Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 3785
Phosphate dynamics in an acidic mountain stream: Interactions involving algal uptake, sorption by iron oxide, and photoreduction Phosphate dynamics in an acidic mountain stream: Interactions involving algal uptake, sorption by iron oxide, and photoreduction
Acid mine drainage streams in the Rocky Mountains typically have few algal species and abundant iron oxide deposits which can sorb phosphate. An instream injection of radiolabeled phosphate (32P0,) into St. Kevin Gulch, an acid mine drainage stream, was used to test the ability of a dominant algal species, Ulothrix sp., to rapidly assimilate phosphate. Approximately 90% of the injected...
Authors
Cathy M. Tate, Robert E. Broshears, Diane M. McKnight
Modeling and predicting intertidal variations of the salinity field in the Bay/Delta Modeling and predicting intertidal variations of the salinity field in the Bay/Delta
San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta have challenged estuarine modelers for some years. Accurate, broad-scale models of this estuary have been in demand by those concerned with its ecological health and the development of sound management policies. A description and better understanding of the dynamics that govern the bay/delta are complicated by the system's complexity
Authors
Noah Knowles, Reginald J. Uncles
Relations between pesticide use and riverine flux in the Mississippi River Basin Relations between pesticide use and riverine flux in the Mississippi River Basin
In an intensive subcontimental study of pesticides in surface waters of the United States, concentrations of 26 high-use pesticides were measured at nine sites in the Mississippi River basin from May 1991 through March 1992. Calculated total fluxes were combined with agricultural-use data to estimate the percentage of applied pesticide reaching the mouths of the Mississippi River and six...
Authors
Steven J. Larson, Paul D. Capel, Donald A. Goolsby, Steven D. Zaugg, Mark W. Sandstrom
Paleohydrologic record from lake brine on the southern High Plains, Texas Paleohydrologic record from lake brine on the southern High Plains, Texas
The timing of changes in the stage and salinity of Double Lakes of Lynn County, Texas, was estimated using dissolved-chloride profiles across an underlying shale layer. Lake conditions over the past 30 to 50 ka can be inferred from the chloride profiles by using the advective velocity of the pore water through the shale and an appropriate coefficient of molecular diffusion. The profiles...
Authors
Ward E. Sanford, Warren W. Wood
Geophysical log data from Basalt Aquifers near Waipahu on the Island of Oahu and Pahoa on the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii Geophysical log data from Basalt Aquifers near Waipahu on the Island of Oahu and Pahoa on the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii
Two relatively new geophysical logging techniques, the digitally enhanced borehole acoustic televiewer and the heat-pulse flowmeter, were tested from 1987 to 1991 at two sites in Hawaii: Waipahu on the island of Oahu, and Pahoa on the island of Hawaii. Although these data were obtained in an effort to test and improve these two logging techniques, the measurements are of interest to...
Authors
Frederick L. Paillet, Alfred E. Hess
Tritium and radioactive carbon (14C) analyses of gas collected from unsaturated sediments next to a low-level radioactive-waste burial site south of Beatty, Nevada, April 1994 and July 1995 Tritium and radioactive carbon (14C) analyses of gas collected from unsaturated sediments next to a low-level radioactive-waste burial site south of Beatty, Nevada, April 1994 and July 1995
Tritium activities in water vapor and radioactive carbon (14C) activities in carbon dioxide were determined in gas samples pumped from small-diameter air ports installed in a test hole within the unsaturated sediments next to a commercial burial site for low-level radioactive waste south of Beatty, Nevada. In April 1994, gas samples were collected from test hole UZB-2, which was drilled...
Authors
David E. Prudic, Robert G. Striegl
Use of the euryhaline bivalve Potamocorbula amurensis as a biosentinel species to assess trace metal contamination in San Francisco Bay Use of the euryhaline bivalve Potamocorbula amurensis as a biosentinel species to assess trace metal contamination in San Francisco Bay
Potamocorbula amurensis was assessed as a biosentinel species in San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Uptake of metal in both the laboratory and field showed that P. amurensis was sufficiently responsive to Ag, Cd, Cr, Ni and V to detect environmental differences in exposure. It was less suitable as an indicator of Cu and Zn contamination. Concentration factors for P. amurensis were: Ag...
Authors
C. L. Brown, S. N. Luoma
Bioremediation: Nature's way to a cleaner environment Bioremediation: Nature's way to a cleaner environment
No abstract available.
Authors
Frank H. Chapelle
Sewage contamination in the upper Mississippi River as measured by the fecal sterol, coprostanol Sewage contamination in the upper Mississippi River as measured by the fecal sterol, coprostanol
The molecular sewage indicator, coprostanol, was measured in bed sediments of the Mississippi River for the purpose of determining sewage contamination. Coprostanol is a non-ionic, non-polar, organic molecule that associates with sediments in surface waters, and concentrations of coprostanol in bed sediments provide an indication of long-term sewage loads. Because coprostanol...
Authors
J.H. Writer, J.A. Leenheer, L. B. Barber, G.L. Amy, S.C. Chapra
The structural and geochemical evolution of the continental crust: Support for the oceanic plateau model of continental growth The structural and geochemical evolution of the continental crust: Support for the oceanic plateau model of continental growth
The problem of the origin of the continental crust can be resolved into two fundamental questions: (1) the location and mechanisms of initial mantle extraction of the primitive crust and (2) the processes by which this primitive crust is converted into the continental crust that presently exists. We know that Archean continental crust is compositionally distinct from younger continental...
Authors
D. Abbott, Walter D. Mooney
Pb2+ and Zn2+ adsorption by a natural aluminum- and iron-bearing surface coating on an aquifer sand Pb2+ and Zn2+ adsorption by a natural aluminum- and iron-bearing surface coating on an aquifer sand
Pb2+ and Zn2+ adsorption was studied in batch experiments with material collected from a shallow, unconfined aquifer of glacial outwash sand and gravel in Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA. The aquifer solids contain primarily quartz (95% w/w), with minor amounts of alkali feldspars and ferromagnetic minerals. Pb2+ and Zn2+ adsorption experiments with various grain size and mineral fractions...
Authors
J.A. Coston, C. C. Fuller, J.A. Davis
Preliminary results from the hydrodynamic element of the 1994 entrapment zone study Preliminary results from the hydrodynamic element of the 1994 entrapment zone study
This article discusses preliminary results from analyses of USGS hydrodynamic data collected as part of the 1994 Interagency Ecological Program entrapment zone study. The USGS took part in three 30-hour cruises and deployed instruments for measuring currents and salinity from April to June. This article primarily focuses on the analysis of data from five Acoustic Doppler Current ProUers...
Authors
J.R. Burau, M. Stacey, J. W. Gartner