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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: 3746

Hydrodynamics of larval settlement: The influence of turbulent stress events at potential recruitment sites

We describe a laboratory investigation into the effect of turbulent hydrodynamic stresses on clam larvae in the settlement phase of the recruitment process. A two-component laser-Doppler anemometer (LDA) was used to measure time histories of the instantaneous turbulence structure at potential recruitment sites within reconstructed beds of the adult Asian clam, Potamocorbula amurensis. Measurements
Authors
John P. Crimaldi, Janet K. Thompson, Johanna H. Rosman, Ryan J. Lowe, Jeffrey R. Koseff

Nitrate stable isotopes: Tools for determining nitrate sources among different land uses in the Mississippi River Basin

A study was conducted to determine whether NO3– stable isotopes (δ15N and δ18O), at natural abundance levels, could discriminate among NO3– sources from sites with different land uses at the basin scale. Water samples were collected from 24 sites in the Mississippi River Basin from five land-use categories: (1) large river basins (>34 590 km2) draining multiple land uses and smaller basins in whic
Authors
Cecily C.Y. Chang, C. Kendall, S. R. Silva, W.A. Battaglin, K. Campbell

Reactivity and mobility of new and old mercury deposition in a boreal forest ecosystem during the first year of the METAALICUS study

The METAALICUS (Mercury Experiment To Assess Atmospheric Loading In Canada and the US) project is a whole ecosystem experiment designed to study the activity, mobility, and availability of atmospherically deposited mercury. To investigate the dynamics of mercury newly deposited onto a terrestrial ecosystem, an enriched stable isotope of mercury (202Hg) was sprayed onto a Boreal forest subcatchment
Authors
H. Hintelmann, R. Harris, A. Heyes, J.P. Hurley, C.A. Kelly, D. P. Krabbenhoft, S. Lindberg, J.W.M. Rudd, K.J. Scott, V.L. St. Louis

A new metric for determining the importance of transient storage

A review of various metrics used to characterize transient storage indicates that none of the existing measures successfully integrate the interaction between advective velocity and the transient storage parameters (storage zone area, storage zone exchange coefficient). Further, 2 existing metrics are related to mean travel time, a quantity that is independent of the storage zone exchange coeffici
Authors
R.L. Runkel

Distribution, production, and ecophysiology of Picocystis strain ML in Mono Lake, California

A recently described unicellular chlorophytic alga isolated from meromictic Mono Lake, California, occupies a niche that spans two environments: the upper oxic mixolimnion and the deeper anoxic and highly reducing monimolimnion. This organism, Picocystis sp. strain ML, accounts for nearly 25% of the primary production during the winter bloom and more than 50% at other times of the year. In incubat
Authors
Collin S. Roesler, Charles W. Culbertson, Stacey M. Etheridge, Ralf Goericke, Ronald P. Kiene, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. Oremland

Atmospheric mercury deposition during the last 270 years: A glacial ice core record of natural and anthropogenic sources

Mercury (Hg) contamination of aquatic ecosystems and subsequent methylmercury bioaccumulation are significant environmental problems of global extent. At regional to global scales, the primary mechanism of Hg contamination is atmospheric Hg transport. Thus, a better understanding of the long-term history of atmospheric Hg cycling and quantification of the sources is critical for assessing the regi
Authors
Paul F. Schuster, David P. Krabbenhoft, David L. Naftz, L. DeWayne Cecil, Mark L. Olson, John F. DeWild, David D. Susong, Jaromy R. Green, Michael L. Abbott

Field and laboratory investigations of inactivation of viruses (PRD1 and MS2) attached to iron oxide-coated quartz sand

Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate inactivation of viruses attached to mineral surfaces. In a natural gradient transport field experiment, bacteriophage PRD1, radiolabeled with 32P, was injected into a ferric oxyhydroxide-coated sand aquifer with bromide and linear alkylbenzene sulfonates. In a zone of the aquifer contaminated by secondary sewage infiltration, small fra
Authors
Joseph N. Ryan, Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Menachem Elimelech, Theresa Navigato, Ann P. Pieper

Editors' message: The past year and thanks

No abstract available.
Authors
Robert Schneider, Clifford I. Voss

Relating net nitrogen input in the Mississippi River Basin to nitrate flux in the Lower Mississippi River--A comparison of approaches

A quantitative understanding of the relationship between terrestrial N inputs and riverine N flux can help guide conservation, policy, and adaptive management efforts aimed at preserving or restoring water quality. The objective of this study was to compare recently published approaches for relating terrestrial N inputs to the Mississippi River basin (MRB) with measured nitrate flux in the lower M
Authors
Gregory F. McIsaac, Mark B. David, George Z. Gertner, Donald A. Goolsby

A review of bacterial methyl halide degradation: Biochemistry, genetics and molecular ecology

Methyl halide‐degrading bacteria are a diverse group of organisms that are found in both terrestrial and marine environments. They potentially play an important role in mitigating ozone depletion resulting from methyl chloride and methyl bromide emissions. The first step in the pathway(s) of methyl halide degradation involves a methyltransferase and, recently, the presence of this pathway has been
Authors
I.R. McDonald, K.L. Warner, C. McAnulla, C.A. Woodall, R.S. Oremland, J.C. Murrell

Field evidence for a protistan role in an organically-contaminated aquifer

The association between protists, bacteria, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in an oxygen-depleted, 6 km-long wastewater contaminant plume within a sandy aquifer (Cape Cod, MA) was investigated by comparing abundance patterns along longitudinal and vertical transects and at a control site. Strong linear correlations were observed between unattached bacterial abundance and DOC for much of the upg
Authors
Nancy E. Kinner, Ronald W. Harvey, David M. Shay, David W. Metge, Alan Warren

Anaerobic methane oxidation in a landfill-leachate plume

The alluvial aquifer adjacent to Norman Landfill, OK, provides an excellent natural laboratory for the study of anaerobic processes impacting landfill-leachate contaminated aquifers. We collected groundwaters from a transect of seven multilevel wells ranging in depth from 1.3 to 11 m that were oriented parallel to the flow path. The center of the leachate plume was characterized by (1) high alkali
Authors
Ethan L. Grossman, Luis A. Cifuentes, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli