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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

Big Soda Lake (Nevada). 1. Pelagic bacterial heterotrophy and biomass

Bacterial activities and abundance were measured seasonally in the water column of meromictic Big Soda Lake which is divided into three chemically distinct zones: aerobic mixolimnion, anaerobic mixolimnion, and anaerobic monimolimnion. Bacterial abundance ranged between 5 and 52 x 106 cells ml−1, with highest biomass at the interfaces between these zones: 2–4 mg C liter−1 in the photosynthetic bac
Authors
Jon P. Zehr, Ronald W. Harvey, Ronald S. Oremland, James E. Cloern, Leah H. George, Judith L. Lane

Volatilization of ethylene dibromide from water

Overall mass-transfer coefficients for the volatilization of ethylene dibromide from water were measured simultaneously with the oxygen absorption coefficient in a laboratory stirred tank. Coefficients were measured as a function of mixing conditions in the water for two windspeeds. The ethylene dibromide mass-transfer coefficient depended on windspeed; the ethylene dibromide liquid-film coefficie
Authors
R. E. Rathbun, D. Y. Tai

A compositional multiphase model for groundwater contamination by petroleum products: 2. Numerical solution

In this paper we develop a numerical solution to equations developed in part 1 (M. Y. Corapcioglu and A. L. Baehr, this issue) to predict the fate of an immiscible organic contaminant such as gasoline in the unsaturated zone subsequent to plume establishment. This solution, obtained by using a finite difference scheme and a method of forward projection to evaluate nonlinear coefficients, provides
Authors
Arthur L. Baehr, M. Yavuz Corapcioglu

Solute transport with equilibrium aqueous complexation and either sorption or ion exchange: Simulation methodology and applications

Methodologies that account for specific types of chemical reactions in the simulation of solute transport can be developed so they are compatible with solution algorithms employed in existing transport codes. This enables the simulation of reactive transport in complex multidimensional flow regimes, and provides a means for existing codes to account for some of the fundamental chemical processes t
Authors
F.M. Lewis, Clifford I. Voss, J. Rubin

Thermodynamics of aragonite-strontianite solid solutions: Results from stoichiometric solubility at 25 and 76°C

Dissolution of synthetic strontianite-aragonite solid solutions was followed analytically to stoichiometric saturation using large solid to solution ratios in CO2-H2O solution at 25 and 76°C. The compositional dependence of the equilibrium constant was calculated from the composition of saturated (stoichiometric) solutions and used to calculate the activities and activity coefficients of CaCO3 and
Authors
Niel Plummer, E. Busenberg

Stable isotope dilution analysis of hydrologic samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is employed in the determination of Ni, Cu, Sr, Cd, Ba, Ti, and Pb in nonsaline, natural water samples by stable isotope dilution analysis. Hydrologic samples were directly analyzed without any unusual pretreatment. Interference effects related to overlapping isobars, formation of metal oxide and multiply charged ions, and matrix composition were identi
Authors
John R. Garbarino, Howard E. Taylor

Characterization of fracture permeability with high-resolution vertical flow measurements during borehole pumping.

The distribution of fracture permeability in granitic rocks was investigated by measuring the distribution of vertical flow in boreholes during periods of steady pumping. Pumping tests were conducted at two sites chosen to provide examples of moderately fractured rocks near Mirror Lake, New Hampshire and intensely fractured rocks near Oracle, Arizona. A sensitive heat-pulse flowmeter was used for
Authors
Frederick L. Paillet, A.E. Hess, C.H. Cheng, E. Hardin

Playa-lake basins on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico: Part I. Hydrologic, geomorphic, and geologic evidence for their development

Playa-lake basins of the Southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico, may originate wherever water periodically can collect in a surficial depression. They expand, however, by hydrologic and geomorphic processes including (1) dissolution of lithologic carbonates by infiltrating water; (2) transport downward of fine-grained clastic and organic material by the infiltrating ground water, leading to co
Authors
Waite Osterkamp, W.W. Wood

A comparison of water solubility enhancements of organic solutes by aquatic humic materials and commercial humic acids

No abstract available.
Authors
C.T. Chlou, Daniel E. Kile, T.I. Brinton, R. L. Malcolm, J. A. Leenheer, P. MacCarthy

Transport of reacting solutes subject to a moving dissolution boundary: Numerical methods and solutions

A moving boundary problem which arises during transport with precipitation-dissolution reactions is solved by three different numerical methods. Two of these methods (one explicit and one implicit) are based on an integral formulation of mass balance and lead to an approximation of a weak solution. These methods are compared to a front-tracking scheme. Although the two approaches are conceptually
Authors
Catherine Willis, Jacob Rubin

Chemical reactions simulated by ground-water-quality models

Recent literature concerning the modeling of chemical reactions during transport in ground water is examined with emphasis on sorption reactions. The theory of transport and reactions in porous media has been well documented. Numerous equations have been developed from this theory, to provide both continuous and sequential or multistep models, with the water phase considered for both mobile and im
Authors
David B. Grove, Kenneth G. Stollenwerk

Sources and flux of natural gases from Mono Lake, California

The ability to identify a formation mechanism for natural gas in a particular environment requires consideration of several geochemical factors when there are multiple sources present. Four primary sources of methane have been identified in Mono Lake. Two of these sources were associated with numerous natural gas seeps which occur at various locations in the lake and extend beyond its present boun
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, L.G. Miller, Michael J. Whiticar