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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

Effect of retorted-oil shale leachate on a blue-green alga (Anabaena flos-aquae)

In the event of the development of the large oil shale reserves of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, one of the main environmental concerns will be disposal of retorted-oil shale which will be generated in greater volume than the original volume oI the mined oil shale. Investigators have found that leachates of retorted-oil shale are alkaline and have large concentrations of dissolved solids, molybdenu
Authors
Diane M. McKnight, Wilfred E. Pereira, Colleen E. Rostad, Eric A. Stiles

Transport of reacting solutes in porous media: Relation between mathematical nature of problem formulation and chemical nature of reactions

Examples involving six broad reaction classes show that the nature of transport-affecting chemistry may have a profound effect on the mathematical character of solute transport problem formulation. Substantive mathematical diversity among such formulations is brought about principally by reaction properties that determine whether (1) the reaction can be regarded as being controlled by local chemic
Authors
Jacob Rubin

Terpenoid marker compounds derived from biogenic precursors in volcanic ash from Mount St. Helens, Washington

A volcanic-ash sample obtained after the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington, was analyzed for cyclic terpenoid organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-computer techniques. Various tricyclic diterpenoid acids and hydrocarbons were identified including dehydroabietic acid, dehydroabietin, dehydroabietane, simonellite, and
Authors
W. E. Pereira, Colleen E. Rostad

Simulation of solute transport in a mountain pool-and-riffle stream: A transient storage model

The physical characteristics of mountain streams differ from the uniform and conceptually well- defined open channels for which the analysis of solute transport has been oriented in the past and is now well understood. These physical conditions significantly influence solute transport behavior, as demonstrated by a transient storage model simulation of solute transport in a very small (0.0125 m3s−
Authors
Kenneth E. Bencala, Roy A. Walters

Requirements for modeling trace metal partitioning in oxidized estuarine sediments

The fate of particulate-bound metals is of particular importance in estuaries because major biological energy flows involve consumption of detrital particles. The biological impact of particulate-bound metals is strongly influenced by the partitioning of metals among sediment components at the oxidized sediment-water interface. Adequate methods for directly measuring this partitioning are not avai
Authors
Samuel N. Luoma, J.A. Davis

Variable tolerance to copper in two species from San Francisco Bay

In static toxicity experiments, tolerance to soluble Cu of the bivalve, Macoma balthica, and the copepod, Acartia clausi, varied substantially among populations sampled within San Francisco Bay. Intraspecific tolerance differed ten-fold or more for both species over relatively small distances, suggesting geographical isolation of populations is not a prerequisite for the development of intraspecif
Authors
Samuel N. Luoma, D.J. Cain, K. Ho, A. Hutchinson

Nonequilibrium models for predicting forms of precipitated manganese oxides

Manganese oxides precipitated by bubbling air through 0.01 molar solutions of MnCl2, Mn(NO3)2, MnSO4, or Mn(ClO4)2 at a constantly maintained pH of 8.5 to 9.5 at temperatures of 25°C or higher consisted mainly of hausmannite, Mn3O4. At temperatures near 0°C, but with other conditions the same, the product is feitknechtite, βMnOOH, except that if the initial solution is MnSO4 and the temperature is
Authors
J. D. Hem, Carol J. Lind

Gas-film coefficients for streams

Equations for predicting the gas-film coefficient for the volatilization of organic solutes from streams are developed. The film coefficient is a function of windspeed and water temperature. The dependence of the coefficient on windspeed is determined from published information on the evaporation of water from a canal. The dependence of the coefficient on temperature is determined from laboratory
Authors
R. E. Rathbun, D. Y. Tai

Simulation of solute transport in a mountain pool-and-riffle stream with a kinetic mass transfer model for sorption

In natural channels there are often long periods of low flow during which solutes have repeated opportunity for contact with relatively immobile bed materials. Such conditions can exist in very small pool-and-riffle mountain streams. If a solute can sorb onto bed materials, then both hydrodynamic and chemical processes control solute transport. A simulation of these processes is presented for a ca
Authors
Kenneth E. Bencala

Kinetic analysis of strontium and potassium sorption onto sands and gravels in a natural channel

A kinetic, first-order mass transfer model was used to describe the sorption of strontium onto sand- and gravel-sized streambed sediments. Rate parameters, empirically determined for strontium, allowed for the prediction of potassium sorption with moderate success. The model parameters varied significantly with particle size. The sorption data were collected during an experimental injection of sev
Authors
Kenneth E. Bencala, Alan P. Jackman, Vance C. Kennedy, Ronald J. Avanzino, Gary W. Zellweger