Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
GeoHEALTH-USGS Newsletter
GeoHEALTH-USGS Newsletter
The GeoHEALTH–USGS Newsletter—published since 2004—provides information on USGS science activities pertinent to safeguarding the health of fish, wildlife, domesticated animals, and people from environmental exposures to contaminants and pathogens.
Featured Science Activities
Featured Science Activities
Lean about our Featured Science Activities through our pages that highlight science studies, publications, and results.
Filter Total Items: 3785
Metal-sulfate salts from sulfide mineral oxidation Metal-sulfate salts from sulfide mineral oxidation
The observation of “efflorescences,” or the flowering of salts, associated with periods of dryness in soils, in closed-basin lakes, in rock outcrops, and in mines and mine wastes has been noted since early antiquity. The formation of metal-sulfate salts, in connection with the mining of metals, was a phenomenon well known to the early Greek and Roman civilizations. Alum, most commonly...
Authors
J.L. Jambor, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Charles N. Alpers
Contaminant sorption by soil and bed sediment: Is there a difference? Contaminant sorption by soil and bed sediment: Is there a difference?
No abstract available.
Authors
C. T. Chiou, D. E. Kile
Quality of ground water and surface water in an area of individual sewage disposal system use near Barker Reservoir, Nederland, Colorado, August-September 1998 Quality of ground water and surface water in an area of individual sewage disposal system use near Barker Reservoir, Nederland, Colorado, August-September 1998
No abstract available.
Authors
Jennifer L. Flynn, L. B. Barber
Method of analysis and quality-assurance practices for determination of pesticides in water by solid-phase extraction and capillary-column gas chromatography/mass spectrometry at the U.S. Geological Survey California District Organic Chemistry Laboratory, Method of analysis and quality-assurance practices for determination of pesticides in water by solid-phase extraction and capillary-column gas chromatography/mass spectrometry at the U.S. Geological Survey California District Organic Chemistry Laboratory,
A method of analysis and quality-assurance practices were developed to study the fate and transport of pesticides in the San Francisco Bay-Estuary by the U.S. Geological Survey. Water samples were filtered to remove suspended-particulate matter and pumped through C-8 solid-phase extraction cartridges to extract the pesticides. The cartridges were dried with carbon dioxide and the...
Authors
Kathryn L. Crepeau, Lucian M. Baker, Kathryn Kuivila
Interim report on the scientific investigations in the Animas River watershed, Colorado to facilitate remediation decisions by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, March 29, 2000 meeting, Denver, Colo. Interim report on the scientific investigations in the Animas River watershed, Colorado to facilitate remediation decisions by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, March 29, 2000 meeting, Denver, Colo.
INTRODUCTION The joint U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative (AMLI) was developed as a collaborative effort between the Federal land management agencies (FLMA, that is the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1996. The stated goal of the AML Initiative was to...
Authors
Water Resources Division U.S. Geological Survey
Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory-Processing, taxonomy, and quality control of benthic macroinvertebrate samples Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory-Processing, taxonomy, and quality control of benthic macroinvertebrate samples
Qualitative and quantitative methods to process benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) samples have been developed and tested by the U.S. Geological Survey?s National Water Quality Laboratory Biological Group. The qualitative processing method is based on visually sorting a sample for up to 2 hours. Sorting focuses on attaining organisms that are likely to result in taxonomic identifications to...
Authors
Stephen R. Moulton, James L. Carter, Scott A. Grotheer, Thomas F. Cuffney, Terry M. Short
Delineation of groundwater recharge areas, western Cape Cod, Massachusetts Delineation of groundwater recharge areas, western Cape Cod, Massachusetts
The unconfined sand-and-gravel aquifer in western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which is the sole source of water supply for the communities in the area, is recharged primarily from precipitation. The rate of recharge from precipitation is estimated to be about 26 inches per year (in/yr), or about 60 percent of the precipitation rate. This recharge rate yields a flow through the aquifer of...
Authors
John P. Masterson, Donald A. Walter
Chemical and isotopic composition of water from springs, wells, and streams in parts of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, and vicinity, 1995-1999 Chemical and isotopic composition of water from springs, wells, and streams in parts of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, and vicinity, 1995-1999
No abstract available.
Authors
Niel Plummer, Eurybiades Busenberg, John Karl Bohlke, R.W. Carmody, G.C. Casile, T.B. Coplen, M. W. Doughten, J.E. Hannon, Wandee Kirkland, R. L. Michel, D.L. Nelms, B.C. Norton, K.E. Plummer, Haiping Qi, Kinga Revesz, Peter Schlosser, Shane Spitzer, J.E. Wayland, P.K. Widman
Graphical user interface for MODFLOW, Version 4 Graphical user interface for MODFLOW, Version 4
No abstract available.
Authors
Richard B. Winston
Delineation of discharge areas of two contaminant plumes by use of diffusion samplers, Johns Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1998 Delineation of discharge areas of two contaminant plumes by use of diffusion samplers, Johns Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1998
Diffusion samplers were installed in the bottom of Johns Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to confirm that volatile organic compounds from the Storm Drain-5 (SD-5) plume emanating from the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) were discharging into the pond. An array of 134 vapor-diffusion samplers was buried by divers about 0.5 feet below the pond bottom in the presumed discharge area...
Authors
Jennifer G. Savoie, D.R. LeBlanc, D.S. Blackwood, T.D. McCobb, R.R. Rendigs, Scott Clifford
Geochemical investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey on uranium mining, milling, and environmental restoration Geochemical investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey on uranium mining, milling, and environmental restoration
Recent research by the U.S. Geological Survey has characterized contaminant sources and identified important geochemical processes that influence transport of radionuclides from uranium mining and milling wastes. 1) Selective extraction studies indicated that alkaline earth sulfates and hydrous ferric oxides are important hosts of 226Ra in uranium mill tailings. The action of sulfate...
Authors
Edward R. Landa, Charles A. Cravotta, David L. Naftz, Philip L. Verplanck, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Robert A. Zielinski
First LC/MS determination of cyanazine amide, cyanazine acid, and cyanazine in groundwater samples First LC/MS determination of cyanazine amide, cyanazine acid, and cyanazine in groundwater samples
Cyanazine and two of its major metabolites, cyanazine amide and cyanazine acid, were measured at trace levels in groundwater using liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization/mass spectrometry (LC/APCI/MS). Solid-phase extraction was carried out by passing 20 mL of groundwater sample through a cartridge containing a polymeric phase (PLRP-s), with recoveries ranging...
Authors
Imma Ferrer, E.M. Thurman, Damia Barcelo