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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: 4093

Delineating a shallow fault zone and dipping bed rock strata using multichannal analysis of surface waves with a land streamer Delineating a shallow fault zone and dipping bed rock strata using multichannal analysis of surface waves with a land streamer

The multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) seismic method was used to delineate a fault zone and gently dipping sedimentary bedrock at a site overlain by several meters of regolith. Seismic data were collected rapidly and inexpensively using a towed 30-channel land streamer and a rubberband-accelerated weight-drop seismic source. Data processed using the MASW method imaged the...
Authors
J. Ivanov, R. D. Miller, P. Lacombe, C. D. Johnson, J.W. Lane

Investigation of mercury exchange between forest canopy vegetation and the atmosphere using a new dynamic chamber Investigation of mercury exchange between forest canopy vegetation and the atmosphere using a new dynamic chamber

This paper presents the design of a dynamic chamber system that allows full transmission of PAR and UV radiation and permits enclosed intact foliage to maintain normal physiological function while Hg(0) flux rates are quantified in the field. Black spruce and jack pine foliage both emitted and absorbed Hg(0), exhibiting compensation points near atmospheric Hg(0) concentrations of ∼2−3 ng...
Authors
J.A. Graydon, Louis, S.E. Lindberg, H. Hintelmann, D. P. Krabbenhoft

Association between perfluorinated compounds and pathological conditions in southern sea otters Association between perfluorinated compounds and pathological conditions in southern sea otters

Concentrations of four perfluorinated contaminants, including perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), were measured in liver tissue from 80 adult female sea otters collected from the California coast during 1992a??2002. Concentrations of PFOS and PFOA were in the ranges of
Authors
K. Kannan, E. Perrotta, N. J. Thomas

Multiple injected and natural conservative tracers quantify mixing in a stream confluence affected by acid mine drainage near Silverton, Colorado Multiple injected and natural conservative tracers quantify mixing in a stream confluence affected by acid mine drainage near Silverton, Colorado

The acidic discharge from Cement Creek, containing elevated concentrations of dissolved metals and sulphate, mixed with the circumneutral-pH Animas River over a several hundred metre reach (mixing zone) near Silverton, CO, during this study. Differences in concentrations of Ca, Mg, Si, Sr, and SO42- between the creek and the river were sufficiently large for these analytes to be used as...
Authors
L. E. Schemel, M.H. Cox, R.L. Runkel, B. A. Kimball

Denitrification potential in stream sediments impacted by acid mine drainage: Effects of pH, various electron donors, and iron Denitrification potential in stream sediments impacted by acid mine drainage: Effects of pH, various electron donors, and iron

Acid mine drainage (AMD) contaminates thousands of kilometers of stream in the western United States. At the same time, nitrogen loading to many mountain watersheds is increasing because of atmospheric deposition of nitrate and increased human use. Relatively little is known about nitrogen cycling in acidic, heavy-metal-laden streams; however, it has been reported that one key process
Authors
J.L. Baeseman, R. L. Smith, J. Silverstein

Long-term natural attenuation of carbon and nitrogen within a groundwater plume after removal of the treated wastewater source Long-term natural attenuation of carbon and nitrogen within a groundwater plume after removal of the treated wastewater source

Disposal of treated wastewater for more than 60 years onto infiltration beds on Cape Cod, Massachusetts produced a groundwater contaminant plume greater than 6 km long in a surficial sand and gravel aquifer. In December 1995 the wastewater disposal ceased. A long-term, continuous study was conducted to characterize the post-cessation attenuation of the plume from the source to 0.6 km...
Authors
D.A. Repert, L. B. Barber, K.M. Hess, S.H. Keefe, D.B. Kent, D.R. LeBlanc, R. L. Smith

Use of radars to monitor stream discharge by noncontact methods Use of radars to monitor stream discharge by noncontact methods

Conventional measurements of river flows are costly, time‐consuming, and frequently dangerous. This report evaluates the use of a continuous wave microwave radar, a monostatic UHF Doppler radar, a pulsed Doppler microwave radar, and a ground‐penetrating radar to measure river flows continuously over long periods and without touching the water with any instruments. The experiments...
Authors
J. E. Costa, R. T. Cheng, F.P. Haeni, N. Melcher, K.R. Spicer, E. Hayes, W. Plant, K. Hayes, C. Teague, D. Barrick

Resolving structural influences on water-retention properties of alluvial deposits Resolving structural influences on water-retention properties of alluvial deposits

With the goal of improving property-transfer model (PTM) predictions of unsaturated hydraulic properties, we investigated the influence of sedimentary structure, defined as particle arrangement during deposition, on laboratory-measured water retention (water content vs. potential [θ(ψ)]) of 10 undisturbed core samples from alluvial deposits in the western Mojave Desert, California. The...
Authors
K.A. Winfield, J. R. Nimmo, J. A. Izbicki, P. M. Martin

From agricultural geology to hydropedology: Forging links within the twenty-first-century geoscience community From agricultural geology to hydropedology: Forging links within the twenty-first-century geoscience community

Despite historical linkages, the fields of geology and soil science have developed along largely divergent paths in the United States during much of the mid- to late-twentieth century. The shift in recent decades within both disciplines, towards greater emphasis on environmental-quality issues and a systems approach, has created new opportunities for collaboration and cross-training...
Authors
E. R. Landa

The effect of calcium on aqueous uranium(VI) speciation and adsorption to ferrihydrite and quartz The effect of calcium on aqueous uranium(VI) speciation and adsorption to ferrihydrite and quartz

Recent studies of uranium(VI) geochemistry have focused on the potentially important role of the aqueous species, CaUO2(CO3)32− and Ca2UO2(CO3)30(aq), on inhibition of microbial reduction and uranium(VI) aqueous speciation in contaminated groundwater. However, to our knowledge, there have been no direct studies of the effects of these species on U(VI) adsorption by mineral phases. The...
Authors
P.M. Fox, J.A. Davis, J.M. Zachara

Exact three-dimensional spectral solution to surface-groundwater interactions with arbitrary surface topography Exact three-dimensional spectral solution to surface-groundwater interactions with arbitrary surface topography

It has been long known that land surface topography governs both groundwater flow patterns at the regional‐to‐continental scale and on smaller scales such as in the hyporheic zone of streams. Here we show that the surface topography can be separated in a Fourier‐series spectrum that provides an exact solution of the underlying three‐dimensional groundwater flows. The new spectral...
Authors
A. Worman, A.I. Packman, L. Marklund, J. W. Harvey, S.H. Stone
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