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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: 3746

Bacterial Cycling of Methyl Halides

This chapter focuses on the monohalogenated methanes methyl chloride (MeCl) and methyl bromide (MeBr), their natural and anthropogenic sources, and their degradation by microorganisms, specifically by aerobic bacteria that can use MeBr and MeCl as sole source of carbon and energy. The biogeochemical cycle of methyl halides and the microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, and biotechnological potentia
Authors
Hendrik Schafer, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. Oremland, Colin Murrell

Quantifying the benthic source of nutrients to the water column of Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Executive Summary Five sampling trips were coordinated in April, May and August 2006, and May and July 2007 to sample the water column and benthos of Upper Klamath Lake, OR (Fig. 1; Table 1), before, during and after the annual cyanophyte bloom of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA). A pore-water profiler was designed and fabricated to obtain the first high-resolution (centimeter-scale) estimates of
Authors
James S. Kuwabara, Dennis D. Lynch, Brent R. Topping, Fred Murphy, James L. Carter, Nancy S. Simon, Francis Parcheso, Tamara M. Wood, Mary K. Lindenberg, Katryn Wiese, Ronald J. Avanzino

Selected micrometeorological, soil-moisture, and evapotranspiration data at Amargosa Desert Research Site in Nye County near Beatty, Nevada, 2001-05

Selected micrometeorological and soil-moisture data were collected at the Amargosa Desert Research Site adjacent to a low-level radio-active waste and hazardous chemical waste facility near Beatty, Nevada, 2001-05. Evapotranspiration data were collected from February 2002 through the end of December 2005. Data were col-lected in support of ongoing research to improve the understanding of hydrologi
Authors
Michael J. Johnson, C. Justin Mayers, C. Amanda Garcia, Brian J. Andraski

OPR-PPR, a computer program for assessing data importance to model predictions using linear statistics

The OPR-PPR program calculates the Observation-Prediction (OPR) and Parameter-Prediction (PPR) statistics that can be used to evaluate the relative importance of various kinds of data to simulated predictions. The data considered fall into three categories: (1) existing observations, (2) potential observations, and (3) potential information about parameters. The first two are addressed by the OPR
Authors
Matthew J. Tonkin, Claire R. Tiedeman, D. Matthew Ely, Mary C. Hill

Legacy mercury in Alviso Slough, south San Francisco Bay, California: Concentration, speciation and mobility

Mercury (Hg) is a significant contaminant in the waters, sediment and biota of San Francisco Bay, largely resulting from extensive historic regional mining activities. Alviso Slough represents one of the most mercury contaminated waterways entering south San Francisco Bay, as it is associated with the drainage of the New Almaden mercury mining district. Wetland habitat restoration of former salt m
Authors
Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Marisa H. Cox

Concentrations of glyphosate, its degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid, and glufosinate in ground- and surface-water, rainfall, and soil samples collected in the United States, 2001-06

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a number of studies from 2001 through 2006 to investigate and document the occurrence, fate, and transport of glyphosate, its degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), and glufosinate in 2,135 ground- and surface-water samples, 14 rainfall samples, and 193 soil samples. Analytical methods were developed to detect and measure glyphosate, AMPA, and
Authors
Elisabeth A. Scribner, William A. Battaglin, Robert J. Gilliom, Michael T. Meyer

Recharge area, base-flow and quick-flow discharge rates and ages, and general water quality of Big Spring in Carter County, Missouri, 2000-04

Exploration for lead deposits has occurred in a mature karst area of southeast Missouri that is highly valued for its scenic beauty and recreational opportunities. The area contains the two largest springs in Missouri (Big Spring and Greer Spring), both of which flow into federally designated scenic rivers. Concerns about potential mining effects on the area ground water and aquatic biota prompted
Authors
Jeffrey L. Imes, Niel Plummer, Michael J. Kleeschulte, John G. Schumacher

Selenium and other elements in water and adjacent rock and sediment of Toll Gate Creek, Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, December 2003 through March 2004

Streamwater and solid samples (rock, unconsolidated sediment, stream sediment, and efflorescent material) in the Toll Gate Creek watershed, Colorado, were collected and analyzed for major and trace elements to determine trace-element concentrations and stream loads from December 2003 through March 2004, a period of seasonally low flow. Special emphasis was given to selenium (Se) concentrations bec
Authors
J. R. Herring, Katherine Walton-Day

Near-field receiving water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in South San Francisco Bay, California--2006

Results reported herein include trace element concentrations in sediment and in the clam Macoma petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica (Cohen and Carlton 1995)), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure for a mudflat one kilometer south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in South San Francisco Bay. This report includes
Authors
Allison H. Lorenzi, Daniel J. Cain, Francis Parcheso, Janet K. Thompson, Samuel N. Luoma, Michelle I. Hornberger, Jessica Dyke, Raul Cervantes, Michelle K. Shouse