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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

Fate of microbial metabolites of hydrocarbons in a coastal plain aquifer: The role of electron acceptors

A combined field and laboratory study was undertaken to understand the distribution and geochemical conditions that influence the prevalence of low molecular weight organic acids in groundwater of a shallow aquifer contaminated with gasoline. Aromatic hydrocarbons from gasoline were degraded by microbially mediated oxidation-reduction reactions, including reduction of nitrate, sulfate, and Fe(III)
Authors
I.M. Cozzarelli, J.S. Herman, M. Jo Baedecker

Pb2+ and Zn2+ adsorption by a natural aluminum- and iron-bearing surface coating on an aquifer sand

Pb2+ and Zn2+ adsorption was studied in batch experiments with material collected from a shallow, unconfined aquifer of glacial outwash sand and gravel in Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA. The aquifer solids contain primarily quartz (95% w/w), with minor amounts of alkali feldspars and ferromagnetic minerals. Pb2+ and Zn2+ adsorption experiments with various grain size and mineral fractions of the aqu
Authors
J.A. Coston, C. C. Fuller, J.A. Davis

Assessing nonpoint-source pollution risk: A GIS application

No abstract available.
Authors
Kenneth J. Lull, James A. Tindall, Donald F. Potts

Phosphate dynamics in an acidic mountain stream: Interactions involving algal uptake, sorption by iron oxide, and photoreduction

Acid mine drainage streams in the Rocky Mountains typically have few algal species and abundant iron oxide deposits which can sorb phosphate. An instream injection of radiolabeled phosphate (32P0,) into St. Kevin Gulch, an acid mine drainage stream, was used to test the ability of a dominant algal species, Ulothrix sp., to rapidly assimilate phosphate. Approximately 90% of the injected phosphate w
Authors
Cathy M. Tate, Robert E. Broshears, Diane M. McKnight

Use of isotopic data to estimate water residence times of the Finger Lakes, New York

Water retention times in the Finger Lakes, a group of 11 lakes in central New York with similar hydrologic and climatic characteristics, were estimated by use of a tritium-balance model. During July 1991, samples were collected from the 11 lakes and selected tributary streams and were analyzed for tritium, deuterium, and oxygen-18. Additional samples from some of the sites were collected in 1990,
Authors
Robert L. Michel, Thomas F. Kraemer

Influence of gut content in immature aquatic insects on assessments of environmental metal contamination

We evaluated the effect of metal associated with the gut content in immature aquatic insects (larvae and nymphs) on spatial and interspecific comparisons of whole-body metal concentrations. Four species, common to cobble-bottom rivers and streams, were collected along an established contamination gradient in the Clark Fork River, and from tributaries of the Clark Fork. Metal concentrations were de
Authors
D.J. Cain, S. N. Luoma, E.V. Axtmann

Mantle helium in ground waters of eastern North America: Time and space constraints on sources

Mantle helium in continental environments is generally considered to be the result of active volcanism and/or active extension. The latest episodes of volcanism in northeastern North America are the track of the New England hotspot (95–190 Ma) and the closure of the Iapetus sea (before 300 Ma). Thus, the identification of mantle helium in young ground waters of central New England is counter to th
Authors
T. Torgersen, S. Drenkard, M. Stute, P. Schlosser, A. Shapiro

Fluxes of water and solute in a coastal wetland sediment. l. The contribution of regional groundwater discharge

Upward discharge of fresh groundwater into a mid-Atlantic intertidal wetland contributed 62% of the water needed to replace evapotranspiration losses from the sediment during an 11 day period in September. Infiltration during flooding by tides provided most of the balance; thus there was a net advection of salt into the sediment. The amount of groundwater discharge was estimated from changes in wa
Authors
William K. Nuttle, Judson W. Harvey

Characterization of a high-transmissivity zone by well test analysis: Steady state case

A method is developed to analyze steady horizontal flow to a well pumped from a confined aquifer composed of two homogeneous zones with contrasting transmissivities. Zone 1 is laterally unbounded and encloses zone 2, which is elliptical in shape and is several orders of magnitude more transmissive than zone 1. The solution for head is obtained by the boundary integral equation method. Nonlinear le
Authors
Claire R. Tiedeman, Paul A. Hsieh, Sarah B. Christian

Preliminary results from the hydrodynamic element of the 1994 entrapment zone study

This article discusses preliminary results from analyses of USGS hydrodynamic data collected as part of the 1994 Interagency Ecological Program entrapment zone study. The USGS took part in three 30-hour cruises and deployed instruments for measuring currents and salinity from April to June. This article primarily focuses on the analysis of data from five Acoustic Doppler Current ProUers (ADCPs) de
Authors
J.R. Burau, M. Stacey, J. W. Gartner

Seasonal/yearly salinity variations in San Francisco Bay

The ability of resource agencies to manage fish, wildlife and freshwater supplies of San Francisco Bay estuary requires an integrated knowledge of the relations between the biota and their physical environment. A key factor in these relations is the role of salinity in determining both the physical and the biological character of the estuary. The saltiness of the water, and particularly its season
Authors
David H. Peterson, Daniel R. Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger, Jeanne Sandra DiLeo, Stephen E. Hager, Noah Knowles, Frederic H. Nichols, Laurence E. Schemel, Richard E. Smith, Reginald J. Uncles

Year-to-year fluctuation of the spring phytoplankton bloom in south San Francisco Bay: An example of ecological variability at the land-sea interface

Estuaries are transitional ecosystems at the interface of the terrestrial and marine realms. Their unique physiographic position gives rise to large spatial variability, and to dynamic temporal variability resulting, in part, from a variety of forces and fluxes at the oceanic and terrestrial boundaries. River flow, in particular, is an important mechanism for delivering watershed-derived materials
Authors
James E. Cloern, Alan D. Jassby