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
From the 1988 drought to the 1993 flood: Transport of halogenated organic compounds with the Mississippi river suspended sediment at Thebes, Illinois From the 1988 drought to the 1993 flood: Transport of halogenated organic compounds with the Mississippi river suspended sediment at Thebes, Illinois
Suspended sediment was isolated from water samples collected from the Mississippi River at Thebes, IL, eight times over a 5-year period from May 1988 through September 1993 in order to evaluate the transport of lipophilic halogenated organic compounds associated with the suspended sediment. Two hydrologic extremes were included-the 1988 drought and the 1993 flood. Halogenated organic...
Authors
C.E. Rostad
Effects of carbon dioxide variations in the unsaturated zone on water chemistry in a glacial-outwash aquifer Effects of carbon dioxide variations in the unsaturated zone on water chemistry in a glacial-outwash aquifer
The research site at Otis Air Base, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has been developed for hydrogeological and geochemical studies of sewage-effluent contaminated groundwater since 1982. Research of hydrologic properties, transport, and chemical and biological processes is ongoing, but the origin of background water chemistry has not been determined. The principal geochemical process giving...
Authors
R. W. Lee
A theoretically based determination of bowen-ratio fetch requirements A theoretically based determination of bowen-ratio fetch requirements
Determination of fetch requirements for accurate Bowen-ratio measurements of latent- and sensible-heat fluxes is more involved than for eddy-correlation measurements because Bowen-ratio sensors are located at two heights, rather than just one. A simple solution to the diffusion equation is used to derive an expression for Bowen-ratio fetch requirements, downwind of a step change in...
Authors
D.I. Stannard
Assessing hydrogeochemical heterogeneity in natural and constructed wetlands Assessing hydrogeochemical heterogeneity in natural and constructed wetlands
While 'water quality function' is cited as an important wetland function to design for and preserve, we demonstrate that the scale at which hydrochemical samples are collected can significantly influence interpretations of biogeochemical processes in wetlands. Subsurface, chemical profiles for both nutrients and major ions were determined at a site in southwestern Wisconsin that...
Authors
R. J. Hunt, D. P. Krabbenhoft, Marilyn P. Anderson
The urban atmosphere as a non-point source for the transport of MTBE and other volatile organic compounds (VOCS) to shallow groundwater The urban atmosphere as a non-point source for the transport of MTBE and other volatile organic compounds (VOCS) to shallow groundwater
Infiltration and dispersion (including molecular diffusion) can transport volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from urban air into shallow groundwater. The gasoline additive methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is of special interest because of its (1) current levels in some urban air, (2) strong partitioning from air into water, (3) resistance to degradation, (4) use as an octane-booster since...
Authors
J. F. Pankow, N.R. Thomson, Richard L. Johnson, A. L. Baehr, J.S. Zogorski
Physiological considerations in applying laboratory-determined buoyant densities to predictions of bacterial and protozoan transport in groundwater: Results of in-situ and laboratory tests Physiological considerations in applying laboratory-determined buoyant densities to predictions of bacterial and protozoan transport in groundwater: Results of in-situ and laboratory tests
Buoyant densities were determined for groundwater bacteria and microflagellates (protozoa) from a sandy aquifer (Cape Cod, MA) using two methods: (1) density-gradient centrifugation (DGC) and (2) Stoke's law approximations using sedimentation rates observed during natural-gradient injection and recovery tests. The dwarf (average cell size, 0.3 μm), unattached bacteria inhabiting a...
Authors
R.W. Harvey, D.W. Metge, N. Kinner, N. Mayberry
Assimilation efficiencies and turnover rates of trace elements in marine bivalves: A comparison of oysters, clams and mussels Assimilation efficiencies and turnover rates of trace elements in marine bivalves: A comparison of oysters, clams and mussels
Assimilation efficiencies (AEs) and physiological turnover-rate constants (k) of six trace elements (Ag, Am, Cd, Co, Se, Zn) in four marine bivalves (Crassostrea virginica Gmelin,Macoma balthica Linnaeus, Mercenaria mercenaria Linnaeus, and Mytilus edulis Linnaeus) were measured in radiotracer-depuration experiments. Egestion rates of unassimilated elements were highest during the first...
Authors
J.R. Reinfelder, W.-X. Wang, S. N. Luoma, N.S. Fisher
Potential for intrinsic bioremediation of a DNT-contaminated aquifer Potential for intrinsic bioremediation of a DNT-contaminated aquifer
Microorganisms indigenous to a shallow aquifer, which underlies an explosives-contaminated site, mineralized 28% of [U-ring-14C] 2,4–dinitrotoluene to 14CO2 within 28 days under aerobic conditions. Approximately 20% of added 2,4–dinitrotoluene remained undegraded at the end of the incubation while approximately 22% and 6% were transformed to 4–amino-2–nitrotoluene and 2–amino-4...
Authors
P. M. Bradley, F. H. Chapelle, J. E. Landmeyer, J.G. Schumacher
Effect of flagellates on free-living bacterial abundance in an organically contaminated aquifer Effect of flagellates on free-living bacterial abundance in an organically contaminated aquifer
Little is known about the role of protists in the saturated subsurface. Porous media microcosms containing bacteria and protists, were used to determine whether flagellates from an organically contaminated aquifer could substantively affect the number of free- living bacteria (FLB). When flagellates were present, the 3-40% maximum breakthrough of fluorescent y labelled FLB injected into...
Authors
N.E. Kinner, R.W. Harvey, M. Kazmierkiewicz-Tabaka