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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: 3785

Seasonal/yearly salinity variations in San Francisco Bay Seasonal/yearly salinity variations in San Francisco Bay

The ability of resource agencies to manage fish, wildlife and freshwater supplies of San Francisco Bay estuary requires an integrated knowledge of the relations between the biota and their physical environment. A key factor in these relations is the role of salinity in determining both the physical and the biological character of the estuary. The saltiness of the water, and particularly...
Authors
David H. Peterson, Daniel R. Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger, Jeanne Sandra DiLeo, Stephen E. Hager, Noah Knowles, Frederic H. Nichols, Laurence E. Schemel, Richard E. Smith, Reginald J. Uncles

Ground-water quality in agricultural areas, Anoka Sand Plain Aquifer, east-central Minnesota, 1984-90 Ground-water quality in agricultural areas, Anoka Sand Plain Aquifer, east-central Minnesota, 1984-90

Ground-water quality in the Anoka Sand Plain aquifer was studied as part of the multiscale Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) study by collecting water samples from shallow wells during August through November 1990. The sampling was conducted to: (1) aid in selection of the MSEA research area; (2) facilitate comparison of results at the MSEA research area to the regional scale...
Authors
M.K. Landon, G. N. Delin

Effects of 1992 farming systems on ground-water quality at the management systems evaluation area near Princeton, Minnesota Effects of 1992 farming systems on ground-water quality at the management systems evaluation area near Princeton, Minnesota

The Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) program was a multiscale, interagency initiative to evaluate the effects of agricultural systems on water quality in the midwest corn belt. The primary objective of the Minnesota MSEA was to evaluate the effects of ridge-tillage practices in a corn and soybean farming system on ground-water quality. The 65-hectare Minnesota MSEA was located...
Authors
G. N. Delin, M.K. Landon, J.A. Lamb, R.H. Dowdy

Mercury contamination of aquatic ecosystems Mercury contamination of aquatic ecosystems

Mercury has been well known as an environmental pollutant for several decades. As early as the 1950's it was established that emissions of mercury to the environment could have serious effects on human health. These early studies demonstrated that fish and other wildlife from various ecosystems commonly attain mercury levels of toxicological concern when directly affected by mercury...
Authors
David P. Krabbenhoft, David A. Rickert

Geochemical and hydrologic controls on phosphorus transport in a sewage-contaminated sand and gravel aquifer near Ashumet Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Geochemical and hydrologic controls on phosphorus transport in a sewage-contaminated sand and gravel aquifer near Ashumet Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

The disposal of secondarily treated sewage onto rapid infiltration sand beds at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has created a sewage plume in the underlying sand and gravel aquifer; the part of the\x11sewage plume that contains dissolved phosphorus extends about 2,500 feet downgradient of the sewage-disposal beds. A part of the plume that\x11contains...
Authors
D. A. Walter, B.A. Rea, K.G. Stollenwerk, Jennifer G. Savoie

Influence of gut content in immature aquatic insects on assessments of environmental metal contamination Influence of gut content in immature aquatic insects on assessments of environmental metal contamination

We evaluated the effect of metal associated with the gut content in immature aquatic insects (larvae and nymphs) on spatial and interspecific comparisons of whole-body metal concentrations. Four species, common to cobble-bottom rivers and streams, were collected along an established contamination gradient in the Clark Fork River, and from tributaries of the Clark Fork. Metal...
Authors
D.J. Cain, S. N. Luoma, E.V. Axtmann

User's guide to PHREEQC, a computer program for speciation, reaction-path, advective-transport, and inverse geochemical calculations User's guide to PHREEQC, a computer program for speciation, reaction-path, advective-transport, and inverse geochemical calculations

PHREEQC is a computer program written in the C programming language that is designed to perform a wide variety of aqueous geochemical calculations. PHREEQC is based on an ion-association aqueous model and has capabilities for (1) speciation and saturation-index calculations, (2) reaction-path and advective-transport calculations involving specified irreversible reactions, mixing of...
Authors
D.L. Parkhurst

Determination of water retention in stratified porous materials Determination of water retention in stratified porous materials

Predicted and measured water-retention values,θ(ψ), were compared for repacked, stratified core samples consisting of either a sand with a stone-bearing layer or a sand with a clay loam layer in various spatial orientations. Stratified core samples were packed in submersible pressure outflow cells, then water-retention measurements were performed between matric potentials,ψ, of 0 to -100...
Authors
J. Constantz

Year-to-year fluctuation of the spring phytoplankton bloom in south San Francisco Bay: An example of ecological variability at the land-sea interface Year-to-year fluctuation of the spring phytoplankton bloom in south San Francisco Bay: An example of ecological variability at the land-sea interface

Estuaries are transitional ecosystems at the interface of the terrestrial and marine realms. Their unique physiographic position gives rise to large spatial variability, and to dynamic temporal variability resulting, in part, from a variety of forces and fluxes at the oceanic and terrestrial boundaries. River flow, in particular, is an important mechanism for delivering watershed-derived...
Authors
James E. Cloern, Alan D. Jassby

Fluxes of water and solute in a coastal wetland sediment. 2. Effect of macropores on solute exchange with surface water Fluxes of water and solute in a coastal wetland sediment. 2. Effect of macropores on solute exchange with surface water

Chloride was highly concentrated relative to seawater in matrix porewater but was comparatively dilute in macropores. Concentration differences in pore-size classes declined with depth until indistinguishable below 10 cm. The segregated chloride distribution can be explained if recharge to the sediment occurred by downward infiltration in macropores and discharge occurred by an upward...
Authors
J. W. Harvey, W.K. Nuttle
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