Laurence G Miller
I am scientist Emeritus with the Environmental Hydrodynamics Branch of the Earth Systems Process Division of the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
Our mission is to understand the processes that affect availability, movement, and quality of the Nation’s water resources. I’m currently engaged in studies of the fate of chromium in contaminated groundwater, the ecology and geochemistry of Mono Lake, CA, and the role of bacteria in transforming hydrocarbons in the subsurface.
Professional Studies/Experience
- May 1984 to Present: Research Oceanographer, National Research Program, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
- Sept. 1981 to May 1984: Oceanographer III, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Jan. 1977 to Sept. 1981: Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
- April 1973 to Dec. 1976: Research Technician, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY
Education and Certifications
Education
1972 B.A., Marine Science, Southampton College, Long Island University
1980 M.S., Geological Science, University of Southern California
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 55
Effects of glacial meltwater inflows and moat freezing on mixing in an ice-covered antarctic lake as interpreted from stable isotope and tritium distributions
Perennially ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys have risen several meters over the past two decades due to climatic warming and increased glacial meltwater inflow. To elucidate the hydrologic responses to changing climate and the effects on lake mixing processes we measured the stable isotope (??18O and ??D) and tritium concentrations of water and ice samples collected in the Lake Fryxell
Authors
L.G. Miller, G. R. Aiken
Benthic processes in San Francisco Bay: the role of organic inputs and bioturbation
No abstract available.
Authors
J. Caffrey, D. Hammond, J. Kuwabara, L. Miller, R. Twilley
Methylmercury oxidative degradation potentials in contaminated and pristine sediments of the Carson River, Nevada
Sediments from mercury-contaminated and uncontaminated reaches of the Carson River, Nevada, were assayed for sulfate reduction, methanogenesis, denitrification, and monomethylmercury (MeHg) degradation. Demethylation of [14C]MeHg was detected at all sites as indicated by the formation of 14CO2 and 14CH4. Oxidative demethylation was indicated by the formation of 14CO2 and was present at significant
Authors
R.S. Oremland, L.G. Miller, P. Dowdle, T. Connell, T. Barkay
A comparison of two nitrification inhibitors used to measure nitrification rates in estuarine sediments
Nitrification rates were measured using intact sediment cores from South San Francisco Bay and two different nitrification inhibitors: acetylene and methyl fluoride. Sediment oxygen consumption and ammonium and nitrate fluxes were also measured in these cores. Four experiments were conducted in the spring, and one in the fall of 1993. There was no significant difference in nitrification rates meas
Authors
J.M. Caffrey, L.G. Miller
Degradation of methyl bromide in anaerobic sediments
No abstract available.
Authors
R.S. Oremland, L.G. Miller, F.E. Strohmaler
Degradation of methyl bromide by methanotrophic bacteria in cell suspensions and soils
Cell suspensions of Methylococcus capsulatus mineralized methyl bromide (MeBr), as evidenced by its removal from the gas phase, the quantitative recovery of Br- in the spent medium, and the production of 14CO2 from [14C]MeBr. Methyl fluoride (MeF) inhibited oxidation of methane as well as that of [14C]MeBr. The rate of MeBr consumption by cells varied inversely with the supply of methane, which su
Authors
R.S. Oremland, L.G. Miller, C.W. Culbertson, T.L. Connell, L. Jahnke
Isolation, growth, and metabolism of an obligately anaerobic, selenate- respiring bacterium, strain SES-3
A gram-negative, strictly anaerobic, motile vibrio was isolated from a selenate-respiring enrichment culture. The isolate, designated strain SES-3, grew by coupling the oxidation of lactate to acetate plus CO2 with the concomitant reduction of selenate to selenite or of nitrate to ammonium. No growth was observed on sulfate or selenite, but cell suspensions readily reduced selenite to elemental se
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, Jodi S. Blum, Charles W. Culbertson, P.T. Visscher, Laurence G. Miller, P. Dowdle, F.E. Strohmaier
Meromixis in hypersaline Mono Lake, California. 2. Nitrogen fluxes
Vertical fluxes of nitrogen were examined in hypersaline Mono Lake over a 9-yr period which encompassed the onset, persistence, and breakdown of meromixis. Under monomictic conditions, ammonia, which accumulates in the hypolimnion, is mixed into the euphotic region during autumn overturn. Following the onset of meromixis in 1983 and elimination of the winter period of holomixis, ammonia was deplet
Authors
R. Jellison, Laurence G. Miller, John M. Melack, Gayle L. Dana
Aspects of the biogeochemistry of methane in Mono Lake and the Mono Basin of California
Above-ambient levels of methane and higher hydrocarbons were detected in the atmosphere of the Mono Basin. These gases emanated from several different sources, including natural gas seeps (thermogenic and biogenic), and methanogenic activity in sediments. Seeps were distributed over nearly 33% of the lake bottom and were also present in the exposed former lakebed. They originated from one or more
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, Laurence G. Miller, Charles Colbertson, S.W. Robinson, Richard L. Smith, D. R. Lovley, Michael J. Whiticar, G. King, Ronald P. Kiene, Niels Iversen, Melinda Sargent
Selective inhibition of ammonium oxidation and nitrification-linked N2O formation by methyl fluoride and dimethyl ether
Methyl fluoride (CH3F) and dimethyl ether (DME) inhibited nitrification in washed-cell suspensions of Nitrosomonas europaea and in a variety of oxygenated soils and sediments. Headspace additions of CH3F (10% [vol/vol]) and DME (25% [vol/vol]) fully inhibited NO2- and N2O production from NH4+ in incubations of N. europaea, while lower concentrations of these gases resulted in partial inhibition. O
Authors
L.G. Miller, M.D. Coutlakis, R.S. Oremland, B.B. Ward
The geochemistry of methane in Lake Fryxell, an amictic, permanently ice-covered, antarctic lake
The abundance and distribution of dissolved CH4 were determined from 1987-1990 in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, an amictic, permanently ice-covered lake in which solute movement is controlled by diffusion. CH4 concentrations were < 1 ??M in the upper oxic waters, but increased below the oxycline to 936 ??M at 18 m. Sediment CH4 was 1100 ??mol (1 sed)-1 in the 0-5 cm zone. Upward flux from the sediment
Authors
R. L. Smith, L.G. Miller, B.L. Howes
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 from the se
Authors
Laurence G. Miller, R. Jellison, Ronald S. Oremland, Charles W. Culbertson
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 55
Effects of glacial meltwater inflows and moat freezing on mixing in an ice-covered antarctic lake as interpreted from stable isotope and tritium distributions
Perennially ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys have risen several meters over the past two decades due to climatic warming and increased glacial meltwater inflow. To elucidate the hydrologic responses to changing climate and the effects on lake mixing processes we measured the stable isotope (??18O and ??D) and tritium concentrations of water and ice samples collected in the Lake Fryxell
Authors
L.G. Miller, G. R. Aiken
Benthic processes in San Francisco Bay: the role of organic inputs and bioturbation
No abstract available.
Authors
J. Caffrey, D. Hammond, J. Kuwabara, L. Miller, R. Twilley
Methylmercury oxidative degradation potentials in contaminated and pristine sediments of the Carson River, Nevada
Sediments from mercury-contaminated and uncontaminated reaches of the Carson River, Nevada, were assayed for sulfate reduction, methanogenesis, denitrification, and monomethylmercury (MeHg) degradation. Demethylation of [14C]MeHg was detected at all sites as indicated by the formation of 14CO2 and 14CH4. Oxidative demethylation was indicated by the formation of 14CO2 and was present at significant
Authors
R.S. Oremland, L.G. Miller, P. Dowdle, T. Connell, T. Barkay
A comparison of two nitrification inhibitors used to measure nitrification rates in estuarine sediments
Nitrification rates were measured using intact sediment cores from South San Francisco Bay and two different nitrification inhibitors: acetylene and methyl fluoride. Sediment oxygen consumption and ammonium and nitrate fluxes were also measured in these cores. Four experiments were conducted in the spring, and one in the fall of 1993. There was no significant difference in nitrification rates meas
Authors
J.M. Caffrey, L.G. Miller
Degradation of methyl bromide in anaerobic sediments
No abstract available.
Authors
R.S. Oremland, L.G. Miller, F.E. Strohmaler
Degradation of methyl bromide by methanotrophic bacteria in cell suspensions and soils
Cell suspensions of Methylococcus capsulatus mineralized methyl bromide (MeBr), as evidenced by its removal from the gas phase, the quantitative recovery of Br- in the spent medium, and the production of 14CO2 from [14C]MeBr. Methyl fluoride (MeF) inhibited oxidation of methane as well as that of [14C]MeBr. The rate of MeBr consumption by cells varied inversely with the supply of methane, which su
Authors
R.S. Oremland, L.G. Miller, C.W. Culbertson, T.L. Connell, L. Jahnke
Isolation, growth, and metabolism of an obligately anaerobic, selenate- respiring bacterium, strain SES-3
A gram-negative, strictly anaerobic, motile vibrio was isolated from a selenate-respiring enrichment culture. The isolate, designated strain SES-3, grew by coupling the oxidation of lactate to acetate plus CO2 with the concomitant reduction of selenate to selenite or of nitrate to ammonium. No growth was observed on sulfate or selenite, but cell suspensions readily reduced selenite to elemental se
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, Jodi S. Blum, Charles W. Culbertson, P.T. Visscher, Laurence G. Miller, P. Dowdle, F.E. Strohmaier
Meromixis in hypersaline Mono Lake, California. 2. Nitrogen fluxes
Vertical fluxes of nitrogen were examined in hypersaline Mono Lake over a 9-yr period which encompassed the onset, persistence, and breakdown of meromixis. Under monomictic conditions, ammonia, which accumulates in the hypolimnion, is mixed into the euphotic region during autumn overturn. Following the onset of meromixis in 1983 and elimination of the winter period of holomixis, ammonia was deplet
Authors
R. Jellison, Laurence G. Miller, John M. Melack, Gayle L. Dana
Aspects of the biogeochemistry of methane in Mono Lake and the Mono Basin of California
Above-ambient levels of methane and higher hydrocarbons were detected in the atmosphere of the Mono Basin. These gases emanated from several different sources, including natural gas seeps (thermogenic and biogenic), and methanogenic activity in sediments. Seeps were distributed over nearly 33% of the lake bottom and were also present in the exposed former lakebed. They originated from one or more
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, Laurence G. Miller, Charles Colbertson, S.W. Robinson, Richard L. Smith, D. R. Lovley, Michael J. Whiticar, G. King, Ronald P. Kiene, Niels Iversen, Melinda Sargent
Selective inhibition of ammonium oxidation and nitrification-linked N2O formation by methyl fluoride and dimethyl ether
Methyl fluoride (CH3F) and dimethyl ether (DME) inhibited nitrification in washed-cell suspensions of Nitrosomonas europaea and in a variety of oxygenated soils and sediments. Headspace additions of CH3F (10% [vol/vol]) and DME (25% [vol/vol]) fully inhibited NO2- and N2O production from NH4+ in incubations of N. europaea, while lower concentrations of these gases resulted in partial inhibition. O
Authors
L.G. Miller, M.D. Coutlakis, R.S. Oremland, B.B. Ward
The geochemistry of methane in Lake Fryxell, an amictic, permanently ice-covered, antarctic lake
The abundance and distribution of dissolved CH4 were determined from 1987-1990 in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, an amictic, permanently ice-covered lake in which solute movement is controlled by diffusion. CH4 concentrations were < 1 ??M in the upper oxic waters, but increased below the oxycline to 936 ??M at 18 m. Sediment CH4 was 1100 ??mol (1 sed)-1 in the 0-5 cm zone. Upward flux from the sediment
Authors
R. L. Smith, L.G. Miller, B.L. Howes
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 from the se
Authors
Laurence G. Miller, R. Jellison, Ronald S. Oremland, Charles W. Culbertson