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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: 3784

The deethylatrazine/atrazine ratio as an indicator of the onset of the spring flush of herbicides into surface water of the Midwestern United States The deethylatrazine/atrazine ratio as an indicator of the onset of the spring flush of herbicides into surface water of the Midwestern United States

The ratio of deethylatrazine to atrazine (DAR) may be used to record the first major runoff of herbicides from non-point-source corn fields to surface water in the Midwestern United States. The DAR dramatically decreases from ∼0.5 to 0.1 upon application of herbicide and the first major runoff event of a basin. The DAR then gradually increases to values of approximately 0.4–0.6 during...
Authors
E.M. Thurman, J. D. Fallon

Variability in surface energy flux partitioning during Washita '92: Resulting effects on Penman-Monteith and Priestley-Taylor parameters Variability in surface energy flux partitioning during Washita '92: Resulting effects on Penman-Monteith and Priestley-Taylor parameters

During the Washita '92 field experiment, the local surface energy balance was evaluated at four locations in the USDA-ARS Little Washita River Watershed near Chickasha, OK, using the Bowen ratio-energy balance (BREB) approach. For any given day, differences in the partitioning of the available energy appeared to be mostly a function of the type of vegetation at the site, while the actual...
Authors
William P. Kustas, D.I. Stannard, K.J. Allwine

Simulation of phosphate transport in sewage-contaminated groundwater, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Simulation of phosphate transport in sewage-contaminated groundwater, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Sewage-contaminated groundwater currently discharges to Ashumet Pond, located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Phosphate concentrations as high as 60 μmol l−1 have been measured in groundwater entering Ashumet Pond, and there is concern that the rate of eutrophication could increase. Phosphate in the sewage plume is sorbed by aquifer sediment; the amount is a function of phosphate...
Authors
K.G. Stollenwerk

The reversibility of virus attachment to mineral surfaces The reversibility of virus attachment to mineral surfaces

Virus transport through groundwater is limited by attachment to mineral surfaces and inactivation. Current virus transport models do not consider the implications of the reversibility of virus attachment to minerals. To explore the reversibility of virus attachment to mineral surfaces, we attached PRD1, a bacteriophage considered to be a good model of enteric viruses, to quartz and...
Authors
J.P. Loveland, J. N. Ryan, G.L. Amy, R.W. Harvey

Numerical evaluation of static-chamber measurements of soil-atmospheric gas exchange--Identification of physical processes Numerical evaluation of static-chamber measurements of soil-atmospheric gas exchange--Identification of physical processes

The exchange of gases between soil and atmosphere is an important process that affects atmospheric chemistry and therefore climate. The static-chamber method is the most commonly used technique for estimating the rate of that exchange. We examined the method under hypothetical field conditions where diffusion was the only mechanism for gas transport and the atmosphere outside the chamber...
Authors
Richard W. Healy, Robert G. Striegl, Thomas F. Russell, Gordon L. Hutchinson, Gerald P. Livingston

Observed and simulated movement of bank-storage water Observed and simulated movement of bank-storage water

Detailed hydrologic and water-chemistry data were collected that document the movement of bank-storage water during March 7-April 17, 1990, in an alluvial aquifer adjacent to the Cedar River, Iowa. Hydrologic data included 745 daily ground-water-level measurements from 27 observation wells. Water-chemistry data indicate that bank-storage water had smaller specific conductance and larger
Authors
P. J. Squillace

A Generalized Approach for the Interpretation of Geophysical Well Logs in Ground-Water Studies:Theory and Application A Generalized Approach for the Interpretation of Geophysical Well Logs in Ground-Water Studies:Theory and Application

Quantitative analysis of geophysical logs in ground-water studies often involves at least as broad a range of applications and variation in lithology as is typically encountered in petroleum exploration, making such logs difficult to calibrate and complicating inversion problem formulation. At the same time, data inversion and analysis depend on inversion model formulation and refinement...
Authors
Frederick L. Paillet, R.E. Crowder

The developing framework of marine ecotoxicology: Pollutants as a variable in marine ecosystems? The developing framework of marine ecotoxicology: Pollutants as a variable in marine ecosystems?

Marine ecosystems include a subset in which at least some interrelated geochemical, biochemical, physiological, population and community characteristics are changed by pollutants. Moderate contamination is relatively widespread in coastal and estuarine ecosystems, so the subset of ecosystems with at least some processes affected could be relatively large. Pollutant influences have...
Authors
Samuel N. Luoma

A three-dimensional method-of-characteristics solute-transport model (MOC3D) A three-dimensional method-of-characteristics solute-transport model (MOC3D)

This report presents a model, MOC3D, that simulates three-dimensional solute transport in flowing ground water. The model computes changes in concentration of a single dissolved chemical constituent over time that are caused by advective transport, hydrodynamic dispersion (including both mechanical dispersion and diffusion), mixing (or dilution) from fluid sources, and mathematically...
Authors
Leonard F. Konikow, D.J. Goode, G.Z. Hornberger
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