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Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 3746

Estimating cleanup times for groundwater contamination remediation strategies

This article presents the Natural Attenuation Software (NAS), available as a free download from Virginia Polytechnic University, which can help remedial project managers and their contractors estimate the time of groundwater remediation through consideration of such natural attenuation processes as advection, dispersion, sorption, source zone depletion, and biodegradation. NAS consists of a combin
Authors
Gary Miner, Mark A. Widdowson, Eduardo Mendez, Francis H. Chapelle

Geochemical data from produced water contamination investigations: Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research (OSPER) sites, Osage County, Oklahoma

We report chemical and isotopic analyses of 345 water samples collected from the Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research (OSPER) project. Water samples were collected as part of an ongoing multi-year USGS investigation to study the transport, fate, natural attenuation, and ecosystem impacts of inorganic salts and organic compounds present in produced water releases at two oil and gas produ
Authors
James J. Thordsen, Yousif K. Kharaka, Gil Ambats, Evangelos Kakouros, Marvin M. Abbott

Uranium(VI) release from contaminated vadose zone sediments: Estimation of potential contributions from dissolution and desorption

A key difficulty in developing accurate, science-based conceptual models for remediation of contaminated field sites is the proper accounting of multiple coupled geochemical and hydrologic processes. An example of such a difficulty is the separation of desorption and dissolution processes in releasing contaminants from sediments to groundwaters; very few studies are found in the literature that at
Authors
Deborah L. Bond, James A. Davis, John M. Zachara

Overview of issues in subsurface and landfill microbiology

To date, the majority of evidence indicates that most subsurface environments possess climax ecological communities that are well adapted to the environment in which they live. Like their counterparts on the surface, subsurface ecosystems are characterized by a high degree of microbiological diversity, they possess trophic structure, and they exhibit material cycling and energy transfer. Members o
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, Joseph M. Suflita, Michael K. McInerney, Aaron L. Mills

Introduction and background

No abstract available. 
Authors
R. Harris, David P. Krabbenhoft, M. Murray, R.J. Reash, T. Saltman, R. Murray

Transport of microorganisms in the terrestrial subsurface: In situ and laboratory methods

This chapter describes and discusses laboratory and field techniques for studying microbial transport behavior in aquifer materials and model porous media. Changes in ionic strength (I) during transport studies may occur inadvertently as a result of using halides as conservative tracers and may lead to density-induced sinking of the tracer cloud. Substantive increases in I as a result of injection
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, Hauke Harms, Lee L. Landkamer

Biogeochemistry of aquifer systems

Many studies have examined the differences in bacterial numbers, composition, and activity between groundwater and sediment samples. The majority of the literature has suggested higher percentages of attached bacteria than of unattached bacteria in aquifer systems, including in pristine aquifers and in aquifers contaminated with petroleum, creosote, sewage, and landfill leachate. In studies of aqu
Authors
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, J.V. Weiss

Monitoring and evaluating trends in sediment and water indicators

No abstract available. 
Authors
David P. Krabbenhoft, D.R. Engstrom, C. Gilmour, R. Harris, J.P. Hurley, R.P. Mason

Integrated multi‐scale characterization of ground‐water flow and chemical transport in fractured crystalline rock at the Mirror Lake Site, New Hampshire

This chapter contains sections titled:IntroductionMirror Lake SiteFractures and Geologic MappingHydraulic Properties of Fractured Rock From Meters to KilometersChemical Migration in Fractured RockFracture Controls on Ground‐Water Flow and Chemical Transport at the Mirror Lake SiteSummary
Authors
Allen M. Shapiro, Paul A. Hsieh, William C. Burton, Gregory J. Walsh

A simple pore water hydrogen diffusion syringe sampler

Molecular hydrogen (H2) is an important intermediate product and electron donor in microbial metabolism. Concentrations of dissolved H 2 are often diagnostic of the predominant terminal electron-accepting processes in ground water systems or aquatic sediments. H2 concentrations are routinely measured in ground water monitoring wells but are rarely measured in saturated aquatic sediments due to a l
Authors
Don Vroblesky, Francis H. Chapelle, Paul M. Bradley