Publications

Zinc and Cu play important roles in the biogeochemistry of natural systems, and it is likely that these interactions result in mass-dependent fractionations of their stable isotopes. In this study, we examine the relative abundances of dissolved Zn and Cu isotopes in a variety of stream waters draining six historical mining districts located in the United States and Europe. Our goals...

A tracer experiment, using a nonreactive tracer, was conducted as part of an investigation of the potential for chemical and pathogen migration to public supply wells that draw groundwater from the highly transmissive karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer in southeastern Florida. The tracer was injected into the formation over approximately 1 h, and its recovery was monitored at a...

A method was developed for the analysis of over 60 pesticides and degradates in water by HLB solid-phase extraction and gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry. Method recoveries and detection limits were determined using two surface waters with different dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations. In the lower DOC water, recoveries and detection limits were 80%–108% and 1–12 ng/L...

Determining the processes governing aqueous biogeochemistry in a wetland hydrologically linked to an underlying contaminated aquifer is challenging due to the complex exchange between the systems and their distinct responses to changes in precipitation, recharge, and biological activities. To evaluate temporal and spatial processes in the wetland-aquifer system, water samples were...

A suite of elements (B, Na, Mg, S, K, Ca, V, Mn, Cr, Sr, and Ba) was measured in aragonitic shells of the estuarine bivalve Corbula amurensis, the Asian clam, using the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion MicroProbe with Reverse Geometry (SHRIMP RG). Our initial intent was to explore potential geochemical proxy relationships between shell chemistry and salinity (freshwater inflow) in northern...

Seasonal fluctuations of plant biomass and photosynthesis are key features of the Earth system because they drive variability of atmospheric CO2, water and nutrient cycling, and food supply to consumers. There is no inventory of phytoplankton seasonal cycles in nearshore coastal ecosystems where forcings from ocean, land and atmosphere intersect. We compiled time series of phytoplankton...

Past applications of one-dimensional advection, dispersion, and transient storage zone models have almost exclusively relied on a central differencing, Eulerian numerical approximation to the nonconservative form of the fundamental equation. However, there are scenarios where this approach generates unacceptable error. A new numerical scheme for this type of modeling is presented here...

Little is known about nitric oxide (NO) production or consumption in the subsurface, an environment which may be conducive to NO accumulation. A study conducted in a nitrogen-contaminated aquifer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts assessed the occurrence and turnover of NO within a contaminant plume in which nitrification and denitrification were known to occur. NO (up to 8.6 nM) was detected in...

Lead concentrations and isotope ratios measured in river water colloids and streambed sediment samples along 426 km of the Sacramento River, California reveal that the influence of lead from the historical mining of massive sulfide deposits in the West Shasta Cu-mining district (at the headwaters of the Sacramento River) is confined to a 60 km stretch of river immediately downstream of...

A multi-residue method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 85 current-use and legacy organochlorine pesticides in a single sediment sample. After microwave-assisted extraction, clean-up of samples was optimized using gel permeation chromatography and either stacked carbon and alumina solid-phase extraction cartridges or a deactivated Florisil column. Analytes were...

Mercury contained in buried landfill waste may be released via upward emission to the atmosphere or downward leaching to groundwater. Data from the US Geological Survey’s Amargosa Desert Research Site (ADRS) in arid southwestern Nevada reveal another potential pathway of Hg release: long-distance (102 m) lateral migration of elemental Hg (Hg0) through the unsaturated zone. Gas collected...

Estimates of streambed water flux are needed for the interpretation of streambed chemistry and reactions. Continuous temperature and head monitoring in stream reaches within four agricultural watersheds (Leary Weber Ditch, IN; Maple Creek, NE; DR2 Drain, WA; and Merced River, CA) allowed heat to be used as a tracer to study the temporal and spatial variability of fluxes through the...