Publications

Volatilization and subsequent biodegradation near the water Table make up a coupled natural attenuation pathway that results in significant mass loss of hydrocarbons. Rates of biodegradation and volatilization were documented twice 12 years apart at a crude-oil spill site near Bemidji, Minnesota. Biodegradation rates were determined by calibrating a gas transport model to O2, CO2, and...

Documented variations in the isotopic compositions of some chemical elements are responsible for expanded uncertainties in the standard atomic weights published by the Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. This report summarizes reported variations in the isotopic compositions of 20 elements that are due to physical...

Water-quality data collected during 1999 and 2000 as part of the first nationwide reconnaissance of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) are presented in this report. A network of 139 streams in 30 states were sampled and analyzed for 95 different OWCs using five new research methods developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Site...

No abstract available.

The METAALICUS (Mercury Experiment To Assess Atmospheric Loading In Canada and the US) project is a whole ecosystem experiment designed to study the activity, mobility, and availability of atmospherically deposited mercury. To investigate the dynamics of mercury newly deposited onto a terrestrial ecosystem, an enriched stable isotope of mercury (202Hg) was sprayed onto a Boreal forest...

Quantifying moisture fluxes through deep desert soils remains difficult because of the small magnitude of the fluxes and the lack of a comprehensive model to describe flow and transport through such dry material. A particular challenge for such a model is reproducing both observed matric potential and chloride profiles. We propose a conceptual model for flow in desert vadose zones that...

The changes in triazine and acetamide concentrations in water during natural and artificial treatment by bank filtration, ozonation, filtration, and chlorination were measured at the well field and drinking water treatment plant of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. The city's groundwater supply is affected by induced infiltration and transport of triazines and acetamide herbicides from the Platte...

The three-dimensional visualization of atrazine and deethylatrazine in a reservoir was determined by five "snapshots" over a one-year period using immunoassay analyses, confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and visualized with a three-dimensional computer program. The surveys were conducted in Perry Lake in Kansas and showed that spring runoff laden with triazine herbicides...

Mercury (Hg) contamination of aquatic ecosystems and subsequent methylmercury bioaccumulation are significant environmental problems of global extent. At regional to global scales, the primary mechanism of Hg contamination is atmospheric Hg transport. Thus, a better understanding of the long-term history of atmospheric Hg cycling and quantification of the sources is critical for...

The importance of algal and detrital food supplies to the planktonic food web of a highly disturbed, estuarine ecosystem was evaluated in response to declining zooplankton and fish populations. We assessed organic matter bioavailability among a diversity of habitats and hydrologic inputs over 2 years in San Francisco Estuary's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Results show that...

We report measurements of seasonal variability in the C‐N stable isotope ratios of plants collected across the habitat mosaic of San Francisco Bay, its marshes, and its tributary river system. Analyses of 868 plant samples were binned into 10 groups (e.g., terrestrial riparian, freshwater phytoplankton, salt marsh) to determine whether C‐N isotopes can be used as biomarkers for tracing...

We have now entered an era of large-scale attempts to restore ecological functions and biological communities in impaired ecosystems. Our knowledge base of complex ecosystems and interrelated functions is limited, so the outcomes of specific restoration actions are highly uncertain. One approach for exploring that uncertainty and anticipating the range of possible restoration outcomes is