Publications

Within anaerobic aquifer systems, reductive dehalogenation of polychlorinated ethenes commonly results in the accumulation of vinyl chloride, which is highly toxic and carcinogenic to humans. Anaerobic reduction of vinyl chloride is considered to be slow and incomplete. Here, we provide the first evidence for anaerobic oxidation of vinyl chloride under Fe(III)reducing conditions...

The herbicide acetochlor [2-chloro-N-(ethoxymethyl)-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)acetamide] was given conditional registration in the United States by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in March 1994. This registration provided a rare opportunity to investigate the occurrence of a pesticide during its first season of extensive use in the midwestern United States. Water samples...

In the past, ice-core records from mid-latitude glaciers in alpine areas of the continental United States were considered to be poor candidates for paleoclimate records because of the influence of meltwater on isotopic stratigraphy. To evaluate the existence of reliable paleoclimatic records, a 160-m ice core, containing about 250 yr of record was obtained from Upper Fremont Glacier, at...

Loss of fluids and samples during retrieval of cores of saturated, noncohesive sediments results in incorrect measures of fluid distributions and an inaccurate measure of the stratigraphic position of the sample. To reduce these errors, we developed a hollow drive shoe that freezes in place the lowest 3 inches (75 mm) of a 1.88‐inch‐diameter (48 mm), 5‐foot‐long (1.5 m) sediment sample...

Groundwater age dating through the combination of transient tracer methods (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and tritium/helium 3 (3H/3He)) and groundwater flow path analysis is useful for investigating groundwater travel times, flow patterns, and recharge rates, as demonstrated by this study of the homogeneous shallow, unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system in the southern New Jersey...

An ethanesulfonic acid metabolite of metolachlor (metolachlor ESA) was identified in soil-sample extracts by negative-ion, fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS) and FAB tandem mass spectrometry (FAB-MS/MS). Production fragments from MS/MS analysis of the deprotonated molecular ion of metolachlor ESA in the soil extract can be reconciled with the structure of the synthesized...

The 2 800-km reach of the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, MN, and New Orleans, LA, was examined for the occurrence and fate of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), a common anionic surfactant found in municipal sewage effluents. River water and bottom sediment were sampled in the summer and fall of 1991 and in the spring of 1992. LAS was analyzed using solid-phase extraction...

1. The relationships between three habitat scales and lotic invertebrate species composition were investigated for the 15 540 km2 Yakima River basin in south-central Washington, U.S.A. 2. The three spatial scales were sample (the sampled riffle), reach (a length of ten–twenty stream widths) and segment (a length of stream of nearly uniform slope and valley form having no change in stream...

Ground water in terrace deposits of the South Platte River alluvial aquifer near Greeley, Colorado, USA, had a median nitrate concentration of 1857 μmol l−1. Median nitrate concentrations in ground water from adjacent floodplain deposits (468 μmol l−1) and riverbed sediments (461 μmol l−1), both of which are downgradient from the terrace deposits, were lower than the median concentration...

The occurrence and distribution of selected pesticides and their metabolites were investigated through the collection of 837 water-quality samples from 303 wells across the Midwest. Results of this study showed that five of the six most frequently detected compounds were pesticide metabolites. Thus, it was common for a metabolite to be found more frequently in groundwater than its parent...

A nonnormal and heteroscedastic Tobit model is used to determine the primary factors that affect nitrate concentrations in near-surface aquifers, using data from the U.S. Geological Survey collected in 1991. Both normality and homoscedasticity of errors are rejected, justifying the use of a nonnormal and heteroscedastic model. The following factors are found to have significant impacts...

Spatial and temporal profiles of Ph and concentrations of toxic metals in streams affected by acid mine drainage are the result of the interplay of physical and biogeochemical processes. This paper describes a reactive solute transport model that provides a physically and thermodynamically quantitative interpretation of these profiles. The model combines a transport module that includes...