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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

Simulated response of water quality in public supply wells to land use change Simulated response of water quality in public supply wells to land use change

Understanding how changes in land use affect water quality of public supply wells (PSW) is important because of the strong influence of land use on water quality, the rapid pace at which changes in land use are occurring in some parts of the world, and the large contribution of groundwater to the global water supply. In this study, groundwater flow models incorporating particle tracking...
Authors
P.B. McMahon, K.R. Burow, L. J. Kauffman, S. M. Eberts, J.K. Böhlke, J.J. Gurdak

A comparison of winter mercury accumulation at forested and no-canopy sites measured with different snow sampling techniques A comparison of winter mercury accumulation at forested and no-canopy sites measured with different snow sampling techniques

Atmospheric mercury (Hg) is delivered to ecosystems via rain, snow, cloud/fog, and dry deposition. The importance of snow, especially snow that has passed through the forest canopy (throughfall), in delivering Hg to terrestrial ecosystems has received little attention in the literature. The snowpack is a dynamic system that links atmospheric deposition and ecosystem cycling through...
Authors
S.J. Nelson, K.B. Johnson, K.C. Weathers, C.S. Loftin, I.J. Fernandez, J. S. Kahl, D. P. Krabbenhoft

Comparison of total mercury and methylmercury cycling at five sites using the small watershed approach Comparison of total mercury and methylmercury cycling at five sites using the small watershed approach

The small watershed approach is well-suited but underutilized in mercury research. We applied the small watershed approach to investigate total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) dynamics in streamwater at the five diverse forested headwater catchments of the US Geological Survey Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program. At all sites, baseflow THg was generally less...
Authors
J. B. Shanley, Mast M. Alisa, K. Campbell, G. R. Aiken, D. P. Krabbenhoft, R. J. Hunt, J.F. Walker, P. F. Schuster, A. Chalmers, Brent T. Aulenbach, N.E. Peters, M. Marvin-DiPasquale, D. W. Clow, M.M. Shafer

Evaluation of statistical treatments of left-censored environmental data using coincident uncensored data sets: I. Summary statistics Evaluation of statistical treatments of left-censored environmental data using coincident uncensored data sets: I. Summary statistics

The main classes of statistical treatment of below-detection limit (left-censored) environmental data for the determination of basic statistics that have been used in the literature are substitution methods, maximum likelihood, regression on order statistics (ROS), and nonparametric techniques. These treatments, along with using all instrument-generated data (even those below detection)...
Authors
Ronald C. Antweiler, Howard E. Taylor

Susceptibility to enhanced chemical migration from depression-focused preferential flow, High Plains aquifer Susceptibility to enhanced chemical migration from depression-focused preferential flow, High Plains aquifer

Aquifer susceptibility to contamination is controlled in part by the inherent hydrogeologic properties of the vadose zone, which includes preferential-flow pathways. The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of seasonal ponding near leaky irrigation wells as a mechanism for depression-focused preferential flow and enhanced chemical migration through the vadose zone of...
Authors
Jason J. Gurdak, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Peter B. McMahon

Use of inverse-modeling methods to improve ground-water-model calibration and evaluate model-prediction uncertainty, Camp Edwards, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Use of inverse-modeling methods to improve ground-water-model calibration and evaluate model-prediction uncertainty, Camp Edwards, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Historical weapons testing and disposal activities at Camp Edwards, which is located on the Massachusetts Military Reservation, western Cape Cod, have resulted in the release of contaminants into an underlying sand and gravel aquifer that is the sole source of potable water to surrounding communities. Ground-water models have been used at the site to simulate advective transport in the...
Authors
Donald A. Walter, Denis R. LeBlanc

Cross-borehole flow tests and insights into hydraulic connections in fractured mudstone and sandstone Cross-borehole flow tests and insights into hydraulic connections in fractured mudstone and sandstone

Cross-borehole flow tests provided insights into hydraulic connections in fractured and dipping mudstone and sandstone that were consistent with the lithostratigraphic and structural framework of a VOCcontaminated bedrock research site in west-central New Jersey. Two cross-borehole flow tests were completed. Each test involved measurement and analysis of transient flow in a newly...
Authors
John Williams, Pierre Lacombe, Carole D. Johnson, Frederick L. Paillet

Chloroethene dechlorination in acidic groundwater: Implications for combining fenton's treatment with natural attenuation Chloroethene dechlorination in acidic groundwater: Implications for combining fenton's treatment with natural attenuation

A sulfuric acid leak in 1988 at a chloroethene-contaminated groundwater site at the Naval Air Station Pensacola has resulted in a long-term record of the behavior of chloroethene contaminants at low pH and a unique opportunity to assess the potential impact of source area treatment technologies, which involve acidification of the groundwater environment (e.g., Fenton's-based in situ...
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Michael A. Singletary, Francis H. Chapelle

Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2005 through September 2006) and statistical summaries of long-term data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2005 through September 2006) and statistical summaries of long-term data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana

Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in streams from Butte to below Milltown Reservoir as part of a long-term monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork basin; additional water-quality samples were collected in the Clark Fork basin from sites near Milltown Reservoir downstream to near the confluence of the Clark Fork and Flathead River as part of a supplemental sampling program...
Authors
Kent A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger, Jessica Dyke

Investigating atmospheric mercury with the U.S. Geological Survey Mobile Mercury Laboratory Investigating atmospheric mercury with the U.S. Geological Survey Mobile Mercury Laboratory

Atmospheric mercury is thought to be an important source of mercury present in fish, resulting in numerous local, statewide, tribal, and province-wide fish consumption advisories in the United States and Canada (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2007a). To understand how mercury occurs in the atmosphere and its potential to be transferred from the atmosphere to the biosphere, the U.S
Authors
Allan Kolker

Moment inference from tomograms Moment inference from tomograms

Time-lapse geophysical tomography can provide valuable qualitative insights into hydrologic transport phenomena associated with aquifer dynamics, tracer experiments, and engineered remediation. Increasingly, tomograms are used to infer the spatial and/or temporal moments of solute plumes; these moments provide quantitative information about transport processes (e.g., advection...
Authors
Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Yongping Chen, Kamini Singha
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