Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 4094
Hydrological, geological, and biological site characterization of breccia pipe uranium deposits in Northern Arizona
On July 21, 2009, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar proposed a two-year withdrawal of about 1 million acres of Federal land near the Grand Canyon from future mineral entry. These lands are contained in three parcels: two parcels on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land to the north of the Grand Canyon (North and East Segregation Areas) and one on the Kaibab National Forest south of the Gran
One-Dimensional Transport with Equilibrium Chemistry (OTEQ) - A reactive transport model for streams and rivers
OTEQ is a mathematical simulation model used to characterize the fate and transport of waterborne solutes in streams and rivers. The model is formed by coupling a solute transport model with a chemical equilibrium submodel. The solute transport model is based on OTIS, a model that considers the physical processes of advection, dispersion, lateral inflow, and transient storage. The equilibrium subm
Authors
Robert L. Runkel
Changes in streamflow and the flux of nutrients in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin, USA, 1980-2007
Nutrients and freshwater delivered by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers drive algal production in the northern Gulf of Mexico, which eventually results in the widespread occurrence of hypoxic bottom waters along the Louisiana and Texas coast. Researchers have demonstrated a relation between the extent of the hypoxic zone and the magnitude of streamflow, nutrient fluxes, and nutrient concentra
Authors
William A. Battaglin, Brent T. Aulenbach, Aldo Vecchia, Herbert T. Buxton
USGS Science Serves Public Health
Human health so often depends on the health of the environment and wildlife around us. The presence of naturally occurring or human environmental contaminants and the emergence of diseases transferred between animals and humans are growing concerns worldwide. The USGS is a source of natural science information vital for understanding the quantity and quality of our earth and living resources. This
Authors
Herbert T. Buxton
Antibiotic, pharmaceutical, and wastewater-compound data for Michigan, 1998-2005
Beginning in the late 1990's, the U.S. Geological Survey began to develop analytical methods to detect, at concentrations less than 1 microgram per liter (ug/L), emerging water contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, personal-care chemicals, and a variety of other chemicals associated with various human and animal sources. During 1998-2005, the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed the following Michigan
Authors
Sheridan Kidd Haack
Reactive solute-transport simulation of pre-mining metal concentrations in mine-impacted catchments: Redwell Basin, Colorado, USA
With the increased importance of water resources in the western United States and many areas worldwide, the remediation of impacts from historical mining becomes ever more important. A possible process of making decisions about remediation for a catchment might include identification of principal sources of metals in the catchment, classification of the sources as natural or anthropogenic, and sim
Authors
Briant A. Kimball, Robert L. Runkel, Richard B. Wanty, Philip L. Verplanck
A record of phosphorus dynamics in oligotrophic lake sediment
Historical phosphorus (P) dynamics were studied using sediment cores from three oligotrophic, acidic lakes in Maine, USA. Long-term oligotrophy of these lakes is consistent with high sediment aluminum (as Al(OH)3) concentrations, as Al inhibits internal P loading, even under reducing conditions. The role of microbially-mediated reactions in controlling redox conditions was evaluated by estimating
Authors
Tiffany A. Wilson, Aria Amirbahman, Stephen A. Norton, Mary A. Voytek
Environmental fate of Ra in cation-exchange regeneration brine waste disposed to septic tanks, New Jersey Coastal Plain, USA: migration to the water table
Fate of radium (Ra) in liquid regeneration brine wastes from water softeners disposed to septic tanks in the New Jersey Coastal Plain was studied. Before treatment, combined Ra (226Ra plus 228Ra) concentrations (maximum, 1.54 Bq L−1) exceeded the 0.185 Bq L−1 Maximum Contaminant Level in 4 of 10 studied domestic-well waters (median pH, 4.90). At the water table downgradient from leachfields, combi
Authors
Zoltan Szabo, Eric Jacobsen, Thomas F. Kraemer, Bahman Parsa
Use of electrical imaging and distributed temperature sensing methods to characterize surface water–groundwater exchange regulating uranium transport at the Hanford 300 Area, Washington
We explored the use of continuous waterborne electrical imaging (CWEI), in conjunction with fiber‐optic distributed temperature sensor (FO‐DTS) monitoring, to improve the conceptual model for uranium transport within the Columbia River corridor at the Hanford 300 Area, Washington. We first inverted resistivity and induced polarization CWEI data sets for distributions of electrical resistivity and
Authors
Lee D. Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Kisa Mwakanyamale, Roelof J. Versteeg, Andy Ward, Christopher Strickland, Carole D. Johnson, John W. Lane
Applications of stable isotopes for regional to national-scale water quality and environmental monitoring programs
Isotopes are a potentially powerful component of monitoring and assessment programs aimed at quantifying and mitigating alterations to environments from human activities. In particular, isotopic techniques have proved useful for tracing sources and sinks of various pollutants in large river basins, wetlands, and airsheds. Many of these studies have been conducted at the regional to national scale
Authors
Carol Kendall, Megan B. Young, Steven R. Silva
Methylmercury cycling, bioaccumulation, and export from agricultural and non-agricultural wetlands in the Yolo Bypass
This 18-month field study addresses the seasonal and spatial patterns and processes controlling methylmercury (MeHg) production, bioaccumulation, and export from natural and agricultural wetlands of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA). The data were collected in conjuntion with a Proposition 40 grant from the State Water Resources Control Board in support of the development of Best Management Pra
Authors
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Jacob Fleck, Charles N. Alpers, Joshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Craig Stricker, Mark Stephenson, David Feliz, Gary Gill, Philip Bachand, Ann Brice, Robin Kulakow
Evidence of weak contaminant-related oxidative stress in glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) from the Canadian arctic
Environmental contaminants are transported over great distances to Arctic ecosystems, where they can accumulate in wildlife. Whether contaminant concentrations in wildlife are sufficient to produce adverse effects remains poorly understood. Exposure to contaminants elevates oxidative stress with possible fitness consequences. The glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus), an Arctic top predator, was used
Authors
Mark Wayland, David J. Hoffman, Mark L. Mallory, Ray T. Alisauskas, Katherine R. Stebbins