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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

Ground-water flow and contaminant transport at a radioactive-materials processing site, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island Ground-water flow and contaminant transport at a radioactive-materials processing site, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island

Liquid wastes from an enriched-uranium cold-scrap recovery plant at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island, were discharged to the environment through evaporation ponds and trenches from 1966 through 1980. Leakage from the ponds and trenches resulted in a plume of contaminated ground water extending northwestward to the Pawcatuck River through a highly permeable sand and gravel aquifer of...
Authors
Barbara J. Ryan, Kenneth L. Kipp

PHREEQCI: A graphical user interface for the geochemical computer program PHREEQC PHREEQCI: A graphical user interface for the geochemical computer program PHREEQC

PhreeqcI is a Windows-based graphical user interface for the geochemical computer program PHREEQC. PhreeqcI provides the capability to generate and edit input data files, run simulations, and view text files containing simulation results, all within the framework of a single interface. PHREEQC is a multipurpose geochemical program that can perform speciation, inverse, reaction-path, and...
Authors
Scott R. Charlton, Clifford L. Macklin, David L. Parkhurst

Binding of pyrene to aquatic and commercial humic substances: The role of molecular weight and aromaticity Binding of pyrene to aquatic and commercial humic substances: The role of molecular weight and aromaticity

The binding of pyrene to a number of humic substances isolated from various aquatic sources and a commercial humic acid was measured using the solubility enhancement method. The humic materials used in this study were characterized by various spectroscopic and liquid chromatography methods. A strong correlation was observed between the pyrene binding coefficient, K(doc), and the...
Authors
Y.-P. Chin, G. R. Aiken, K.M. Danielsen

Natural and mining-related sources of dissolved minerals during low flow in the Upper Animas River Basin, southwestern Colorado Natural and mining-related sources of dissolved minerals during low flow in the Upper Animas River Basin, southwestern Colorado

As part of the Clean Water Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-500), all States are required to establish water-quality standards for every river basin in the State. During 1994, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment proposed to the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission (CWQCC) an aquatic-life standard of 225 µg/L (micrograms per liter) for the dissolved-zinc concentration...
Authors
Winfield G. Wright

Microorganisms as tracers in groundwater injection and recovery experiments: A review Microorganisms as tracers in groundwater injection and recovery experiments: A review

Modern day injection and recovery techniques designed to examine the transport behavior of microorganisms in groundwater have evolved from experiments conducted in the late 1800s, in which bacteria that form red or yellow pigments were used to trace flow paths through karst and fractured- rock aquifers. A number of subsequent groundwater hydrology studies employed bacteriophage that can...
Authors
R.W. Harvey

Iron deposition as acidic groundwater encounters carbonates in the alluvium of Pinal Creek, Arizona, U.S.A. Iron deposition as acidic groundwater encounters carbonates in the alluvium of Pinal Creek, Arizona, U.S.A.

In a column experiment, acidic groundwater from Pinal Creek Arizona, a Cu mining area, was eluted through a composited alluvial sample obtained from a core that had been removed from a well downgradient of the acidic groundwater. The minerals present in typical grains and flakes in the alluvium before and after the elution were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron...
Authors
Carol J. Lind, R.L. Oscarson

Kinetics of DCE and VC mineralization under methanogenic and Fe(III)- reducing conditions Kinetics of DCE and VC mineralization under methanogenic and Fe(III)- reducing conditions

The kinetics of anaerobic mineralization of DCE and VC under methanogenic and Fe(III)-reducing conditions as a function of dissolved contaminant concentration were evaluated. Microorganisms indigenous to creek bed sedi ments, where groundwater contaminated with chlorinated ethenes continuously discharges, demonstrated significant mineralization of DCE and VC under methanogenic and Fe(III...
Authors
P. M. Bradley, F. H. Chapelle

Tritium/3He dating of river infiltration: An example from the Danube in the Szigetköz area, Hungary Tritium/3He dating of river infiltration: An example from the Danube in the Szigetköz area, Hungary

3H, He, 4He, and Ne data were obtained from a shallow ground-water system being recharged by bank infiltration from the Danube River in northwestern Hungary. After correting for excess air, 4He and Ne concentrations reflect a recharge temperature of about 9° C., close to the mean annual temperature of the Danube (10.4° C). Values of H plus 3Hetrit (“initial tritium”) as a function of the...
Authors
M. Stute, J. Deak, K. Révész, J. K. Böhlke, E. Deseo, R. Weppernig, P. Schlosser

Experimental design for estimating parameters of rate-limited mass transfer: Analysis of stream tracer studies Experimental design for estimating parameters of rate-limited mass transfer: Analysis of stream tracer studies

Tracer experiments are valuable tools for analyzing the transport characteristics of streams and their interactions with shallow groundwater. The focus of this work is the design of tracer studies in high-gradient stream systems subject to advection, dispersion, groundwater inflow, and exchange between the active channel and zones in surface or subsurface water where flow is stagnant or...
Authors
Brian J. Wagner, Judson W. Harvey

Stable isotope evidence for an atmospheric origin of desert nitrate deposits in northern Chile and southern California, U.S.A. Stable isotope evidence for an atmospheric origin of desert nitrate deposits in northern Chile and southern California, U.S.A.

Natural surficial accumulations of nitrate-rich salts in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile, and in the Death Valley region of the Mojave Desert, southern California, are well known, but despite many geologic and geochemical studies, the origins of the nitrates have remained controversial. N and O isotopes in nitrate, and S isotopes in coexisting soluble sulfate, were measured to...
Authors
J.K. Böhlke, G. E. Ericksen, K. Revesz
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