Publications

Ecological risks from metal contaminants are difficult to document because responses differ among species, threats differ among metals, and environmental influences are complex. Unifying concepts are needed to better tie together such complexities. Here we suggest that a biologically based conceptualization, the biodynamic model, provides the necessary unification for a key aspect in...

Signature-tagged mutagenesis (STM) is a powerful technique that can be used to identify genes expressed by bacteria during exposure to conditions in their natural environments. To date, there have been no reports of studies in which this approach was used to study organisms of environmental, rather than pathogenic, significance. We used a mini-Tn10 transposon-bearing plasmid, pBSL180...

Copiapite-group minerals of the general formula AR4(SO4)6(OH)2·nH2O, where A is predominantly Mg, Fe2+, or 0.67Al3+, R is predominantly Fe3+, and n is typically 20, are among several secondary hydrous Fe sulfates occurring in the inactive mine workings of the massive sulfide deposit at Iron Mountain, CA, a USEPA Superfund site that produces extremely acidic drainage. Samples of copiapite...

Microbiological reduction of soluble U(VI) to insoluble U(IV) is a means of preventing the migration of that element in groundwater, but the presence of nitrate in U(IV)-containing sediments leads to U(IV) oxidation and remobilizaton. Nitrite or iron(III) oxyhydroxides may oxidize U(IV) under nitrate-reducing conditions, and we determined the rate and extent of U(IV) oxidation by these...

The transmission of atmospherically derived trace elements (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn) was evaluated in a small, undeveloped, forested watershed located in north-central Maryland. Atmospheric input was determined for wet-only and vegetative throughfall components. Annual throughfall fluxes were significantly enriched over incident precipitation for most elements...

[1] Geophysical imaging has traditionally provided qualitative information about geologic structure; however, there is increasing interest in using petrophysical models to convert tomograms to quantitative estimates of hydrogeologic, mechanical, or geochemical parameters of interest (e.g., permeability, porosity, water content, and salinity). Unfortunately, petrophysical estimation based...

Our results show that subsurface crude-oil degradation rates at a long-term research site were strongly influenced by small-scale variations in hydrologic conditions. The site is a shallow glacial outwash aquifer located near Bemidji in northern Minnesota that became contaminated when oil spilled from a broken pipeline in August 1979. In the study area, separate-phase oil forms a...

Because surface water can be a source of undesirable water quality in a drinking water well, an understanding of the amount of surface water and its travel time to the well is needed to assess a well's vulnerability. Stable isotope ratios of oxygen in river water at the City of La Crosse, Wisconsin, show peak-to-peak seasonal variation greater than 4‰ in 2001 and 2002. This seasonal...

Microbial reductive dechlorination of [1,2-14C]trichloroethene to [14C]cis-dichloroethene and [14C]vinyl chloride was observed at 4°C in anoxic microcosms prepared with cold temperature-adapted aquifer and river sediments from Alaska. Microbial anaerobic oxidation of [1,2-14C]cis-dichloroethene and [1,2-14C]vinyl chloride to 14CO2 also was observed under these conditions.

The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of a nitrate-rich nutrient solution and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to enhance in-situ microbial remediation of toluene in the unsaturated zone. Three sand-filled plots were tested in three phases (each phase lasting approximately 2 weeks). During the control phase, toluene was applied uniformly via sprinkler irrigation. Passive...

The variability (1990–2002) of potential evapotranspiration estimates (ETo) and related meteorological variables from a set of stations from the California Irrigation Management System (CIMIS) is studied. Data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and from the Department of Energy from 1950 to 2001 were used to validate the results. The objective is to determine the...

Soil moisture data collected using an automated data logging system were used to estimate ground water recharge at a crude oil spill research site near Bemidji, Minnesota. Three different soil moisture probes were tested in the laboratory as well as the field conditions of limited power supply and extreme weather typical of northern Minnesota: a self‐contained reflectometer probe, and...