D. Kirk Nordstrom
Dr. Nordstrom is a hydrogeochemist (emeritus) with the US Geological Survey whose works covers acid mine drainage, geothermal water chemistry, radioactive waste research, groundwater geochemistry, analytical chemistry, redox species, geochemical modeling, thermodynamic data evaluation, and geomicrobiology.
Dr. Nordstrom has worked on field sites, on laboratory studies, and theoretical calculations having to do with water-rock interactions. Field work includes interpreting the origin, evolution, fate, and consequences of acid mine drainage from metal mining, interpreting groundwater chemistry in a variety of aquifer systems, and interpreting the origins and evolution of geothermal water chemistry. He has contributed to the interpretation of groundwater composition in deep aquifer systems considered for nuclear waste disposal; the development of preservation methods and new analytical techniques for aqueous species, especially redox species, in natural waters; and the application of geochemical modeling to the interpretation of water-rock interactions for both surface and groundwaters. He has contributed to the development of geochemical modeling codes and the evaluation of thermodynamic data used in the codes. He has studied the role of microbes in the rates and processes of oxidation and reduction of redox-sensitive elements. He has focused often on the hydrogeochemical behavior of arsenic and fluoride which are often found as geogenic contaminants in groundwaters. He has worked on four USEPA Superfund sites and close to 100 mine sites.
Professional Experience
Assistant Professor, University of Virginia, 1976-80
Associate Editor for Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 1986-87
Managing Editor for Geochemistry for Earth-Science Reviews, 2006-09
Co-editor for “Sulfate Minerals – Crystallography, Geochemistry, and Environmental Significance,” with John Jambor and Charles Alpers, Mineralogical Society of America and Geochemical Society, 2000
Editor for “Groundwater Geochemistry: A practical guide to modeling of natural and contaminated systems” by B.J. Merkel and B. Planer-Friedrich, 2005, Springer, Berlin and second edition, 2008
Co-editor for “Arsenic: Environmental Geochemistry, Mineralogy, and Microbiology,” with Rob Bowell, Charles Alpers, and Heather Jamieson, Mineralogical Association of America and Geochemical Society, 2014
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. (Geochemistry) Stanford University, 1977
M.S. (Geology) University of Colorado, 1971
B.A. (Chemistry) Southern Illinois University, 1969
Affiliations and Memberships*
Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Member, Geochemical Society
Fellow, Geological Society of America, (Hydrogeology Division)
Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America
Fellow, International Association of Geochemistry
Member, International Mine Water Association
Member, Board of Radioactive Waste Management, National Academy of Sciences, 1990-96
Member, Science Advisory Board, Thermal Biology Institute, Montana State University, 2000-09
Honors and Awards
Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research, 1970
Grant from the Anaconda Company, 1970
National Science Foundation Fellowship, 1970 71
Stanford Scholarship, 1975-76
American Men and Women of Science, 33rd edition
Who's Who in the West, 21st edition
Adjunct Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, 1991-2004
Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lectureship Award, Geological Society of America, 1996
Phoebe Apperson Hearst Distinguished Lecturer (University of California Berkeley), 1998
Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America, 2000
Fellow, Geological Society of America, 2001
Meritorious Service Award, US Department of the Interior, 2002
Cooperative Conservation Award, US Department of the Interior, 2008
International Ingerson Lecture Award, International Association of Geochemistry, 2009
Friend of Water-Rock Interaction Award, International Association of Geochemistry, 2010
Adrian Smith Lecture Award, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2011
USGS Water Research Lecture Award, 2012
Adjunct Professor Award, Department of Chemistry, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia 2014-17
Brian Hitchon Award, International Association of Geochemistry, 2016 (most cited paper of 2011)
Leader of Water-Rock Interaction Award, International Association of Geochemistry, 2016
Halbouty Visiting Chair Award, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, March, 2018
Abstracts and Presentations
US Geological Survey (1985-2000) Geochemistry of Ground Water Systems 2-week Training Course (w/ others)
CIEMAT/ENRESA, Madrid (1994) Short course on Aqueous Geochemistry & Geochemical Modeling
CIEMAT/ENRESA, Madrid (1996) Short course on Isotope Hydrogeochemistry (with Niel Plummer)
ATSDR, Atlanta, GA (1997) Short course on Geochemical Modeling (with Jim Ball)
Porto University, Portugal (2008) Short Course on Arsenic Geochemistry, April 28-May 3
State of California Water Board (2009) Short Course on Characterizing, Predicting, and Modeling Water Quality at Mine Sites, May 18-21
Wuhan University, Hubei, China (2009) Advances in Hydrogeochemistry, March 23-26
University of Concepcion, Chile (2010) Short Course on Mining and Sustainability, October 11-15
Society for Economic Geologists (2010) Environmental Geochemistry for Modern Mining, October 29-30, Denver, CO (Annual Meeting of Geological Society of America)
EPA Webinar Workshop (2013) Predicting and modeling water chemistry associated with hardrock mine sites, February 13
National University of Salta, Argentina, Short Course on the Geochemistry of Acid Mine Drainage
Murdoch University, Australia (2015) Master Class: Introduction to Geochemical Modeling, Feb. 24
China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China (2015) Half-day seminar on Introduction to PHREEQC
Luleå University of Technology (2017) Geochemical modeling for mine site characterization and Luleå, Sweden remediation with PHREEQC exercises, July 3 – 5
Texas A&M University (2018) Chemical Elements in Water, March 1 – 31
Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China (2018) Chemical Elements in Water, July 16-28
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (2019) Overview of Groundwater Chemistry: Convergence of Chemistry, Geology and Hydrology
More than 250 abstracts presented at professional society meetings, more than 150 presentations within the USGS, other universities, and other national and international institutions (other than courses taught). Numerous briefings to state and federal agencies.
Science and Products
Models, validation, and applied geochemistry: Issues in science, communication, and philosophy
A new method of calculating electrical conductivity with applications to natural waters
Comparison of electrical conductivity calculation methods for natural waters
Simultaneous oxidation of arsenic and antimony at low and circumneutral pH, with and without microbial catalysis
A new method of calculating electrical conductivity with applications to natural waters
Mine waters: Acidic to circumneutral
Quality of our groundwater resources: Arsenic and fluoride
Fluoride geochemistry of thermal waters in Yellowstone National Park: I. Aqueous fluoride speciation
Ammonium in thermal waters of Yellowstone National Park: Processes affecting speciation and isotope fractionation
Hydrogeochemical processes governing the origin, transport and fate of major and trace elements from mine wastes and mineralized rock to surface waters
Water-chemistry data for selected springs, geysers, and streams in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006-2008
Science and Products
- Data
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 164
Models, validation, and applied geochemistry: Issues in science, communication, and philosophy
Models have become so fashionable that many scientists and engineers cannot imagine working without them. The predominant use of computer codes to execute model calculations has blurred the distinction between code and model. The recent controversy regarding model validation has brought into question what we mean by a ‘model’ and by ‘validation.’ It has become apparent that the usual meaning of vaAuthorsD. Kirk NordstromA new method of calculating electrical conductivity with applications to natural waters
A new method is presented for calculating the electrical conductivity of natural waters that is accurate over a large range of effective ionic strength (0.0004–0.7 mol kg-1), temperature (0–95 °C), pH (1–10), and conductivity (30–70,000 μS cm-1). The method incorporates a reliable set of equations to calculate the ionic molal conductivities of cations and anions (H+, Li+, Na+, K+, Cs+, NH4+, Mg2+,AuthorsR. Blaine McCleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Joseph N. Ryan, James W. BallComparison of electrical conductivity calculation methods for natural waters
The capability of eleven methods to calculate the electrical conductivity of a wide range of natural waters from their chemical composition was investigated. A brief summary of each method is presented including equations to calculate the conductivities of individual ions, the ions incorporated, and the method's limitations. The ability of each method to reliably predict the conductivity depends oAuthorsR. Blaine McCleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Joseph N. RyanSimultaneous oxidation of arsenic and antimony at low and circumneutral pH, with and without microbial catalysis
Arsenic and Sb are common mine-water pollutants and their toxicity and fate are strongly influenced by redox processes. In this study, simultaneous Fe(II), As(III) and Sb(III) oxidation experiments were conducted to obtain rates under laboratory conditions similar to those found in the field for mine waters of both low and circumneutral pH. Additional experiments were performed under abiotic steriAuthorsMaria P. Asta, D. Kirk Nordstrom, R. Blaine McCleskeyA new method of calculating electrical conductivity with applications to natural waters
A new method is presented for calculating the electrical conductivity of natural waters that is accurate over a large range of effective ionic strength (0.0004–0.7 mol kg−1), temperature (0–95 °C), pH (1–10), and conductivity (30–70,000 μS cm−1). The method incorporates a reliable set of equations to calculate the ionic molal conductivities of cations and anions (H+, Li+, Na+, K+, Cs+, NH4+, Mg2+,AuthorsR. Blaine McCleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J. N. Ryan, J. W. BallMine waters: Acidic to circumneutral
Acid mine waters, often containing toxic concentrations of Fe, Al, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, Co, and Cr, can be produced from the mining of coal and metallic deposits. Values of pH for acid mine waters can range from –3.5 to 5, but even circumneutral (pH ≈ 7) mine waters can have high concentrations of As, Sb, Mo, U, and F. When mine waters are discharged into streams, lakes, and the oceans, serious degAuthorsD. Kirk NordstromQuality of our groundwater resources: Arsenic and fluoride
Groundwater often contains arsenic or fluoride concentrations too high for drinking or cooking. These constituents, often naturally occurring, are not easy to remove. The right combination of natural or manmade conditions can lead to elevated arsenic or fluoride which includes continental source rocks, high alkalinity and pH, reducing conditions for arsenic, high phosphate, high temperature and hiAuthorsD. Kirk NordstromFluoride geochemistry of thermal waters in Yellowstone National Park: I. Aqueous fluoride speciation
Thermal water samples from Yellowstone National Park (YNP) have a wide range of pH (1–10), temperature, and high concentrations of fluoride (up to 50 mg/l). High fluoride concentrations are found in waters with field pH higher than 6 (except those in Crater Hills) and temperatures higher than 50 °C based on data from more than 750 water samples covering most thermal areas in YNP from 1975 to 2008.AuthorsY. Deng, D. Kirk Nordstrom, R. Blaine McCleskeyAmmonium in thermal waters of Yellowstone National Park: Processes affecting speciation and isotope fractionation
Dissolved inorganic nitrogen, largely in reduced form (NH4(T)≈NH4(aq)++NH3(aq)o), has been documented in thermal waters throughout Yellowstone National Park, with concentrations ranging from a few micromolar along the Firehole River to millimolar concentrations at Washburn Hot Springs. Indirect evidence from rock nitrogen analyses and previous work on organic compounds associated with Washburn HotAuthorsJ.M. Holloway, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J.K. Böhlke, R. Blaine McCleskey, J. W. BallHydrogeochemical processes governing the origin, transport and fate of major and trace elements from mine wastes and mineralized rock to surface waters
The formation of acid mine drainage from metals extraction or natural acid rock drainage and its mixing with surface waters is a complex process that depends on petrology and mineralogy, structural geology, geomorphology, surface-water hydrology, hydrogeology, climatology, microbiology, chemistry, and mining and mineral processing history. The concentrations of metals, metalloids, acidity, alkalinAuthorsD. Kirk NordstromWater-chemistry data for selected springs, geysers, and streams in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006-2008
Water analyses are reported for 104 samples collected from numerous thermal and non-thermal features in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) during 2006-2008. Water samples were collected and analyzed for major and trace constituents from 10 areas of YNP including Apollinaris Spring and Nymphy Creek along the Norris-Mammoth corridor, Beryl Spring in Gibbon Canyon, Norris Geyser Basin, Lower Geyser BasiAuthorsJames W. Ball, R. Blaine McMleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom - News
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government