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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

Spring climate and salinity in the San Francisco Bay Estuary Spring climate and salinity in the San Francisco Bay Estuary

Salinity in the San Francisco Bay Estuary almost always experiences its yearly maximum during late summer, but climate variability produces marked interannual variations. The atmospheric circulation pattern impacts the estuary primarily through variations of runoff from rainfall and snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada and, secondarily, through variations in the near-surface salinity in the...
Authors
Daniel R. Cayan, David H. Peterson

Occurrence and transport of agricultural chemicals in the Mississippi River basin, July through August 1993 Occurrence and transport of agricultural chemicals in the Mississippi River basin, July through August 1993

Heavy rainfall and severe flooding in the upper Mississippi River Basin from mid-June through early August 1993 flushed extraordinarily large amounts of agricultural chemicals (herbicides and nitrate) into the Mississippi River, many of its tributaries, and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. Even though extremely high streamflows were recorded during the flood in 1993, concentrations of...
Authors
Donald A. Goolsby, William A. Battaglin, E. Michael Thurman

Ground-water quality at the Management Systems Evaluation Area near Princeton, Minnesota, 1991-92 Ground-water quality at the Management Systems Evaluation Area near Princeton, Minnesota, 1991-92

The northern cornbelt sand-plains Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) program is a multiagency, multistate initiative to evaluate the effects of modified and prevailing farming systems on water quality in a sand-plain area in Minnesota and at satellite areas in North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The primary objective of Minnesota MSEA is to evaluate the effects of ridge-tillage...
Authors
Matthew K. Landon, Geoffrey N. Delin, J.A. Lamb, Lei Guo

Meromixis in hypersaline Mono Lake, California. 3. Biogeochemical response to stratification and overturn Meromixis in hypersaline Mono Lake, California. 3. Biogeochemical response to stratification and overturn

Mono Lake is a terminal, saline lake that became ectogenically meromictic in 1982–1983 and remained stratified until November 1988. During this period, the monimolimnion remained anoxic and nearly isothermal, while the upper mixolimnion was well oxygenated and exhibited a seasonal thermal regime. Dissolved sulfide and methane increased in the monimolimnion as a result of diffusive flux...
Authors
Laurence G. Miller, R. Jellison, Ronald S. Oremland, Charles W. Culbertson

Effects of recharge on the transport of agricultural chemicals at the Princeton, Minn. Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA), 1991-92 Effects of recharge on the transport of agricultural chemicals at the Princeton, Minn. Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA), 1991-92

Rates of water movement through the unsaturated zone greatly affect the amount and concentrations of agricultural chemicals that may reach the water table. For example, recharge can flush to the water table chemicals that have accumulated In the unsaturated zone during dry periods. A better understanding of how topography influences recharge and the movement of agricultural chemicals is...
Authors
G. N. Delin, M.K. Landon

Application of borehole geophysics in defining the wellhead protection area for a fractured crystalline bedrock aquifer Application of borehole geophysics in defining the wellhead protection area for a fractured crystalline bedrock aquifer

Wellbore geophysical techniques were used to characterize fractures and flow in a bedrock aquifer at a site near Blackwater Brook in Dover, New Hampshire. The primary focus ofthis study was the development of a model to assist in evaluating the area surrounding a planned water supply well where contaminants introduced at the land surface might be induced to flow towards a pumping well...
Authors
J.H. Vernon, F.L. Paillet, W.H. Pedler, W.J. Griswold

Tidal, Residual, Intertidal Mudflat (TRIM) Model and its Applications to San Francisco Bay, California Tidal, Residual, Intertidal Mudflat (TRIM) Model and its Applications to San Francisco Bay, California

A numerical model using a semi-implicit finite-difference method for solving the two-dimensional shallow-water equations is presented. The gradient of the water surface elevation in the momentum equations and the velocity divergence in the continuity equation are finite-differenced implicitly, the remaining terms are finite-differenced explicitly. The convective terms are treated using...
Authors
R. T. Cheng, V. Casulli, J. W. Gartner

Stable isotope enrichment in paleowaters of the southeast Atlantic coastal plain, United States Stable isotope enrichment in paleowaters of the southeast Atlantic coastal plain, United States

Paleowaters from the Floridan aquifer system in the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain have higher D/H and 18O/16O ratios than local Holocene ground water. Maximum δ18O enrichments in ground water having adjusted radiocarbon ages of 20,000 to 26,000 years are 0.7 to 2.3 per mil. The trend in isotopic enrichment in paleowaters is the reverse of that normally observed in continental...
Authors
Niel Plummer

Trace metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn) and nutrients in coastal waters adjacent to San Francisco Bay, California Trace metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn) and nutrients in coastal waters adjacent to San Francisco Bay, California

Samples collected in December 1990 and July 1991 show that dissolved Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn distributions in the Gulf of the Farallones are dominated by mixing of two end-members: (1) metal-enriched San Francisco Bay water and (2) offshore California Current water. The range of dissolved metal concentrations observed is 0.2–0.9 nmol kg−1 for Cd, 1–20 nmol kg−1 for Cu, 4–16 nmol kg−1 for Ni...
Authors
A. VanGeen, Samuel N. Luoma
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