Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 3746
Relating carbon monoxide photoproduction to dissolved organic matter functionality
Aqueous solutions of humic substances (HSs) and pure monomeric aromatics were irradiated to investigate the chemical controls upon carbon monoxide (CO) photoproduction from dissolved organic matter (DOM). HSs were isolated from lakes, rivers, marsh, and ocean. Inclusion of humic, fulvic, hydrophobic organic, and hydrophilic organic acid fractions from these environments provided samples diverse in
Authors
Aron Stubbins, Vesper Hubbard, Guenther Uher, Cliff S. Law, Robert C. Upstill-Goddard, George Aiken, K. Mopper
Metals fate and transport modelling in streams and watersheds: state of the science and USEPA workshop review
Metals pollution in surface waters from point and non-point sources (NPS) is a widespread problem in the United States and worldwide (Lofts et al., 2007; USEPA, 2007). In the western United States, metals associated with acid mine drainage (AMD) from hardrock mines in mountainous areas impact aquatic ecosystems and human health (USEPA, 1997a; Caruso and Ward, 1998; Church et al., 2007). Metals fat
Authors
B.S. Caruso, T.J. Cox, Robert L. Runkel, M.L. Velleux, Kenneth E. Bencala, D. Kirk Nordstrom, P.Y. Julien, B. A. Butler, Charles N. Alpers, A. Marion, Kathleen S. Smith
Co-precipitation of dissolved organic matter by calcium carbonate in Pyramid Lake, Nevada
Our previous research has demonstrated that dissolved organic matter (DOM) influences calcium carbonate mineral formation in surface and ground water. To better understand DOM mediation of carbonate precipitation and DOM co-precipitation and/or incorporation with carbonate minerals, we characterized the content and speciation of DOM in carbonate minerals and in the lake water of Pyramid Lake, Neva
Authors
Jerry A. Leenheer, Michael M. Reddy
Geoelectrical inference of mass transfer parameters using temporal moments
We present an approach to infer mass transfer parameters based on (1) an analytical model that relates the temporal moments of mobile and bulk concentration and (2) a bicontinuum modification to Archie's law. Whereas conventional geochemical measurements preferentially sample from the mobile domain, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is sensitive to bulk electrical conductivity and, thus, ele
Authors
Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Kamini Singha
Arsenic(III) fuels anoxygenic photosynthesis in hot spring biofilms from Mono Lake, California
Phylogenetic analysis indicates that microbial arsenic metabolism is ancient and probably extends back to the primordial Earth. In microbial biofilms growing on the rock surfaces of anoxic brine pools fed by hot springs containing arsenite and sulfide at high concentrations, we discovered light-dependent oxidation of arsenite [As(III)] to arsenate [As(V)] occurring under anoxic conditions. The com
Authors
T.R. Kulp, S.E. Hoeft, M. Asao, M.T. Madigan, J.T. Hollibaugh, J.C. Fisher, J.F. Stolz, C.W. Culbertson, L.G. Miller, R.S. Oremland
A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States - I) Groundwater
As part of the continuing effort to collect baseline information on the environmental occurrence of pharmaceuticals, and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) in the Nation's water resources, water samples were collected from a network of 47 groundwater sites across 18 states in 2000. All samples collected were analyzed for 65 OWCs representing a wide variety of uses and origins. Site selec
Authors
K.K. Barnes, D.W. Kolpin, E. T. Furlong, S.D. Zaugg, M. T. Meyer, L. B. Barber
Evaluating regional patterns in nitrate sources to watersheds in national parks of the Rocky Mountains using nitrate isotopes
In the Rocky Mountains, there is uncertainty about the source areas and emission types that contribute to nitrate (NO3) deposition, which can adversely affect sensitive aquatic habitats of high-elevation watersheds. Regional patterns in NO3 deposition sources were evaluated using NO3 isotopes in five National Parks, including 37 lakes and 7 precipitation sites. Results indicate that lake NO3 range
Authors
L. Nanus, M.W. Williams, K. Campbell, E.M. Elliott, C. Kendall
Geochemical controls of elevated arsenic concentrations in groundwater, Ester Dome, Fairbanks district, Alaska
Ester Dome, an upland area near Fairbanks, Alaska, was chosen for a detailed hydrogeochemical study because of the previously reported elevated arsenic in groundwater, and the presence of a large set of wells amenable to detailed sampling. Ester Dome lies within the Fairbanks mining district, where gold-bearing quartz veins, typically containing 2–3 vol.% sulfide minerals (arsenopyrite, stibnite,
Authors
P. L. Verplanck, S. H. Mueller, R. J. Goldfarb, D. Kirk Nordstrom, E. K. Youcha
What was the groundwater quality before mining in a mineralized region? Lessons from the Questa Project
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department and supported by Molycorp, Inc (currently Chevron Minerals), has completed a 5-year investigation (2001-2006) to determine the pre-mining ground-water quality at Molycorp's Questa molybdenum mine in northern New Mexico. Current mine-site ground waters are often contaminated with mine-waste leachates and no data e
Authors
D. Kirk Nordstrom
Prevalence of tumors in brown bullhead from three lakes in southeastern Massachusetts, 2002
The Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) has been a military base on western Cape Cod since the early 1900s. Contaminated surface water and ground water from the MMR have discharged into several kettle lakes on or near the base. To discover whether the prevalences of tumors and other lesions in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) in these lakes, particularly Ashumet Pond, were elevated above n
Authors
Paul C. Baumann, Denis R. LeBlanc, Vicki Blazer, John R. Meier, Stephen T. Hurley, Yasu Kiryu
Use of inverse-modeling methods to improve ground-water-model calibration and evaluate model-prediction uncertainty, Camp Edwards, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Historical weapons testing and disposal activities at Camp Edwards, which is located on the Massachusetts Military Reservation, western Cape Cod, have resulted in the release of contaminants into an underlying sand and gravel aquifer that is the sole source of potable water to surrounding communities. Ground-water models have been used at the site to simulate advective transport in the aquifer in
Authors
Donald A. Walter, Denis R. LeBlanc
Simulation of ground-water flow in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia and West Virginia, using variable-direction anisotropy in hydraulic conductivity to represent bedrock structure
Ground-water flow was simulated using variable-direction anisotropy in hydraulic conductivity to represent the folded, fractured sedimentary rocks that underlie the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and West Virginia. The anisotropy is a consequence of the orientations of fractures that provide preferential flow paths through the rock, such that the direction of maximum hydraulic conductivity is orien
Authors
Richard M. Yager, Scott C. Southworth, Clifford I. Voss