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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: 3787

Modeling CO2 degassing and pH in a stream-aquifer system

Pinal Creek, Arizona receives an inflow of ground water with high dissolved inorganic carbon (57-75 mg/l) and low pH (5.8-6.3). There is an observed increase of in-stream pH from approximately 6.0-7.8 over the 3 km downstream of the point of groundwater inflow. We hypothesized that CO2 gas-exchange was the most important factor causing the pH increase in this stream-aquifer system. An existing tra
Authors
J. Choi, S.M. Hulseapple, M.H. Conklin, J. W. Harvey

Studies of the San Francisco Bay, California, estuarine ecosystem: Regional monitoring program results, 1997

As part of a regional monitoring program, water samples were collected in the San Francisco Bay estuary during 20 cruises from January through November 1997. Conductivity, temperature, light attenuation, turbidity, oxygen, and in-vivo chlorophyll fluorescence were measured longitudinally and vertically in the main channel of the estuary from south of the Dumbarton Bridge in the southern part of th
Authors
Jelriza I. Baylosis, Brian E. Cole, James E. Cloern

Water velocities and the potential for the movement of bed sediments in Sinclair Inlet of Puget Sound, Washington

Sinclair Inlet is a small embayment of Puget Sound in the State of Washington. The inlet, about 6.5 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide, is the site of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. There are concerns that bed sediments in the inlet may have been contaminated as a result of activities at the shipyard, and that these sediments could be resuspended by tide- and wind-driven currents and transported
Authors
Jeffrey W. Gartner, E. A. Prych, G. B. Tate, D. A. Cacchione, R. T. Cheng, W.R. Bidlake, J.T. Ferreira

Chlorofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and dissolved permanent gases in ground water from selected sites in and near the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho, 1994-97

From July 1994 through May 1997, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Department of Energy, sampled 86 wells completed in the Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho N ationa1 Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The wells were sampled for a variety of constituents including one- and two-carbon halocarbons. Concentrations of dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12),
Authors
Eurybiades Busenberg, Niel Plummer, Roy C. Bartholomay, Julian E. Wayland

Chemical analyses of hot springs, pools, geysers, and surface waters from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and vicinity, 1974-1975

This report presents all analytical determinations for samples collected from Yellowstone National Park and vicinity during 1974 and 1975. Water temperature, pH, Eh, and dissolved O2 were determined on-site. Total alkalinity and F were determined on the day of sample collection. Flame atomic-absorption spectrometry was used to determine concentrations of Li, Na, K, Ca, and Mg. Ultraviolet/visi
Authors
James W. Ball, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Everett A. Jenne, Davison V. Vivit

Ground water contamination by crude oil near Bemidji, Minnesota

Ground-water contamination by crude oil, and other petroleum-based liquids, is a widespread problem. An average of 83 crude-oil spills occurred per year during 1994-96 in the United States, each spilling about 50,000 barrels of crude oil (U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety, electronic commun., 1997). An understanding of the fate of organic contaminants (such as oil and gasoline) in the subsurface is n
Authors
G. N. Delin, H.I. Essaid, I.M. Cozzarelli, M.H. Lahvis, B.A. Bekins

Characterizing a ground water basin in a New England mountain and valley terrain

A ground water basin is defined as the volume of subsurface through which ground water flows from the water table to a specified discharge location. Delineating the topographically defined surface water basin and extending it vertically downward does not always define the ground water basin. Instead, a ground water basin is more appropriately delineated by tracking ground water flowpaths with a ca
Authors
Claire R. Tiedeman, Daniel J. Goode, Paul A. Hsieh

Humic acids as electron acceptors for anaerobic microbial oxidation of vinyl chloride and dichloroethene

Anaerobic oxidation of [1,2-14C]vinyl chloride and [1,2-14C]dichloroethene to 14CO2under humic acid-reducing conditions was demonstrated. The results indicate that waterborne contaminants can be oxidized by using humic acid compounds as electron acceptors and suggest that natural aquatic systems have a much larger capacity for contaminant oxidation than previously thought.
Authors
P. M. Bradley, F. H. Chapelle, D. R. Lovley

Estimating formation properties from early-time recovery in wells subject to turbulent head losses

A mathematical model is developed to interpret the early-time recovering water level following the termination of pumping in wells subject to turbulent head losses. The model assumes that turbulent head losses dissipate immediately when pumping ends. In wells subject to both borehole storage and turbulent head losses, the early-time recovery exhibits a slope equal to 1/2 on log-log plots of the re
Authors
A.M. Shapiro, D.S. Oki, E.A. Greene

Benthic sulfate reduction along the Chesapeake Bay central channel. I. Spatial trends and controls

Factors controlling the spatial distribution of benthic sulfate reduction (SR) were investigated at 3 stations [upper (UB), mid (MB) and lower bay (LB)] along the Chesapeake Bay (eastern USA) central channel from early spring through late fall, 1989 to 1994. Annual rates of 0 to 12 cm depth-integrated SR were 0.96, 9.62 and 6.33 mol S m-2 yr-1 for UB, MB and LB, respectively, as calculated from 35
Authors
M. C. Marvin-DiPasquale, D.G. Capone