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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

Removing volatile contaminants from the unsaturated zone by inducing advective air-phase transport

Organic liquids inadvertently spilled and then distributed in the unsaturated zone can pose a long-term threat to ground water. Many of these substances have significant volatility, and thereby establish a premise for contaminant removal from the unsaturated zone by inducing advective air-phase transport with wells screened in the unsaturated zone. In order to focus attention on the rates of mass
Authors
A. L. Baehr, G.E. Hoag, M.C. Marley

An approach to the field study of hydraulic gradients in variable-salinity ground water

A field study approach is proposed for reliably estimating hydraulic gradients in subregions within a region of variable-salinity ground water. It is based upon Hubbert's concept about the kind of density distributions that are required for ground water to have a potential. The approach consists of dividing a region of variable-salinity ground water into subregions with constant density, subregion
Authors
J.J. Hickey

Requirement for a microbial consortium to completely oxidize glucose in Fe(III)- reducing sediments

In various sediments in which Fe(III) reduction was the terminal electron-accepting process, [14C]glucose was fermented to 14C-fatty acids in a manner similar to that observed in methanogenic sediments. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that, in Fe(III)-reducing sediments, fermentable substrates are oxidized to carbon dioxide by the combined activity of fermentative bacteria and fat
Authors
D. R. Lovley, E. J. P. Phillips

Water solubility enhancements of DDT and trichlorobenzene by some surfactants below and above the critical micelle concentration

Water solubility enhancements of 1,1-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane (DDT) and 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene (TCB) by aqueous surfactants below and above their critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) have been studied at room temperature with the following surfactants: Triton X-100, Triton X-114, Triton X-405, Brij 35, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. While the solubil
Authors
D. E. Kile, C. T. Chiou

Oxidation of aromatic contaminants coupled to microbial iron reduction

THE contamination of sub-surface water supplies with aromatic compounds is a significant environmental concern1,2. As these contaminated sub-surface environments are generally anaerobic, the microbial oxidation of aromatic compounds coupled to nitrate reduction, sulphate reduction and methane production has been studied intensively1-7. In addition, geochemical evidence suggests that Fe(III) can be
Authors
D. R. Lovley, M.J. Baedecker, D.J. Lonergan, I.M. Cozzarelli, E. J. P. Phillips, D. I. Siegel

Present-day biogeochemical activities of anaerobic bacteria and their relevance to future exobiological investigations

If the primordial atmosphere was reducing, then the first microbial ecosystem was probably composed of anaerobic bacteria. However, despite the presence of an oxygen-rich atmosphere, anaerobic habitats are important, commonplace components of the Earth's present biosphere. The geochemical activities displayed by these anaerobes impact the global cycling of certain elements (e.g., C, N, S, Fe, Mn,
Authors
R.S. Oremland

Description of an estuarine methylotrophic methanogen, which grows on dimethyl sulfite

Characteristics of an obligately methylotrophic coccoid methanogen (strain GS-16) previously isolated from estuarine sediment are described. Growth was demonstrated on dimethyl sulfide (DMS) or trimethylamine (TMA), but not on methane thiol, methane thiol plus hydrogen, dimethyl disulfide, or methionine. DMS-grown cells were able to metabolize DMS and TMA simultaneously when inoculated into media
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, Ronald P. Kiene, Indra Mathrani, Michael J. Whiticar, David R. Boone

Coprecipitation and redox reactions of manganese oxides with copper and nickel

Open-system, continuous-titration experiments have been done in which a slow flux of ∼0.02 molar solution of Mn2+ chloride, nitrate, or perchlorate with Cu2+ or Ni2+ in lesser concentrations was introduced into an aerated reactor solution held at constant temperature and at constant pH by a pH-stat titrator that added dilute NaOH. The resulting mixtures of metal oxyhydroxides and their native solu
Authors
J. D. Hem, Carol J. Lind, C. E. Roberson

Physical and chemical characteristics of a metal-contaminated overbank deposit, west-central South Dakota, USA

The deposit along the Belle Fourche River is typically up to 2 m thick and extends about 90 m away from the channel along the insides of meander bends. The sediments contain above-background levels of copper, iron, manganese, zinc, and particularly arsenic. An influx at high streamflow of uncontaminated sediment from terraces and the premining floodplain as well as from tributaries causes arsenic
Authors
D. C. Marron

Influence of coupling of sorption and photosynthetic processes on trace element cycles in natural waters

Chemical and biological processes have important roles in the transport and cycling of trace elements in natural waters, but their complex interactions are often not well understood. Trace-element concentrations may, for example, be controlled by adsorption-desorption reactions at mineral surfaces, with the equilibrium strongly influenced by pH. Variations in pH due to photosynthetic activity shou
Authors
C. C. Fuller, J.A. Davis

Circular convection during subsurface injection of liquid waste, St. Petersburg, Florida

Injection of liquid waste into a highly transmissive, saltwater-bearing, fractured dolomite underlying the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, provided an opportunity to study density-dependent flow associated with two miscible and density-different liquids. The injection zone was 98 m thick with a radial hydraulic conductivity of 762 m/d and a vertical hydraulic conductivity of 152 m/d. Mean chlorid
Authors
John J. Hickey