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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 4097

An improved method for field extraction and laboratory analysis of large, intact soil cores An improved method for field extraction and laboratory analysis of large, intact soil cores

Various methods have been proposed for the extraction of large, undisturbed soil cores and for subsequent analysis of fluid movement within the cores. The major problems associated with these methods are expense, cumbersome field extraction, and inadequate simulation of unsaturated flow conditions. A field and laboratory procedure is presented that is economical, convenient, and...
Authors
J.A. Tindall, K. Hemmen, J.F. Dowd

Dissolution of aragonite-strontianite solid solutions in nonstoichiometric Sr (HCO3)2-Ca (HCO3)2-CO2-H2O solutions Dissolution of aragonite-strontianite solid solutions in nonstoichiometric Sr (HCO3)2-Ca (HCO3)2-CO2-H2O solutions

Synthetic strontianite-aragonite solid-solution minerals were dissolved in CO2-saturated non-stoichiometric solutions of Sr(HCO3)2 and Ca(HCO3)2 at 25°C. The results show that none of the dissolution reactions reach thermodynamic equilibrium. Congruent dissolution in Ca(HCO3)2 solutions either attains or closely approaches stoichiometric saturation with respect to the dissolving solid...
Authors
Niel Plummer, E. Busenberg, P. D. Glynn, A.E. Blum

GIS-assisted regression analysis to identify sources of selenium in streams GIS-assisted regression analysis to identify sources of selenium in streams

Using a geographic information system, a regression model has been developed to identify and to assess potential sources of selenium in the Kendrick Reclamation Project Area, Wyoming. A variety of spatially distributed factors was examined to determine which factors are most likely to affect selenium discharge in tributaries to the North Platte River. Areas of Upper Cretaceous Cody Shale...
Authors
Randolph B. See, David L. Naftz, Charles L. Qualls

Sediment properties and water movement through shallow unsaturated alluvium at an arid site for disposal of low-level radioactive waste near Beatty, Nye County, Nevada Sediment properties and water movement through shallow unsaturated alluvium at an arid site for disposal of low-level radioactive waste near Beatty, Nye County, Nevada

A commercial disposal facility for low-level radioactive waste has been in operation near Beatty, Nevada, since 1962. The facility is in the arid Amargosa Desert where wastes are buried in trenches excavated into unsaturated alluvial sediments. Thick unsaturated zones in arid environments offer many potential advantages for disposal of radioactive wastes, but little is known about the...
Authors
Jeffrey M. Fischer

Comparison of methods for the removal of organic carbon and extraction of chromium, iron and manganese from an estuarine sediment standard and sediment from the Calcasieu River estuary, Louisiana, U.S.A. Comparison of methods for the removal of organic carbon and extraction of chromium, iron and manganese from an estuarine sediment standard and sediment from the Calcasieu River estuary, Louisiana, U.S.A.

U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS) estuarine sediment 1646 from the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, and surface sediment collected at two sites in the Calcasieu River estuary, Louisiana, were used to evaluate the dilute hydrochloric acid extraction of Cr, Fe and Mn from air-dried and freeze-dried samples that had been treated by one of three methods to remove organic carbon. The three...
Authors
N.S. Simon, S.A. Hatcher, C. Demas

Sources of nitrogen and phosphorus to Northern San Francisco Bay Sources of nitrogen and phosphorus to Northern San Francisco Bay

We studied nutrient sources to the Sacramento River and Suisun Bay (northern San Francisco Bay) and the influence which these sources have on the distributions of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) in the river and bay. We found that agricultural return flow drains and a municipal wastewater treatment plant were the largest sources of nutrients to...
Authors
S.W. Hager, L. E. Schemel

Synthetic organic agrochemicals in the lower Mississippi River and its major tributaries--Distribution, transport and fate Synthetic organic agrochemicals in the lower Mississippi River and its major tributaries--Distribution, transport and fate

The Mississippi River and its major tributaries transport herbicides and their degradation products from agricultural areas in the mid-western U.S.A. These compounds include atrazine and its degradation products (desethyl- and desisopropylatrazine), simazine, cyanazine, metolachlor, and alachlor and its degradation products (2-chloro-2′,6′-diethylacetanilide 2-hydroxy-2′,6′...
Authors
W. E. Pereira, C.E. Rostad, T.J. Leiker

Associations of free-living bacteria and dissolved organic compounds in a plume of contaminated groundwater Associations of free-living bacteria and dissolved organic compounds in a plume of contaminated groundwater

Associations of free-living bacteria (FLB) and dissolved organic contaminants in a 4-km-long plume of sewage-contaminated groundwater were investigated. Abundance of FLB in the core of the plume (as delineated by maximum specific conductance) steadily decreased in the direction of flow from a point 0.25 km downgradient from the source to the toe of the plume. At 0.25 km downgradient, FLB...
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, Larry B. Barber

Methanogenic degradation kinetics of phenolic compounds in aquifer-derived microcosms Methanogenic degradation kinetics of phenolic compounds in aquifer-derived microcosms

In this segment of a larger multidisciplinary study of the movement and fate of creosote derived compounds in a sand-and-gravel aquifer, we present evidence that the methanogenic degradation of the major biodegradable phenolic compounds and concomitant microbial growth in batch microcosms derived from contaminated aquifer material can be described using Monod kinetics. Substrate...
Authors
E.M. Godsy, D.F. Goerlitz, D. Grbic-Galic
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