Arsenite and ferrous iron oxidation linked to chemolithotrophic denitrification for the immobilization of arsenic in anoxic environments
W. Sun, R. Sierra-Alvarez, L. Milner, R. Oremland, J.A. Field
2009, Environmental Science & Technology (43) 6585-6591
The objective of this study was to explore a bioremediation strategy based on injecting NO3− to support the anoxic oxidation of ferrous iron (Fe(II)) and arsenite (As(III)) in the subsurface as a means to immobilize As in the form of arsenate (As(V)) adsorbed onto biogenic ferric (Fe(III)) (hydr)oxides....
Inputs of fossil carbon from wastewater treatment plants to U.S. Rivers and oceans
D.R. Griffith, R.T. Barnes, P.A. Raymond
2009, Environmental Science & Technology (43) 5647-5651
Every day more than 500 million cubic meters of treated wastewater are discharged into rivers, estuaries, and oceans, an amount slightly less than the average flow of the Danube River. Typically, wastewaters have high organic carbon (OC) concentrations and represent a large fraction of total river flow and a higher...
Mineralogy of soils from two continental-scale transects across the United States and Canada and its relation to soil geochemistry and climate
D. D. Eberl, D. B. Smith
2009, Applied Geochemistry (24) 1394-1404
Quantitative mineralogy correlates with major-, minor- and trace-element chemistry for 387 samples of A-horizon and deeper soils collected from east-west and north-south transects across the USA and Canada, where the deeper soils were collected beneath the A-horizon samples. Concentrations of the major elements correlate with specific mineral phases. Minor- and...
Seismicity rate changes along the central California coast due to stress changes from the 2003 M 6.5 San Simeon and 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield earthquakes
A. Aron, J.L. Hardebeck
2009, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (99) 2280-2292
We investigated the relationship between seismicity rate changes and modeled Coulomb static stress changes from the 2003 M 6.5 San Simeon and the 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield earthquakes in central California. Coulomb stress modeling indicates that the San Simeon mainshock loaded parts of the Rinconada, Hosgri, and San Andreas strike-slip...
Biomineralization associated with microbial reduction of Fe3+ and oxidation of Fe2+ in solid minerals
G. Zhang, H. Dong, H. Jiang, R.K. Kukkadapu, J. Kim, D. Eberl, Z. Xu
2009, American Mineralogist (94) 1049-1058
Iron-reducing and oxidizing microorganisms gain energy through reduction or oxidation of iron, and by doing so play an important role in the geochemical cycling of iron. This study was undertaken to investigate mineral transformations associated with microbial reduction of Fe3+ and oxidation of Fe2+ in solid minerals. A fluid sample...
Forecasting distributions of large federal-lands fires utilizing satellite and gridded weather information
H.K. Preisler, R.E. Burgan, J.C. Eidenshink, Jacqueline M. Klaver, R. W. Klaver
2009, International Journal of Wildland Fire (18) 508-516
The current study presents a statistical model for assessing the skill of fire danger indices and for forecasting the distribution of the expected numbers of large fires over a given region and for the upcoming week. The procedure permits development of daily maps that forecast, for the forthcoming week and...
Composition of the seed bank in drawdown areas of navigation pool 8 of the upper Mississippi river
K.P. Kenow, J.E. Lyon
2009, River Research and Applications (25) 194-207
In an effort to enhance aquatic plant production and habitat diversity on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), resource managers considered water level reduction as a management tool to increase the area of emergent and submersed aquatic vegetation by natural seed germination. To quantify the availability of seed, we assessed the...
Historical fire and multidecadal drought as context for piñon - Juniper woodland restoration in western Colorado
Douglas J. Shinneman, William L. Baker
2009, Ecological Applications (19) 1231-1245
Fire is known to structure tree populations, but the role of broad-scale climate variability is less clear. For example, the influence of climatic “teleconnections” (the relationship between oceanic–atmospheric fluctuations and anomalous weather patterns across broad scales) on forest age structure is relatively unexplored. We sampled semiarid piñon–juniper (Pinus edulis–Juniperus osteosperma)...
Red-throated loons (Gavia stellata) breeding in Alaska, USA, are exposed to PCBs while on their Asian wintering grounds
Joel A. Schmutz, K.A. Trust, A.C. Matz
2009, Environmental Pollution (157) 2386-2393
Red-throated loons (Gavia stellata) breeding in Alaska declined 53% during 1977-1993. We compare concentrations of environmental contaminants in red-throated loons among four nesting areas in Alaska and discuss potential ramifications of exposure on reproductive success and population trends. Eggs from the four areas had similar total polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations,...
Detection and attribution of streamflow timing changes to climate change in the Western United States
H.G. Hidalgo, T. Das, M. D. Dettinger, D.R. Cayan, D.W. Pierce, T.P. Barnett, G. Bala, A. Mirin, A.W. Wood, Celine Bonfils, B.D. Santer, T. Nozawa
2009, Journal of Climate (22) 3838-3855
This article applies formal detection and attribution techniques to investigate the nature of observed shifts in the timing of streamflow in the western United States. Previous studies have shown that the snow hydrology of the western United States has changed in the second half of the twentieth century. Such changes...
Geomechanical response of permafrost-associated hydrate deposits to depressurization-induced gas production
J. Rutqvist, G. J. Moridis, T. Grover, T. Collett
2009, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering (67) 1-12
In this simulation study, we analyzed the geomechanical response during depressurization production from two known hydrate-bearing permafrost deposits: the Mallik (Northwest Territories, Canada) deposit and Mount Elbert (Alaska, USA) deposit. Gas was produced from these deposits at constant pressure using horizontal wells placed at the top of a hydrate layer...
Regional variations in water quality and relationships to soil and bedrock weathering in the southern Sacramento Valley, California, USA
R. B. Wanty, M. B. Goldhaber, J.M. Morrison, L. Lee
2009, Applied Geochemistry (24) 1512-1523
Regional patterns in ground- and surface-water chemistry of the southern Sacramento Valley in California were evaluated using publicly available geochemical data from the US Geological Survey's National Water Information System (NWIS). Within the boundaries of the study area, more than 2300 ground-water analyses and more than 20,000 surface-water analyses were...
Regional estimates of reef carbonate dynamics and productivity Using Landsat 7 ETM+, and potential impacts from ocean acidification
C.S. Moses, S. Andrefouet, C. Kranenburg, F. E. Muller-Karger
2009, Marine Ecology Progress Series (380) 103-115
Using imagery at 30 m spatial resolution from the most recent Landsat satellite, the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), we scale up reef metabolic productivity and calcification from local habitat-scale (10 -1 to 100 km2) measurements to regional scales (103 to 104 km2). Distribution and spatial extent of...
Climate-induced forest dieback: An escalating global phenomenon?
Craig D. Allen
2009, Unasylva (60) 43-49
Forests, which today cover 30 percent of the world’s land surface (FAO, 2006), are being rapidly and directly transformed in many areas by the impacts of expanding human populations and economies. Less evident are the pervasive effects of ongoing climatic changes on the condition and status of forests around the...
Quantifying sub-pixel urban impervious surface through fusion of optical and inSAR imagery
L. Yang, L. Jiang, H. Lin, M. Liao
2009, GIScience and Remote Sensing (46) 161-171
In this study, we explored the potential to improve urban impervious surface modeling and mapping with the synergistic use of optical and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) imagery. We used a Classification and Regression Tree (CART)-based approach to test the feasibility and accuracy of quantifying Impervious Surface Percentage (ISP) using...
The ecohealth assessment and ecological restoration division of urban water system in Beijing
J. Liu, M. Ma, F. Zhang, Z. Yang, Joseph L. Domagalski
2009, Conference Paper, Ecotoxicology
Evaluating six main rivers and six lakes in Beihuan water system (BWS) and diagnosing the limiting factors of eco-health were conducted for the ecohealth assessment and ecological restoration division of urban water system (UWS) for Beijing. The results indicated that Jingmi River and Nanchang River were in a healthy state,...
A burning story: The role of fire in the history of life
J.G. Pausas, Jon E. Keeley
2009, BioScience (59) 593-601
Ecologists, biogeographers, and paleobotanists have long thought that climate and soils controlled the distribution of ecosystems, with the role of fire getting only limited appreciation. Here we review evidence from different disciplines demonstrating that wildfire appeared concomitant with the origin of terrestrial plants and played an important role throughout the...
Assessment of lake sensitivity to acidic deposition in national parks of the Rocky Mountains
L. Nanus, M.W. Williams, K. Campbell, K.A. Tonnessen, T. Blett, D. W. Clow
2009, Ecological Applications (19) 961-973
The sensitivity of high-elevation lakes to acidic deposition was evaluated in five national parks of the Rocky Mountains based on statistical relations between lake acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations and basin characteristics. Acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) of 151 lakes sampled during synoptic surveys and basin-characteristic information derived from geographic information system (GIS) data...
Airborne gamma-ray and magnetic anomaly signatures of serpentinite in relation to soil geochemistry, northern California
A. E. McCafferty, B. S. Van Gosen
2009, Applied Geochemistry (24) 1524-1537
Serpentinized ultramafic rocks and associated soils in northern California are characterized by high concentrations of Cr and Ni, low levels of radioelements (K, Th, and U) and high amounts of ferrimagnetic minerals (primarily magnetite). Geophysical attributes over ultramafic rocks, which include airborne gamma-ray and magnetic anomaly data, are quantified and...
Size distribution of submarine landslides along the U.S. Atlantic margin
J.D. Chaytor, Uri S. ten Brink, A.R. Solow, B.D. Andrews
2009, Marine Geology (264) 16-27
Assessment of the probability for destructive landslide-generated tsunamis depends on the knowledge of the number, size, and frequency of large submarine landslides. This paper investigates the size distribution of submarine landslides along the U.S. Atlantic continental slope and rise using the size of the landslide source regions (landslide failure scars)....
Spatial and temporal variation in climate change: A bird’s eye view
Joseph J. Fontaine, Karie L. Decker, Susan K. Skagen, Charles van Riper III
2009, Climatic Change (97) 305-311
Recent changes in global climate have dramatically altered worldwide temperatures and the corresponding timing of seasonal climate conditions. Recognizing the degree to which species respond to changing climates is therefore an area of increasing conservation concern as species that are unable to respond face increased risk of extinction. Here we...
Subsurface control on seafloor erosional processes offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
David Twichell, Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Wayne E. Baldwin, James G. Flocks
2009, Geo-Marine Letters (29) 349-358
The Chandeleur Islands lie on the eastern side of the modern Mississippi River delta plain, near the edge of the St. Bernard Delta complex. Since abandonment approximately 2,000 years b.p., this delta complex has undergone subsidence and ravinement as the shoreline has transgressed across it. High-resolution seismic-reflection, sidescan-sonar, and...
Genetic diversity among brazilian isolates of beauveria bassiana: comparisons with non-brazilian isolates and other beauveria species
E.K.K. Fernandes, A.M.L. Moraes, R.S. Pacheco, D.E.N. Rangel, M.P. Miller, V.R.E.P. Bittencourt, D.W. Roberts
2009, Journal of Applied Microbiology (107) 760-774
Aims: The genetic diversity of Beauveria bassiana was investigated by comparing isolates of this species to each other (49 from different geographical regions of Brazil and 4 from USA) and to other Beauveria spp. Methods and Results: The isolates were examined by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), amplified fragment length polymorphism...
Investigation of uptake and retention of atmospheric Hg(II) by boreal forest plants using stable Hg isotopes
J.A. Graydon, Louis, H. Hintelmann, S.E. Lindberg, K.A. Sandilands, J.W.M. Rudd, C.A. Kelly, M.T. Tate, D. P. Krabbenhoft, I. Lehnherr
2009, Environmental Science & Technology (43) 4960-4966
Although there is now a general consensus among mercury (Hg) biogeochemists that increased atmospheric inputs of inorganic Hg(II) to lakes and watersheds can result in increased methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in fish, researchers still lack kinetic data describing the movement of Hg from the atmosphere, through watershed and lake ecosystems, and...
Hydrolysis of polycarbonate in sub-critical water in fused silica capillary reactor with in situ Raman spectroscopy
Z. Pan, I-Ming Chou, R.C. Burruss
2009, Green Chemistry (11) 1105-1107
The advantages of using fused silica capillary reactor (FSCR) instead of conventional autoclave for studying chemical reactions at elevated pressure and temperature conditions were demonstrated in this study, including the allowance for visual observation under a microscope and in situ Raman spectroscopic characterization of polycarbonate and coexisting phases during hydrolysis in subcritical water....
