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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

Temporal changes in the configuration of the water table in the vicinity of the management systems evaluation area site, central Nebraska

To improve understanding of the hydrologic characteristics of the shallow aquifer in the vicinity of the Management Systems Evaluation Area site near Shelton, Nebraska, water levels were measured in approximately 130 observation wells in both June and September 1991. Two water-table maps and a water-level-change map were drawn on the basis of these measurements. In addition, historical data from U
Authors
John M. Kilpatrick

Factors affecting tritium and 14carbon distributions in the unsaturated zone near the low-level radioactive-waste burial site south of Beatty, Nevada

Interpretations of the distributions of tritiated water vapor (HTOV) and 14carbon dioxide gas (14CO2) concentrations in the unsaturated zone adjacent to the low-level radioactive-waste burial site south of Beatty, Nevada, suggest that observed concentrations of 14CO2 could be explained by either diffusive or advective transport of the radioactive gas from the site.The distribution of HTOV cannot b
Authors
Robert G. Striegl, David E. Prudic, J. S. Duval, R. W. Healy, E. R. Landa, D.W. Pollock, D.C. Thorstenson, R.P. Weeks

Ground-water-quality assessment of the central Oklahoma Aquifer, Oklahoma — Geochemical and geohydrologic investigations

Ground-water samples, core samples, and hydrologic measurements were obtained in the Central Oklahoma Aquifer as part of the pilot National Water-Quality Assessment Program. This report examines ground-water recharge and discharge, the potentiometric surface, the chemical and isotopic composition of ground water, and the abundances and textures of minerals in core materials to determine the rates
Authors
David L. Parkhurst, Scott C. Christenson, George N. Breit

Movement of agricultural chemicals between surface water and ground water, lower Cedar River basin, Iowa

Movement of agricultural chemicals alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, deethylatrazine, deisopropylatrazine, and metolachlor between surface water and ground water is documented by data collected from May 1989 through July 1991 at an unfarmed study site adjacent to the Cedar River in Iowa. During periods of runoff, these chemicals moved from the Cedar River into the alluvial aquifer with bank-storage w
Authors
Paul J. Squillace, J.P. Caldwell, P.M. Schulmeyer, C.A. Harvey

Automated, colorimetric methods for determination of nitrate plus nitrite, nitrite, ammonium and orthophosphate ions in natural water samples

The apparatus and methods used for the automatic, colorimetric determinations of dissolved nutrients (nitrate plus nitrite, nitrite, ammonium and orthophosphate) in natural waters are described. These techniques allow for the determination of nitrate plus nitrite for the concentration range 0.02 to 8 mg/L (milligrams per liter) as N (nitrogen); for nitrite, the range is 0.002 to 1.0 mg/L as N; for
Authors
Ronald C. Antweiler, Charles J. Patton, Howard E. Taylor

Summary of suspended-solids concentration data, San Francisco Bay, California, water year 1994

Suspended-solids concentration data were collected in San Francisco Bay during water year 1994. Optical backscatterance sensors and water samples were used to monitor suspended solids continuously at two sites in Suisun Bay, two sites in Central San Francisco Bay, and three sites in South San Francisco Bay. Sensors were positioned at two depths at each site. In addition, a shallow-water instrument
Authors
P.A. Buchanan, D. H. Schoellhamer, R.C. Sheipline

Quantification of natural vapor fluxes of trichloroethene in the unsaturated zone at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey

The upward flux of trichloroethene (TCE) vapor through the unsaturated zone above a contaminated, water-table aquifer at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, has been studied under natural conditions over a 12-month period. Vertical gas-phase diffusion fluxes were estimated indirectly by measuring the TCE vapor concentration gradient in the unsaturated zone and using Fick's law to calculate the flux. Th
Authors
James A. Smith, Amy K. Tisdale, H. Jean Cho

Comparison of Eh and H2 measurements for delineating redox processes in a contaminated aquifer

Measurements of oxidation-reduction potential (Eh) and concentrations of dissolved hydrogen (H2) were made in a shallow groundwater system contaminated with solvents and jet fuel to delineate the zonation of redox processes. Eh measurements ranged from +69 to -158 mV in a cross section of the contaminated plume and accurately delineated oxic from anoxic groundwater. Plotting measured Eh and pH val
Authors
Francis H. Chapelle, Sheridan K. Haack, Peter Adriaens, Mark A. Henry, Paul M. Bradley

Geochemical and hydrologic controls on phosphorus transport in a sewage-contaminated sand and gravel aquifer near Ashumet Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Currently (1993), about 170 kg/yr of phosphorus discharges into Ashumet Pond on Cape Cod from a plume of sewage-contaminated ground water. Phosphorus in the plume is mobile in two distinct geochemical environments--an anoxic zone containing dissolved iron and a suboxic zone containing dissolved oxygen. Phosphorus mobility in the suboxic zone is due to saturation of available sorption sites. Phosph
Authors
Donald A. Walter, Brigid A. Rea, Kenneth G. Stollenwerk, Jennifer G. Savoie