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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: 4047

Selected meteorological and micrometeorological data for an arid site near Beatty, Nye County, Nevada, calendar year 1992

il-heat-flux data were collected at a study site adjacent to a low-level radioactive-waste burial facility near Beatty, Nevada, for calendar year 1992. Data were collected in support of ongoing studies to estimate the potential for downward movement of radionuclides into the unsaturated sediments beneath waste-burial trenches at the arid facility. Data collected for the whole year include air temp
Authors
James L. Wood

Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 1994 through September 1995) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the upper Clark Fork basin, Montana

Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in streams from Butte to below Missoula as part of a program to characterize aquatic resources in the upper Clark Fork basin of western Montana. Sampling stations were located on the Clark Fork and major tributaries. Water-quality data were obtained periodically at 16 stations during October 1994 through September 1995 (water year 1995). Data for twelve
Authors
K. A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger, E.V. Axtmann

Flexible digestion strategies and trace metal assimilation in marine bivalves

Pulse-chase experiments show that two marine bivalves take optimal advantage of different types of particulate food by varying food retention time in a flexible two-phase digestive system. For example, carbon is efficiently assimilated from bacteria by subjecting nearly all the ingested bacteria to prolonged digestion. Prolonging digestion also enhances assimilation of metals, many of which are to
Authors
Alan W. Decho, Samuel N. Luoma

Interannual climate variability and snowpack in the western United States

An important part of the water supply in the western United States is derived from runoff fed by mountain snowmelt Snow accumulation responds to both precipitation and temperature variations, and forms an interesting climatic index, since it integrates these influences over the entire late fall-spring period. Here, effects of cool season climate variability upon snow water equivalent (SWE) over th
Authors
Daniel R. Cayan

Hydrologic evaluation methodology for estimating water movement through the unsaturated zone at commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal site

This report identifies key technical issues related to hydrologic assessment of water flow in the unsaturated zone at low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facilities. In addition, a methodology for incorporating these issues in the performance assessment of proposed LLW disposal facilities is identified and evaluated. The issues discussed fall into four areas:Estimating the water balance at
Authors
P.D. Meyer, M.L. Rockhold, W.E. Nichols, G.W. Gee

The deethylatrazine/atrazine ratio as an indicator of the onset of the spring flush of herbicides into surface water of the Midwestern United States

The ratio of deethylatrazine to atrazine (DAR) may be used to record the first major runoff of herbicides from non-point-source corn fields to surface water in the Midwestern United States. The DAR dramatically decreases from ∼0.5 to < 0.1 upon application of herbicide and the first major runoff event of a basin. The DAR then gradually increases to values of approximately 0.4–0.6 during the harves
Authors
E. M. Thurman, J. D. Fallon

Numerical evaluation of static-chamber measurements of soil-atmospheric gas exchange--Identification of physical processes

The exchange of gases between soil and atmosphere is an important process that affects atmospheric chemistry and therefore climate. The static-chamber method is the most commonly used technique for estimating the rate of that exchange. We examined the method under hypothetical field conditions where diffusion was the only mechanism for gas transport and the atmosphere outside the chamber was maint
Authors
Richard W. Healy, Robert G. Striegl, Thomas F. Russell, Gordon L. Hutchinson, Gerald P. Livingston

Anaerobic mineralization of vinyl chloride in Fe(III)-reducing, aquifer sediments

Within anaerobic aquifer systems, reductive dehalogenation of polychlorinated ethenes commonly results in the accumulation of vinyl chloride, which is highly toxic and carcinogenic to humans. Anaerobic reduction of vinyl chloride is considered to be slow and incomplete. Here, we provide the first evidence for anaerobic oxidation of vinyl chloride under Fe(III)reducing conditions. Addition of chela
Authors
P. M. Bradley, F. H. Chapelle

Effects of sampling strategies on estimates of annual mean herbicide concentrations in midwestern rivers

The effects of 10 sampling strategies on estimates of annual mean concentrations of the herbicides atrazine, alachlor, and cyanazine in selected midwestern rivers were tested. The accuracy of the strategies was computed by comparing time-weighted annual mean herbicide concentrations calculated from water samples collected from 17 locations on midwestern rivers, with simulated annual mean concentra
Authors
W.A. Battaglin, L.E. Hay