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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

The use of simulation and multiple environmental tracers to quantify groundwater flow in a shallow aquifer

Measurements of the concentrations of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), tritium, and other environmental tracers can be used to calculate recharge ages of shallow groundwater and estimate rates of groundwater movement. Numerical simulation also provides quantitative estimates of flow rates, flow paths, and mixing properties of the groundwater system. The environmental tracer techniques and the hydraulic
Authors
Thomas E. Reilly, Niel Plummer, Patrick J. Phillips, Eurybiades Busenberg

Mantle helium in the groundwater of the Mirror Lake Basin, New Hampshire, USA, 1994

Helium isotope analyses of ground waters from the Mirror Lake drainage basin in central New Hampshire (USA) show helium in excess of air-saturated water by up to 200x. The freon ages of these waters are younger than 50 years, consistent with the local hydrology. This excess helium has an isotope ratio of ^3He/^4He = 1.65 ± 0.10 x 10^(-6). It is shown that this component cannot be the result of cos
Authors
T. Torgersen, S. Drenkard, K. Farley, P. Schlosser, Allen M. Shapiro

Use of oxygen-18 and deuterium to assess the hydrology of groundwater-lake systems

A thorough understanding of a lake's hydrology is essential for many lake studies. In some situations the interactions between groundwater systems and lakes are complex; in other cases the hydrology of a multilake system needs to be quantified. In such places, stable isotopes offer an alternative to the more traditional piezometer networks, which are costly to install and time-consuming to maintai
Authors
David P. Krabbenhoft, Carl J. Bowser, Carol Kendall, Joel R. Gat

Plan of study to determine the effect of changes in herbicide use on herbicide concentrations in Midwestern streams, 1989-94

An approach was developed to determine if recent changes in the use of herbicides has affected herbicide concentrations in Midwestern streams. This approach also provides a plan to determine if the abnormally high rainfall and flooding in 1993 has an effect on nitrate concentrations in 1994 in streams that flooded in 1993. The approach involves sampling 53 stream sites, 50 of which were sampled in
Authors
Donald A. Goolsby, Laurie L. Boyer, William A. Battaglin

Studies of the San Francisco Bay, California, estuarine ecosystem: Pilot regional monitoring program results, 1993

Water samples were collected in the San Francisco Bay estuary during 22 cruises from January through December 1993. Conductivity, temperature, light attenuation, turbidity, oxygen, and in-vivo fluorescence were measured 1ongitudinally and vertically in the main channel of the estuary from south of the Dumbarton Bridge in the southern part of the bay to Rio Vista on the Sacramento River. Discrete w
Authors
J.M. Caffrey, B.E. Cole, J. E. Cloern, J. Rudek, A.C. Tyler, A.D. Jassby

Major ions, nutrients, and trace elements in the Mississippi River near Thebes, Illinois, July through September 1993

Extensive flooding in the upper Mississippi River Basin during summer 1993 had a significant effect on the water quality of the Mississippi River. To evaluate the change in temporal distribution and transport of dissolved constituents in the Mississippi River, six water samples were collected by a discharge-weighted method from July through September 1993 near Thebes, Illinois. Sampling at this lo
Authors
Howard E. Taylor, Ronald C. Antweiler, Terry I. Brinton, David A. Roth, John A. Moody