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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

The use of fluoride as a natural tracer in water and the relationship to geological features: Examples from the Animas River Watershed, San Juan Mountains, Silverton, Colorado The use of fluoride as a natural tracer in water and the relationship to geological features: Examples from the Animas River Watershed, San Juan Mountains, Silverton, Colorado

Investigations within the Silverton caldera, in southwestern Colorado, used a combination of traditional geological mapping, alteration-assemblage mapping, and aqueous geochemical sampling that showed a relationship between geological and hydrologic features that may be used to better understand the provenance and evolution of the water. Veins containing fluorite, huebnerite, and...
Authors
Dana J. Bove, Katherine Walton-Day, Briant A. Kimball

Benthic nutrient sources to hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, USA Benthic nutrient sources to hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, USA

Three collecting trips were coordinated in April, May, and August 2006 to sample the water column and benthos of hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake (OR, USA) through the annual cyanophyte bloom of Aphanizomenon flos‐aquae. A pore‐water profiler was designed and fabricated to obtain the first high‐resolution (centimeter‐scale) estimates of the vertical concentration gradients of macro‐ and
Authors
J.S. Kuwabara, B.R. Topping, D. D. Lynch, J.L. Carter, H.I. Essaid

Sulfur geochemistry of hydrothermal waters in Yellowstone National Park: IV Acid-sulfate waters Sulfur geochemistry of hydrothermal waters in Yellowstone National Park: IV Acid-sulfate waters

Many waters sampled in Yellowstone National Park, both high-temperature (30-94 ??C) and low-temperature (0-30 ??C), are acid-sulfate type with pH values of 1-5. Sulfuric acid is the dominant component, especially as pH values decrease below 3, and it forms from the oxidation of elemental S whose origin is H2S in hot gases derived from boiling of hydrothermal waters at depth. Four...
Authors
D. Kirk Nordstrom, R. Blaine McCleskey, J.W. Ball

Comparing wastewater chemicals, indicator bacteria concentrations, and bacterial pathogen genes as fecal pollution indicators Comparing wastewater chemicals, indicator bacteria concentrations, and bacterial pathogen genes as fecal pollution indicators

The objective of this study was to compare fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) (fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli [EC], and enterococci [ENT]) concentrations with a wide array of typical organic wastewater chemicals and selected bacterial genes as indicators of fecal pollution in water samples collected at or near 18 surface water drinking water intakes. Genes tested included esp (indicating...
Authors
S.K. Haack, J.W. Duris, L.R. Fogarty, D.W. Kolpin, M. J. Focazio, E. T. Furlong, M. T. Meyer

Rapid changes in small fish mercury concentrations in estuarine wetlands: Implications for wildlife risk and monitoring programs Rapid changes in small fish mercury concentrations in estuarine wetlands: Implications for wildlife risk and monitoring programs

Small fish are commonly used to assess mercury (Hg) risk to wildlife and monitor Hg in wetlands. However, limited research has evaluated short-term Hg variability in small fish, which can have important implications for monitoring programs and risk assessment. We conducted a time-series study of Hg concentrations in two small fish species representing benthic (longjaw mudsuckers...
Authors
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman

Acid rock drainage and climate change Acid rock drainage and climate change

Rainfall events cause both increases and decreases in acid and metals concentrations and their loadings from mine wastes, and unmined mineralized areas, into receiving streams based on data from 3 mines sites in the United States and other sites outside the US. Gradual increases in concentrations occur during long dry spells and sudden large increases are observed during the rising limb...
Authors
D. Kirk Nordstrom

Effects of simplifying fracture network representation on inert chemical migration in fracture-controlled aquifers Effects of simplifying fracture network representation on inert chemical migration in fracture-controlled aquifers

[1] While it is widely recognized that highly permeable ‘large‐scale' fractures dominate chemical migration in many fractured aquifers, recent studies suggest that the pervasive ‘small‐scale’ fracturing once considered of less significance can be equally important for characterizing the spatial extent and residence time associated with transport processes. A detailed examination of...
Authors
Tristan Wellman, Allen M. Shapiro, Mary C. Hill

Wastewater effluent, combined sewer overflows, and other sources of organic compounds to Lake Champlain Wastewater effluent, combined sewer overflows, and other sources of organic compounds to Lake Champlain

Abstract: Some sources of organic wastewater compounds (OWCs) to streams, lakes, and estuaries, including wastewater‐treatment‐plant effluent, have been well documented, but other sources, particularly wet‐weather discharges from combined‐sewer‐overflow (CSO) and urban runoff, may also be major sources of OWCs. Samples of wastewater‐treatment‐plant (WWTP) effluent, CSO effluent, urban...
Authors
P. Phillips, A. Chalmers

Introduction to special section on impacts of land use change on water resources Introduction to special section on impacts of land use change on water resources

Changes in land use have potentially large impacts on water resources, yet quantifying these impacts remains among the more challenging problems in hydrology. Water, food, energy, and climate are linked through complex webs of direct and indirect effects and feedbacks. Land use is undergoing major changes due not only to pressures for more efficient food, feed, and fiber production to...
Authors
David A. Stonestrom, Bridget R. Scanlon, Lu Zhang

Temporal response of hydraulic head, temperature, and chloride concentrations to sea-level changes, Floridan aquifer system, USA Temporal response of hydraulic head, temperature, and chloride concentrations to sea-level changes, Floridan aquifer system, USA

Three-dimensional density-dependent flow and transport modeling of the Floridan aquifer system, USA shows that current chloride concentrations are not in equilibrium with current sea level and, second, that the geometric configuration of the aquifer has a significant effect on system responses. The modeling shows that hydraulic head equilibrates first, followed by temperatures, and then...
Authors
J.D. Hughes, H. Leonard Vacher, W. E. Sanford

Waste-indicator and pharmaceutical compounds in landfill-leachate-affected ground water near Elkhart, Indiana, 2000-2002 Waste-indicator and pharmaceutical compounds in landfill-leachate-affected ground water near Elkhart, Indiana, 2000-2002

Four wells downgradient from a landfill near Elkhart, Indiana were sampled during 2000–2002 to evaluate the presence of waste-indicator and pharmaceutical compounds in landfill-leachate-affected ground water. Compounds detected in leachate-affected ground water included detergent metabolites (p-nonylphenol, nonylphenol monoethoxylate, nonylphenol diethoxylate, and octylphenol...
Authors
P.M. Buszka, D.J. Yeskis, D.W. Kolpin, E. T. Furlong, S.D. Zaugg, M. T. Meyer

The kinetics of iodide oxidation by the manganese oxide mineral birnessite The kinetics of iodide oxidation by the manganese oxide mineral birnessite

The kinetics of iodide (I−) and molecular iodine (I2) oxidation by the manganese oxide mineral birnessite (δ-MnO2) was investigated over the pH range 4.5–6.25. I− oxidation to iodate (IO3-) proceeded as a two-step reaction through an I2 intermediate. The rate of the reaction varied with both pH and birnessite concentration, with faster oxidation occurring at lower pH and higher...
Authors
P.M. Fox, J.A. Davis, G. W. Luther
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