Publications

One way to study Earth’s past environmental conditions is to look at ice cores recovered from glaciers. Every year a layer of snow accumulates on glaciers, like a page in a history book, and eventually turns to ice. Like reading the pages of a history book, analyzing the layers in a glacial ice core for specific chemical and physical components is a way of “reading” the environmental changes of th

Fish community data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at 12 sites in 1996 in the Wapsipinicon, the Cedar, the Iowa, and the Skunk River Basins in eastern Iowa. The study was done as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the USGS. This report presents an evaluation of the fish communities, the composition and conditions of the fish communities,and by rel

Streamwater samples were collected at 19 sites in the vicinity of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin Reservation. Samples were collected during 5 sampling periods in 1997-98. Field measurements were made and samples were analyzed for nutrients, suspended sediment, major ions, and pesticides. Physical characteristics and human activity influence surface-water quality in the study area. Predom

As part of the Chicagoland Underflow Plan/Tunnel and Reservoir Plan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, plans to build McCook Reservoir.a flood-control reservoir to store combined stormwater and raw sewage (combined sewage). To prevent the combined sewage in the reservoir from becoming anoxic and producing hydrogen sulfide gas, a coarse-bubble aeration system will be designed and

Extremely acidic mine waters with pH values as low as -3.6, total dissolved metal concentrations as high as 200 g/L, and sulfate concentrations as high as 760 g/L, have been encountered underground in the Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain, CA. These are the most acidic waters known. The pH measurements were obtained by using the Pitzer method to define pH for calibration of glass membrane electrodes.

Urban settings are a focal point for environmental contamination due to emissions from industrial and municipal activities and the widespread use of motor vehicles. As part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, streambed-sediment and dated reservoir-sediment samples were collected from the Chattahoochee River Basin and analyzed for total lead (Pb) and zinc

Relations between stream water chemistry and topographic, vegetative, and geologic characteristics of basins were evaluated for nine alpine/subalpine basins in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, to identify controlling parameters and to better understand processes governing patterns in stream water chemistry. Fractional amounts of steep slopes (≥30°), unvegetated terrain, and young surficial

Forest soil Ca depletion through leaching and vegetation uptake may threaten long-term sustainability of forest productivity in the southeastern USA. This study was conducted to assess Ca pools and fluxes in a representative southern Piedmont forest to determine the soil Ca depletion rate. Soil Ca storage, Ca inputs in atmospheric deposition, and outputs in soil leaching and vegetation uptake were

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled a national retrospective data set of analyses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ground water of the United States. The data are from Federal, State, and local nonpoint-source monitoring programs, collected between 1985–95. This data set is being used to augment data collected by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to asce

A mass balance approach was used to determine the most important nonpoint source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in storm water from an asphalt parking lot without obvious point sources (e.g., gasoline stations). The parking lot surface and atmosphere are important nonpoint sources of VOCs, with each being important for different VOCs. The atmosphere is an important source of soluble, oxygena

The alunite supergroup consists of more than 40 mineral species that have in common the general formula DG3(TO4)2(OH,H2O)6. The D sites are occupied by monovalent (e.g. K, Na, NH4, Ag, Tl, H3O), divalent (e.g. Ca, Sr, Ba, Pb), trivalent (e.g. Bi, REE) or more rarely quadrivalent (Th) ions; G is Al or Fe3+ or rarely Ga or V; T is S6+, As5+, or P5+, and may include subordinate amounts of Cr6+ or Si4

Sulfonylurea (SU), imidazolinone (IMI), and sulfonamide (SA) herbicides are new classes of low-application-rate herbicides increasingly used by farmers. Some of these herbicides affect both weed and crop species at low dosages and must be carefully used. Less is known about the effect of these compounds on non-crop plant species, but a concentration of 100 ng/l in water has been proposed as the th