Publications

Aims: To evaluate the numbers and selected phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of the faecal indicator bacteria Escherichia coli and enterococci in gull faeces at representative Great Lakes swimming beaches in the United States. Methods and Results: E. coli and enterococci were enumerated in gull faeces by membrane filtration. E. coli genotypes (rep‐PCR genomic profiles) and E. coli...

Infiltration of storm water through detention and retention basins may increase the risk of groundwater contamination, especially in areas where the soil is sandy and the water table shallow, and contaminants may not have a chance to degrade or sorb onto soil particles before reaching the saturated zone. Groundwater from 16 monitoring wells installed in basins in southern New Jersey was...

The potential toxicity of elevated selenium (Se) concentrations in aquatic ecosystems has stimulated efforts to measure Se concentrations in benthos, nekton, and waterfowl in San Francisco Bay (SF Bay). In September 1998, we initiated a 14 mo field study to determine the concentration of Se in SF Bay zooplankton, which play a major role in the Bay food web, but which have not previously...

Conditional distribution coefficients (KDOM‘) for Hg(II) binding to seven dissolved organic matter (DOM) isolates were measured at environmentally relevant ratios of Hg(II) to DOM. The results show that KDOM‘ values for different types of samples (humic acids, fulvic acids, hydrophobic acids) isolated from diverse aquatic environments were all within 1 order of magnitude (1022.5±1.0−1023...

An understanding of unsaturated flow and potential recharge in interdrainage semiarid and arid regions is critical for quantification of water resources and contaminant transport. We evaluated system response to paleoclimatic forcing using water potential and Cl profiles and modeling of nonisothermal liquid and vapor flow and Cl transport at semiarid (High Plains, Texas) and arid...

In the last years more and more often detections of antimicrobially active compounds (“antibiotics”) in surface waters have been reported. As a possible input pathway in most cases municipal sewage has been discussed. But as an input from the realm of agriculture is conceivable as well, in this study it should be investigated if an input can occur via the pathway application of liquid...

Slag is a ubiquitous byproduct of the iron- and steel-refining industries. In northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois, slag has been deposited over more than 52 km2 of land surface. Despite the widespread use of slag for fill and construction purposes, little is known about its chemical effects on the environment. Two slagdisposal sites were examined in northwestern Indiana where...

A large reservoir of bioavailable nitrogen (up to ∼104 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare, as nitrate) has been previously overlooked in studies of global nitrogen distribution. The reservoir has been accumulating in subsoil zones of arid regions throughout the Holocene. Consideration of the subsoil reservoir raises estimates of vadose-zone nitrogen inventories by 14 to 71% for warm...

The efficiency of contaminant biodegradation in ground water depends, in part, on the transport properties of the degrading bacteria. Few data exist concerning the transport of bacteria in saturated bedrock, particularly at the field scale. Bacteria and microsphere tracer experiments were conducted in a fractured crystalline bedrock under forced-gradient conditions over a distance of 36...

This paper examines how the subcellular partitioning of Cd and Zn in the bivalves Macoma balthica and Potamocorbula amurensis may affect the trophic transfer of metal to predators. Results show that the partitioning of metals to organelles, Œenzymes¹ and metallothioneins (MT) comprise a subcellular compartment containing trophically available metal (TAM; i.e. metal trophically available...

Despite a rapidly growing literature on analytical methods and field applications of O isotope-ratio measurements of NO3− in environmental studies, there is evidence that the reported data may not be comparable because reference materials with widely varying δ18O values have not been readily available. To address this problem, we prepared large quantities of two nitrate salts with...

One of the important types of information needed to characterize water quality in streams affected by historical mining is the seasonal pattern of toxic trace-metal concentrations and loads. Seasonal patterns in water quality are estimated in this report using a technique called water-quality profiling. Water-quality profiling allows land managers and scientists to assess priority areas...