Publications

Arsenic concentrations were determined in fine-grained, oxidized, surface sediments and in two benthic bivalves, Corbicula sp. and Macoma balthica, within San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta, and selected rivers not influenced by urban or industrial activity. Arsenic concentrations in all samples were characteristic of values reported for uncontaminated estuaries. Small tempo

Gas Works Park, in Seattle, Washington, is located on the site of a coal and oil gasification plant that ceased operation in 1956. During operation, many types of wastes, including coal, tar, and oil, accumulated on-site. The park soil is currently (1986) contaminated with compounds such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, trace metals, and cyanide. Analyses of water

A reconnaissance survey of the extent of metal contamination in the Rio Grande de Tarcoles river system of Costa Rica indicated high levels of chromium (Cr) in the fine-grain bed sediments (<60 μm) of tributaries downstream from leather tanneries (50–83 times Cr background or 3000–5000 μg/g). In the main channel of the river downstream of the San Jose urban area, Cr contamination in sediments was

Measured stream discharge plus calculated ground water discharge (total measured runoff) were compared with runoff calculated by the unit-runoff method for the two largest watersheds of Mirror Lake for 1981–1983. Runoff calculated by the unit-runoff method, using Hubbard Brook watershed 3 as the index watershed, was greater than the total measured runoff into Mirror Lake during periods of high flo

Interstitial water profiles of SeO42−, SeO32−, SO42−, and Cl− in anoxic sediments indicated removal of the seleno-oxyanions by a near-surface process unrelated to sulfate reduction. In sediment slurry experiments, a complete reductive removal of SeO42− occurred under anaerobic conditions, was more rapid with H2 or acetate, and was inhibited by O2, NO3−, MnO2, or autoclaving but not by SO42− or FeO

The U.S. Department of the Interior has embarked on a series of reconnaissance‐level investigations throughout the western states to identify, evaluate, and respond to irrigation‐induced water quality problems. A series of water, sediment, and biological samples are being analyzed for 17 inorganic constituents and a number of pesticides. 19 studies in 13 states have been undertaken. Seven have bee

Creosote is the most extensively used insecticide and industrial wood preservative today. It is estimated that there are more than 600 wood-preserving plants in the United States, and their collective use of creosote exceeds 4.5xl06 kg/yr (von Rumker et al., 1975). Creosote is a complex mixture of more than 200 major individual organic compounds with differing molecular weights, polarities, and fu

No abstract available. 

The mechanism for sorption of organic pollutants and pesticides by soil has long been a subject of profound interest because of its direct impacts on the mobility and activity of the compounds in soil. Although a large volume of laboratory and field data on many aspects of soil behavior had been gathered between the 1950s and 1970s, during which period the use of organic pesticides was increased,

No abstract available. 

No abstract available. 

The U.S. Geological Survey computer model of two-dimensional solute transport and dispersion in ground water (Konikow and Bredehoeft, 1978) has been modified to incorporate the following types of chemical reactions: (1) first-order irreversible rate-reaction, such as radioactive decay; (2) reversible equilibrium-controlled sorption with linear, Freundlich, or Langmuir isotherms; and (3) reversible