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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

Soil science and geology: Connects, disconnects and new opportunities in geoscience education Soil science and geology: Connects, disconnects and new opportunities in geoscience education

Despite historical linkages, the fields of geology and soil science have developed along largely divergent paths in the United States during much of the mid- to late- twentieth century. The shift in recent decades within both disciplines to greater emphasis on environmental quality issues and a systems approach has created new opportunities for collaboration and cross-training. Because...
Authors
E. R. Landa

Reach-scale isotope tracer experiment to quantify denitrification and related processes in a nitrate-rich stream, midcontinent United States Reach-scale isotope tracer experiment to quantify denitrification and related processes in a nitrate-rich stream, midcontinent United States

We conducted an in-stream tracer experiment with Br and 15N-enriched NO3- to determine the rates of denitrification and related processes in a gaining NO3- -rich stream in an agricultural watershed in the upper Mississippi basin in September 2001. We determined reach-averaged rates of N fluxes and reactions from isotopic analyses of NO3-, NO2-, N2, and suspended particulate N in...
Authors
J.K. Böhlke, J. W. Harvey, M.A. Voytek

Lateral mixing in the Mississippi River below the confluence with the Ohio River Lateral mixing in the Mississippi River below the confluence with the Ohio River

Lateral dispersion coefficients for two dispersants were determined for three sections of the Mississippi River below the confluence with the Ohio River. The dispersants were the specific conductance and an industrial organic compound (trimethyltriazinetrione). Three models based on the stream tube concept were used, and lateral dispersion coefficients computed from these models were...
Authors
R. E. Rathbun, C.E. Rostad

Methods for estimating adsorbed uranium(VI) and distribution coefficients of contaminated sediments Methods for estimating adsorbed uranium(VI) and distribution coefficients of contaminated sediments

Assessing the quantity of U(VI) that participates in sorption/desorption processes in a contaminated aquifer is an important task when investigating U migration behavior. U-contaminated aquifer sediments were obtained from 16 different locations at a former U mill tailings site at Naturita, CO (U.S.A.) and were extracted with an artificial groundwater, a high pH sodium bicarbonate...
Authors
M. Kohler, G.P. Curtis, D.E. Meece, J.A. Davis

A biogeochemical comparison of two well-buffered catchments with contrasting histories of acid deposition A biogeochemical comparison of two well-buffered catchments with contrasting histories of acid deposition

Much of the biogeochemical cycling research in catchments in the past 25 years has been driven by acid deposition research funding. This research has focused on vulnerable base-poor systems; catchments on alkaline lithologies have received little attention. In regions of high acid loadings, however, even well-buffered catchments are susceptible to forest decline and episodes of low...
Authors
J. B. Shanley, P. Kram, J. Hruska, T.D. Bullen

Testing density-dependent groundwater models: Two-dimensional steady state unstable convection in infinite, finite and inclined porous layers Testing density-dependent groundwater models: Two-dimensional steady state unstable convection in infinite, finite and inclined porous layers

This study proposes the use of several problems of unstable steady state convection with variable fluid density in a porous layer of infinite horizontal extent as two-dimensional (2-D) test cases for density-dependent groundwater flow and solute transport simulators. Unlike existing density-dependent model benchmarks, these problems have well-defined stability criteria that are...
Authors
D. Weatherill, C.T. Simmons, C.I. Voss, N.I. Robinson

Tritium hydrology of the Mississippi River basin Tritium hydrology of the Mississippi River basin

In the early 1960s, the US Geological Survey began routinely analysing river water samples for tritium concentrations at locations within the Mississippi River basin. The sites included the main stem of the Mississippi River (at Luling Ferry, Louisiana), and three of its major tributaries, the Ohio River (at Markland Dam, Kentucky), the upper Missouri River (at Nebraska City, Nebraska)...
Authors
R. L. Michel

Assessing the resolution-dependent utility of tomograms for geostatistics Assessing the resolution-dependent utility of tomograms for geostatistics

Geophysical tomograms are used increasingly as auxiliary data for geostatistical modeling of aquifer and reservoir properties. The correlation between tomographic estimates and hydrogeologic properties is commonly based on laboratory measurements, co-located measurements at boreholes, or petrophysical models. The inferred correlation is assumed uniform throughout the interwell region...
Authors
F. D. Day-Lewis, J.W. Lane

Preservation of water samples for arsenic(III/V) determinations: An evaluation of the literature and new analytical results Preservation of water samples for arsenic(III/V) determinations: An evaluation of the literature and new analytical results

Published literature on preservation procedures for stabilizing aqueous inorganic As(III/V) redox species contains discrepancies. This study critically evaluates published reports on As redox preservation and explains discrepancies in the literature. Synthetic laboratory preservation experiments and time stability experiments were conducted for natural water samples from several field...
Authors
R. Blaine McCleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, A.S. Maest

Occurrence of hexavalent chromium in ground water in the western Mojave Desert, California Occurrence of hexavalent chromium in ground water in the western Mojave Desert, California

About 200 samples from selected public supply, domestic, and observation wells completed in alluvial aquifers underlying the western Mojave Desert were analyzed for total dissolved Cr and Cr(VI). Because Cr(VI) is difficult to preserve, samples were analyzed by 3 methods. Chromium(VI) was determined in the field using both a direct colorimetric method and EPA method 218.6, and samples...
Authors
J.W. Ball, J. A. Izbicki

Identifying areas of basin-floor recharge in the Trans-Pecos region and the link to vegetation Identifying areas of basin-floor recharge in the Trans-Pecos region and the link to vegetation

Comparative water potential and chloride profiles (∼10 m deep) collected from four vegetation communities in the Trans-Pecos region of the Chihuahuan Desert were assessed to evaluate the potential for using vegetation patterns as a means of efficiently improving large-scale estimates of basin-floor recharge in semiarid and arid regions. Analytical solutions and multiphase flow and...
Authors
Michelle Ann Walvoord, Fred M. Phillips
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