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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

An interactive code (NETPATH) for modeling NET geochemical reactions along a flow PATH, version 2.0 An interactive code (NETPATH) for modeling NET geochemical reactions along a flow PATH, version 2.0

NETPATH is an interactive Fortran 77 computer program used to interpret net geochemical mass-balance reactions between an initial and final water along a hydrologic flow path. Alternatively, NETPATH computes the mixing proportions of two to five initial waters and net geochemical reactions that can account for the observed composition of a final water. The program utilizes previously...
Authors
Niel Plummer, Eric C. Prestemon, David L. Parkhurst

Molecular weight, polydispersity, and spectroscopic properties of aquatic humic substances Molecular weight, polydispersity, and spectroscopic properties of aquatic humic substances

The number- and weight-averaged molecular weights of a number of aquatic fulvic acids, a commercial humic acid, and unfractionated organic matter from four natural water samples were measured by high-pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). Molecular weights determined in this manner compared favorably with those values reported in the literature. Both recent literature values and...
Authors
Y.-P. Chin, G. Aiken, E. O’Loughlin

Geohydrology and ground-water quality in the vicinity of a ground-water-contamination site in Rockford, Illinois Geohydrology and ground-water quality in the vicinity of a ground-water-contamination site in Rockford, Illinois

A geohydrologic investigation was performed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to determine the distribution of volatile organic compounds in a fractured-rock aquifer near the Southeast Rockford Groundwater Contamination Site in Rockford, Ill. The geologic units of concern are the St. Peter Sandstone and Glenwood Formation; the...
Authors
R.T. Kay, S. T. Prinos, Frederick L. Paillet

Assessment of nonpoint-source contamination of the High Plains Aquifer in south-central Kansas, 1987 Assessment of nonpoint-source contamination of the High Plains Aquifer in south-central Kansas, 1987

Ground-water quality was assessed in a 5,000-square-mile area of the High Plains aquifer in south-central Kansas that is susceptible to nonpoint-source contamination from agricultural and petroleum-production activities. Of particular interest was the presence of agricultural chemicals and petroleum-derived hydrocarbons that might have been associated with brines that formerly were...
Authors
John O. Helgesen, Lloyd E. Stullken, A. T. Rutledge

Hydrologic and chemical data from an experiment to examine temporal variability in water samples from screened wells on Cape Cod, Massachusetts Hydrologic and chemical data from an experiment to examine temporal variability in water samples from screened wells on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

An experiment was designed to evaluate the changing chemical composition of the water pumped from a well screened in a physically and chemically heterogenous aquifer. Well F453-63, at the U.S. Geological Survey Toxic-Substances Hydrology research site located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was selected because it was known that the screen penetrated both the oxic and anoxic zones of the...
Authors
Thomas E. Reilly

Chemistry of manganese precipitation in Pinal Creek, Arizona, USA: A laboratory study Chemistry of manganese precipitation in Pinal Creek, Arizona, USA: A laboratory study

Groundwater underlying the valley of Pinal Creek downstream from Globe, Arizona, has been contaminated by low-pH metal-enriched wastewater from copper mining and ore processing at Miami, Arizona. At present, the acidity and most of the dissolved metal content, except for Mn, of the wastewater is removed by reactions with carbonate and other solids in the alluvial aquifer before the...
Authors
J.D. Hem, Carol J. Lind

The feasibility of recharge rate determinations using the steady-state centrifuge method The feasibility of recharge rate determinations using the steady-state centrifuge method

The establishment of steady unsaturated flow in a centrifuge permits accurate measurement of small values of hydraulic conductivity (K). This method can provide a recharge determination if it is applied to an unsaturated core sample from a depth at which gravity alone drives the flow. A K value determined at the in situ water content indicates the long-term average recharge rate at a...
Authors
J. R. Nimmo, David A. Stonestrom, K.C. Akstin

A comparison of simultaneous plasma, atomic absorption, and iron colorimetric determinations of major and trace constituents in acid mine waters A comparison of simultaneous plasma, atomic absorption, and iron colorimetric determinations of major and trace constituents in acid mine waters

Sixty-three water samples collected during June to October 1982 from the Leviathan/Bryant Creek drainage basin were originally analyzed by simultaneous multielement direct-current plasma (DCP) atomic-emission spectrometry, flame atomic-absorption spectrometry, graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) (thallium only), ultraviolet-visible spectrometry, and hydride-generation...
Authors
J.W. Ball, D. Kirk Nordstrom

The geochemical evolution of low-molecular-weight organic acids derived from the degradation of petroleum contaminants in groundwater The geochemical evolution of low-molecular-weight organic acids derived from the degradation of petroleum contaminants in groundwater

The geochemical evolution of low-molecular-weight organic acids in groundwater downgradient from a crude-oil spill near Bemidji, Minnesota, was studied over a five year period (1986–1990). The organic acids are metabolic intermediates of the degradation of components of the crude oil and are structurally related to hydrocarbon precursors. The concentrations of organic acids, particularly...
Authors
I.M. Cozzarelli, M.J. Baedecker, R.P. Eganhouse, D.F. Goerlitz
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