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
Time-courses in the retention of food material in the bivalves Potamocorbula amurensis and Macoma balthica significance to the absorption of carbon and chromium Time-courses in the retention of food material in the bivalves Potamocorbula amurensis and Macoma balthica significance to the absorption of carbon and chromium
Time courses for ingestion, retention and release via feces of microbial food was investigated using 2 bivalves with different feeding strategies, Potamocorbula amurensis and Macoma balthica. The results showed 2 pathways for the uptake of food material in these clams. The first is represented by an initial label pulse in the feces. The second pathway operates over longer time periods...
Authors
Alan W. Decho, Samuel N. Luoma
Fate of acetone in an outdoor model stream with a nitrate supplement, southern Mississippi, U.S.A. Fate of acetone in an outdoor model stream with a nitrate supplement, southern Mississippi, U.S.A.
The fate of acetone in an outdoor model stream to which nitrate was added as a nutrient supplement was determined. The stream, in southern Mississippi, U.S.A. was 234 m long. Water was supplied to the stream by an artesian well at about 1.21 s−1, resulting in a mean water velocity of about 0.5 m min−1. Acetone was injected continuously for 26 days resulting in concentrations of 20–40 mg...
Authors
R. E. Rathbun, D. W. Stephens, D. Y. Tai
Brine evolution and mineral deposition in hydrologically open evaporite basins Brine evolution and mineral deposition in hydrologically open evaporite basins
A lumped-parameter, solute mass-balance model is developed to define the role of water outflow from a well-mixed basin. A mass-balance model is analyzed with a geochemical model designed for waters with high ionic strengths. Two typical waters, seawater and a Na-HCO3 ground water, are analyzed to illustrate the control that the leakage ratio (or hydrologic openness of the basin) has on...
Authors
W. E. Sanford, W.W. Wood
Reconnaissance investigation of water quality, bottom sediment, and biota associated with irrigation drainage in the Riverton Reclamation Project, Wyoming, 1988-89 Reconnaissance investigation of water quality, bottom sediment, and biota associated with irrigation drainage in the Riverton Reclamation Project, Wyoming, 1988-89
No abstract available.
Authors
D. A. Peterson, T. F. Harms, Pedro Ramirez, G.T. Allen, A.H. Christenson
User's manual for WATEQ4F, with revised thermodynamic data base and text cases for calculating speciation of major, trace, and redox elements in natural waters User's manual for WATEQ4F, with revised thermodynamic data base and text cases for calculating speciation of major, trace, and redox elements in natural waters
No abstract available.
Authors
J.W. Ball, D. Kirk Nordstrom
Water and tritium movement through the unsaturated zone at a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois, 1981-85 Water and tritium movement through the unsaturated zone at a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois, 1981-85
The movement of water and tritium through the unsaturated zone was studied at a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Bureau County, Illinois, from 1981 to 1985. Water and tritium movement occurred in an annual, seasonally timed cycle; recharge to the saturated zone generally occurred in the spring and early summer. Mean annual precipitation (1982-85) was 871...
Authors
P.C. Mills, R. W. Healy
Fate of silicate minerals in a peat bog Fate of silicate minerals in a peat bog
An investigation of silicate weathering in a Minnesota mire indicates that quartz and aluminosilicates rapidly dissolve in anoxic, organic-rich, neutral- pH environments. Vertical profiles of pH, dissolved silicon, and major cations were obtained at a raised bog and a spring fen and compared. Profiles of readily extractable silicon, diatom abundance, ash mineralogy, and silicate surface...
Authors
Philip C. Bennett, Donald I. Siegel, Barbara M. Hillier, Paul H. Glaser
Assessment of hydrogeologic conditions with emphasis on water quality and wastewater injection, Southwest Sarasota and West Charlotte counties, Florida Assessment of hydrogeologic conditions with emphasis on water quality and wastewater injection, Southwest Sarasota and West Charlotte counties, Florida
No abstract available.
Authors
C. B. Hutchinson
In situ measurement of methane oxidation in groundwater by using natural-gradient tracer tests In situ measurement of methane oxidation in groundwater by using natural-gradient tracer tests
Methane oxidation was measured in an unconfined sand and gravel aquifer (Cape Cod, Mass.) by using in situ natural-gradient tracer tests at both a pristine, oxygenated site and an anoxic, sewage-contaminated site. The tracer sites were equipped with multilevel sampling devices to create target grids of sampling points; the injectate was prepared with groundwater from the tracer site to...
Authors
R. L. Smith, B.L. Howes, S. P. Garabedian
Trace metals in clams (Macoma Balthica) and sediments at the Palo Alto mudflat in south San Francisco Bay: April, 1990 - April, 1991 Trace metals in clams (Macoma Balthica) and sediments at the Palo Alto mudflat in south San Francisco Bay: April, 1990 - April, 1991
No abstract available.
Authors
Samuel N. Luoma, Daniel J. Cain, Cynthia Brown, Ellen V. Axtmann
Work plan for regional reconnaissance for selected herbicides and nitrate in ground water of the mid-continent United States, 1991 Work plan for regional reconnaissance for selected herbicides and nitrate in ground water of the mid-continent United States, 1991
An approach was developed to obtain a consistent, regional distribution of herbicide and nitrate data from near-surface aquifers in the corn and soybean producing region of the mid-continent. Near-surface aquifers are defined as those with the top of aquifer material within 50 feet of land surface, regardless of whether the material is saturated or unsaturated. Three hundred wells will...
Authors
D.W. Kolpin, M. R. Burkart
A steady-state unsaturated-zone model to simulate pesticide transport A steady-state unsaturated-zone model to simulate pesticide transport
No abstract available.
Authors
A. T. Rutledge, J. O. Helgesen