxic sediments

Incubation of anoxic salt marsh sediment slurries with 10 mM As(V) resulted in the disappearance over time of the As(V) in conjunction with its recovery as As(III). No As(V) reduction to As(III) occurred in heat- sterilized or formalin-killed controls or in live sediments incubated in air. The rate of As(V) reduction in slurries was enhanced by addition of the electron donor lactate, H2...
Authors
P.R. Dowdle, A.M. Laverman, R.S. Oremland

Reduction of aqueous transition metal species on the surfaces of Fe(II)-containing oxides Reduction of aqueous transition metal species on the surfaces of Fe(II)-containing oxides

Experimental studies demonstrate that structural Fe(II) in magnetite and ilmenite heterogeneously reduce aqueous ferric, cupric, vanadate, and chromate ions at the oxide surfaces over a pH range of 1–7 at 25°C. For an aqueous transition metal m, such reactions are3[Fe2+Fe23+]O4(magnetite)+2/nmz→4[Fe23+]O3(magnetite)+Fe2++2/nmz−n and3[Fe2+Ti]O3(ilmenite)+2/nmz→Fe23+Ti3O9(pseudorutile)+Fe2...
Authors
A. F. White, M. L. Peterson
Was this page helpful?