Zoltan Szabo
A Research Hydrologist with the USGS New Jersey Water Science Center, specializing in investigating the occurrence and mobility of radon and radium since 1985, has been the national leader in defining the occurrence of short-lived radium-224 in groundwater. His recent work has expanded to the occurrence of a broad suite of "emerging" contaminants in groundwater and surface water.
Led the radionuclide occurrence and mobility assessment for the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program, with focus on National Radium occurrence. He has co-authored the NAWQA cycle III 10-year research plan for radionuclides. He worked on methods development for radionuclide analyses, included in Standard Methods, and analytical methods challenges of complex matrices including high TDS natural waters and waste brines. He has worked with isotopes as tracers of ground-water movement, including use of tritium, helium-3, and stable isotopes of nitrogen and strontium. He has been working on characterizing waste streams from septic tanks affecting ground-water quality and sewage discharge affecting surface water, as well as examining the effect of various treatment systems for these compounds. He has also been working on toxicology of sediments. He has helped design, test and implement "ultra-clean" ground-water sampling protocols for trace elements, including mercury, and is working on defining mercury distribution in the environment for coastal regions. He has expanded into “emerging” contaminants in ground/surface water, including various short-lived radionuclides, organic compounds, and the “species” of mercury and arsenic. He has designed studies to document the effects of natural isotope variations on variability in gross alpha-particle activity in ground water and effects of holding time after sample collection.
He has more than 65 full length publications and more than 100 abstracts, mostly devoted to radionuclide occurrence and mercury chemistry.
Education and Certifications
MS in Geology, Ohio State University, thesis on strontium isotopes as groundwater flow tracers
Affiliations and Memberships*
USGS NAWQA Program Trace-Element Synthesis Team on radionuclide occurrence
NIEHS (National Institute Environmental Health & Safety) Superfund Basic Research Program Committee (SBRP)
American Water Works Assoc. Research Foundation (AWWARF) Radionuclide Technical Advisory Committee
Technical advisor to the USGS NWQL (National Water Quality Laboratory) to the radionuclide and tritium-helium analytical services and associated contracts
Collaborates with researchers at local universities and serves as a committee member for graduate student candidates or as senior project advisor
Honors and Awards
Recipient of American Water Works Assoc. Researcher of the Year (2007, NJ Chapter).
Won the USGS Report of the Year Award for the Northeastern USA sparking EPA’s efforts to define occurrence of radium.
Abstracts and Presentations
One of three authors cited for radionuclide studies by USEPA in the Radionuclide Rule of 2000 and the accompanying Radionuclide NODA (Notice of Data Availability).
Science and Products
Water resources and shale gas/oil production in the Appalachian Basin: critical issues and evolving developments
Naturally occurring contaminants in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge crystalline-rock aquifers and Piedmont Early Mesozoic basin siliciclastic-rock aquifers, eastern United States, 1994–2008
Occurrence and mobility of mercury in groundwater: Chapter 5
Complex resistivity signatures of ethanol in sand-clay mixtures
Electrical signatures of ethanol-liquid mixtures: implications for monitoring biofuels migration in the subsurface
Variable contributions of mercury from groundwater to a first-order urban coastal plain stream in New Jersey, USA
Arsenic in New Jersey Coastal Plain streams, sediments, and shallow groundwater: effects from different geologic sources and anthropogenic inputs on biogeochemical and physical mobilization processes
Mercury in waters, soils, and sediments of the New Jersey Coastal Plain: A comparison of regional distribution and mobility with the mercury contamination at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic County, New Jersey
Principal aquifers can contribute radium to sources of drinking water under certain geochemical conditions
Occurrence and geochemistry of radium in water from principal drinking-water aquifer systems of the United States
Arsenic, metals, and nutrients in runoff from two detention basins to Raccoon Creek, New Jersey Coastal Plain, 2008
Inter-specific coral chimerism: Genetically distinct multicellular structures associated with tissue loss in Montipora capitata
Science and Products
- Science
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Filter Total Items: 62
Water resources and shale gas/oil production in the Appalachian Basin: critical issues and evolving developments
Unconventional natural gas and oil resources in the United States are important components of a national energy program. While the Nation seeks greater energy independence and greener sources of energy, Federal agencies with environmental responsibilities, state and local regulators and water-resource agencies, and citizens throughout areas of unconventional shale gas development have concerns aboAuthorsWilliam M. Kappel, John H. Williams, Zoltan SzaboNaturally occurring contaminants in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge crystalline-rock aquifers and Piedmont Early Mesozoic basin siliciclastic-rock aquifers, eastern United States, 1994–2008
Groundwater quality and aquifer lithologies in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces in the eastern United States vary widely as a result of complex geologic history. Bedrock composition (mineralogy) and geochemical conditions in the aquifer directly affect the occurrence (presence in rock and groundwater) and distribution (concentration and mobility) of potential naturally occurringAuthorsMelinda J. Chapman, Charles A. Cravotta, Zoltan Szabo, Bruce D. LindsayOccurrence and mobility of mercury in groundwater: Chapter 5
1. Introduction 1.1. FORMS, TOXICITY, AND HEALTH EFFECTS Mercury (Hg) has long been identified as an element that is injurious, even lethal, to living organisms. Exposure to its inorganic form, mainly from elemental Hg (Hg(0)) vapor (Fitzgerald & Lamborg, 2007) can cause damage to respiratory, neural, and renal systems (Hutton, 1987; USEPA, 2012; WHO, 2012). The organic form, methylmercury (CH3HgAuthorsJulia L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Pamela A. ReillyComplex resistivity signatures of ethanol in sand-clay mixtures
We performed complex resistivity (CR) measurements on laboratory columns to investigate changes in electrical properties as a result of varying ethanol (EtOH) concentration (0% to 30% v/v) in a sand–clay (bentonite) matrix. We applied Debye decomposition, a phenomenological model commonly used to fit CR data, to determine model parameters (time constant: τ, chargeability: m, and normalized chargeaAuthorsYves Robert Personna, Lee Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Dale D. Werkema, Zoltan SzaboElectrical signatures of ethanol-liquid mixtures: implications for monitoring biofuels migration in the subsurface
Ethanol (EtOH), an emerging contaminant with potential direct and indirect environmental effects, poses threats to water supplies when spilled in large volumes. A series of experiments was directed at understanding the electrical geophysical signatures arising from groundwater contamination by ethanol. Conductivity measurements were performed at the laboratory scale on EtOH–water mixtures (0 to 0.AuthorsYves Robert Personna, Lee Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Dale D. Werkema, Zoltan SzaboVariable contributions of mercury from groundwater to a first-order urban coastal plain stream in New Jersey, USA
Filtered total mercury (FTHg) concentrations in a rapidly urbanizing area ranged from 50 to 250 ng/L in surface waters of the Squankum Branch, a tributary to a major river (Great Egg Harbor River (GEHR)) traversing both urban and forested/wetland areas in the Coastal Plain of New Jersey. An unsewered residential area with Hg-contaminated well water (one of many in the region) is adjacent to the stAuthorsJulia Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Pamela A. Reilly, Melissa L. RiskinArsenic in New Jersey Coastal Plain streams, sediments, and shallow groundwater: effects from different geologic sources and anthropogenic inputs on biogeochemical and physical mobilization processes
Arsenic (As) concentrations in New Jersey Coastal Plain streams generally exceed the State Surface Water Quality Standard (0.017 micrograms per liter (µg/L)), but concentrations seldom exceed 1 µg/L in filtered stream-water samples, regardless of geologic contributions or anthropogenic inputs. Nevertheless, As concentrations in unfiltered stream water indicate substantial variation because of partAuthorsJulia L. Barringer, Pamela A. Reilly, Dennis D. Eberl, Adam C. Mumford, William Benzel, Zoltan Szabo, Jennifer L. Shourds, Lily Y. YoungMercury in waters, soils, and sediments of the New Jersey Coastal Plain: A comparison of regional distribution and mobility with the mercury contamination at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic County, New Jersey
Mercury in soils, surface water, and groundwater at the William J. Hughes Technical Center , Atlantic County, New Jersey, has been found at levels that exceed established background concentrations in Coastal Plain waters, and, in some cases, New Jersey State standards for mercury in various media. As of 2012, it is not known whether this mercury is part of regional mercury contamination or whetherAuthorsJulia L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Pamela A. ReillyPrincipal aquifers can contribute radium to sources of drinking water under certain geochemical conditions
What are the most important factors affecting dissolved radium concentrations in principal aquifers used for drinking water in the United States? Study results reveal where radium was detected and how rock type and chemical processes control radium occurrence. Knowledge of the geochemical conditions may help water-resource managers anticipate where radium may be elevated in groundwater and minimizAuthorsZoltan Szabo, Jeffrey M. Fischer, Tracy Connell HancockOccurrence and geochemistry of radium in water from principal drinking-water aquifer systems of the United States
A total of 1270 raw-water samples (before treatment) were collected from 15 principal and other major aquifer systems (PAs) used for drinking water in 45 states in all major physiographic provinces of the USA and analyzed for concentrations of the Ra isotopes 224Ra, 226Ra and 228Ra establishing the framework for evaluating Ra occurrence. The US Environmental Protection Agency Maximum ContaminanAuthorsZ. Szabo, Vincent T. DePaul, J.M. Fischer, T. F. Kraemer, E. JacobsenArsenic, metals, and nutrients in runoff from two detention basins to Raccoon Creek, New Jersey Coastal Plain, 2008
Arsenic (As) concentrations in the waters of Raccoon Creek in southern New Jersey commonly exceed the State\'s Surface Water Quality Standard (SWQS) for freshwater of 0.017 microgram per liter (mu or ug/L). In order to assess contributions of As from residential runoff to the creek, samples of runoff water were collected from a detention basin in each of two residential developments underlain by dAuthorsJulia L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Jennifer L. Bonin, Craig K. McGeeInter-specific coral chimerism: Genetically distinct multicellular structures associated with tissue loss in Montipora capitata
Montipora white syndrome (MWS) results in tissue-loss that is often lethal to Montipora capitata, a major reef building coral that is abundant and dominant in the Hawai'ian Archipelago. Within some MWS-affected colonies in Kane'ohe Bay, Oahu, Hawai'i, we saw unusual motile multicellular structures within gastrovascular canals (hereafter referred to as invasive gastrovascular multicellular structurAuthorsThierry M. Work, Zac H. Forsman, Zoltan Szabo, Teresa D. Lewis, Greta S. Aeby, Robert J. Toonen - 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