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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: 4098

Integrating borehole logs and aquifer tests in aquifer characterization Integrating borehole logs and aquifer tests in aquifer characterization

Integration of lithologic logs, geophysical logs, and hydraulic tests is critical in characterizing heterogeneous aquifers. Typically only a limited number of aquifer tests can be performed, and these need to be designed to provide hydraulic properties for the principle aquifers in the system. This study describes the integration of logs and aquifer tests in the development of a...
Authors
Frederick L. Paillet, R.S. Reese

Advances in solid-phase extraction disks for environmental chemistry Advances in solid-phase extraction disks for environmental chemistry

The development of solid-phase extraction (SPE) for environmental chemistry has progressed significantly over the last decade to include a number of new sorbents and new approaches to SPE. One SPE approach in particular, the SPE disk, has greatly reduced or eliminated the use of chlorinated solvents for the analysis of trace organic compounds. This article discusses the use and...
Authors
E.M. Thurman, K. Snavely

Temporal variations in parameters reflecting terminal-electron-accepting processes in an aquifer contaminated with waste fuel and chlorinated solvents Temporal variations in parameters reflecting terminal-electron-accepting processes in an aquifer contaminated with waste fuel and chlorinated solvents

A fundamental issue in aquifer biogeochemistry is the means by which solute transport, geochemical processes, and microbiological activity combine to produce spatial and temporal variations in redox zonation. In this paper, we describe the temporal variability of TEAP conditions in shallow groundwater contaminated with both waste fuel and chlorinated solvents. TEAP parameters (including...
Authors
Jennifer T. McGuire, Erik W. Smith, David T. Long, David W. Hyndman, Sheridan K. Haack, Michael J. Klug, Michael A. Velbel

Iron and aluminum hydroxysulfates from acid sulfate waters Iron and aluminum hydroxysulfates from acid sulfate waters

Acid sulfate waters are produced mostly by the oxidation of common sulfide minerals such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and marcasite in rocks, soils, sediments, and industrial wastes. This spontaneous process of mineral weathering plays a fundamental role in the supergene alteration of ore deposits, the formation of acid sulfate soils, and the mobilization and release of acidity...
Authors
J.M. Bigham, D. Kirk Nordstrom

Uranium content and leachable fraction of fluorspars Uranium content and leachable fraction of fluorspars

Much attention in the radiological health community has recently focused on the management and regulation of naturally occurring radioactive materials. Although uranium-bearing minerals are present in a variety of fluorspar deposits, their potential consideration as naturally occurring radioactive materials has received only limited recognition. The uranium content of 28 samples of acid-...
Authors
E. R. Landa, T.B. Councell

Influence of acid volatile sulfide and metal concentrations on metal bioavailability to marine invertebrates in contaminated sediments Influence of acid volatile sulfide and metal concentrations on metal bioavailability to marine invertebrates in contaminated sediments

An 18-day microcosm study was conducted to evaluate the influence of acid volatile sulfides (AVS) and metal additions on bioaccumulation from sediments of Cd, Ni, and Zn in two clams (Macoma balthica and Potamocorbula amurensis) and three marine polychaetes (Neanthes arenaceodentata, Heteromastus filiformis, and Spiophanes missionensis). Manipulation of AVS by oxidation of naturally...
Authors
B.-G. Lee, J.-S. Lee, S. N. Luoma, H.J. Choi, C.-H. Koh

Evaluation of ground-penetrating radar to detect free-phase hydrocarbons in fractured rocks: Results of numerical modeling and physical experiments Evaluation of ground-penetrating radar to detect free-phase hydrocarbons in fractured rocks: Results of numerical modeling and physical experiments

The suitability of common-offset ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to detect free-phase hydrocarbons in bedrock fractures was evaluated using numerical modeling and physical experiments. The results of one- and two-dimensional numerical modeling at 100 megahertz indicate that GPR reflection amplitudes are relatively insensitive to fracture apertures ranging from 1 to 4 mm. The numerical...
Authors
J.W. Lane, M. L. Buursink, F.P. Haeni, R.J. Versteeg

Influence of acid volatile sulfides and metal concentrations on metal partitioning in contaminated sediments Influence of acid volatile sulfides and metal concentrations on metal partitioning in contaminated sediments

The influence of acid volatile sulfide (AVS) on the partitioning of Cd, Ni, and Zn in porewater (PW) and sediment as reactive metals (SEM, simultaneously extracted metals) was investigated in laboratory microcosms. Two spiking procedures were compared, and the effects of vertical geochemical gradients and infaunal activity were evaluated. Sediments were spiked with a Cd−Ni−Zn mixture (0...
Authors
J.-S. Lee, B.-G. Lee, S. N. Luoma, H.J. Choi, C.-H. Koh, C. L. Brown

Testing a full‐range soil‐water retention function in modeling water potential and temperature Testing a full‐range soil‐water retention function in modeling water potential and temperature

Recent work has emphasized development of full‐range water‐retention functions that are applicable under both wet and dry soil conditions, but evaluation of such functions in numerical modeling has been limited. Here we show that simulations using the Rossi‐Nimmo (RN) full‐range function compared favorably with those using the common Brooks‐Corey function and that the RN function can...
Authors
Brian J. Andraski, Elizabeth A. Jacobson

Mobilization of arsenite by dissimilatory reduction of adsorbed arsenate Mobilization of arsenite by dissimilatory reduction of adsorbed arsenate

Sulfurospirillum barnesii is capable of anaerobic growth using ferric iron or arsenate as electron acceptors. Cell suspensions of S. barnesii were able to reduce arsenate to arsenite when the former oxyanion was dissolved in solution, or when it was adsorbed onto the surface of ferrihydrite, a common soil mineral, by a variety of mechanisms (e.g., coprecipitation, presorption). Reduction...
Authors
J. Zobrist, P.R. Dowdle, J.A. Davis, Ronald S. Oremland

Dynamics of nutrient cycling and related benthic nutrient and oxygen fluxes during a spring phytoplankton bloom in South San Francisco Bay (USA) Dynamics of nutrient cycling and related benthic nutrient and oxygen fluxes during a spring phytoplankton bloom in South San Francisco Bay (USA)

Benthic oxygen uptake and nutrient releases of N, P and Si were measured weekly at 2 sites in South San Francisco Bay around the 1996 spring bloom. Exchanges across the sediment-water interface were estimated from whole core incubations performed in the laboratory at in situ temperature and in dark. Fluxes changed significantly on a weekly time scale. Over a period of 15 wk the fluxes of...
Authors
C. Grenz, J. E. Cloern, S.W. Hager, B.E. Cole
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