Search Results

The equilibrium binding of Ca2+, Ni2+, Cd2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ with unfractionated Suwannee river fulvic acid (SRFA) and an enhanced metal binding subfraction of SRFA was measured using Schubert’s ion-exchange method at pH 6.0 and at an ionic strength (μ) of 0.1 (NaNO3). The fractionation and subfractionation were directed towards obtaining an...

Shoreline altitudes of several pluvial lakes in the western Great Basin of North America record successively smaller lakes from the early to the late Pleistocene. This decrease in lake size indicates a long-term drying trend in the regional climate that is not seen in global marine oxygen-isotope records. At +70...

The transformation of metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamide] and alachlor [2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-(methoxymethyl)acetamide] in aquatic systems was investigated using outdoor tank mesocosms. Metolachlor and alachlor levels and their ethane sulfonic acid (ESA) and oxanillic acid breakdown products were monitored over time under five experimental treatments (each in quadruplicate). Background water conditions were...

Ground water production wells commonly are designed to maximize well yield and, therefore, may be screened over several water-bearing zones. These water-bearing zones usually are identified, and their hydrogeologic characteristics and water quality are inferred, on the basis of indirect data such as geologic and geophysical logs. Production well designs...

Soil frost depth has been monitored at the Sleepers River Research Watershed in northeastern Vermont since 1984. Soil frost develops every winter, particularly in open fields, but its depth varies greatly from year to year in inverse relation to snow depth. During the 15...

Twenty conservative tracer injections were carried out in the same reach of a small woodland stream in order to determine how variation in discharge and leaf accumulation affect stream hydraulic parameters. The injections were made at various discharge rates ranging from 2-6 to 40 1/s. Five of the injections were...

A study site underlain by a claypan soil was instrumented to examine the transport of fertilizer nitrogen (N) under corn (Zea mays L.) cultivation. The study was designed to examine N transport within the unsaturated zone and in intedlow (the saturated flow of water on top of...

The hydrology of the near-stream riparian zone in upland humid catchments is poorly understood. We examined the spatial and temporal aspects of riparian flowpaths during snowmelt in a headwater catchment within the Sleepers River catchment in northern Vermont. A transect of 15 piezometers was sampled for Ca, Si, DOC, other...

Enzymatic and histopathologic alterations of the digestive gland, gill, gonad, and kidney were studied in Asian clam (Potamocorbula amurensis) in April, 1997 from each of four United States Geological Survey (USGS) stations in the San Francisco Estuary. Stations were selected based on differing body burdens of metallic contaminants in clams...

No abstract available....

This paper examines the processes and dynamics of ecologically-important inorganic chemical (primarily NO3-N) accumulation and loss in boreal forest snow during the cold winter period at a northern and southern location in the boreal forest of western Canada. Field observations from Inuvik, Northwest Territories and Waskesiu, Saskatchewan, Canada were used...

The herbicide acetochlor [2-chloro-N-(ethoxymethyl)-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl) acetamide] was first used on corn (Zea mays L.) in the USA during the growing season of 1994. By 1996, it was the third most heavily used corn herbicide in the midwestern USA. During the growing season of 1997, 78% of 375 samples collected at 32 stream...

An extensive 3H-3He study was performed to determine detailed characteristics of a regional flow system and a sewage plume over a distance of 4 km in a sand and gravel aquifer at Otis Air Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts. 3H-3He ages increase with depth in individual piezometer clusters and with distance...

Oxyanions of arsenic and selenium can be used in microbial anaerobic respiration as terminal electron acceptors. The detection of arsenate and selenate respiring bacteria in numerous pristine and contaminated environments and their rapid appearance in enrichment culture suggest that they are widespread and metabolically active in nature. Although the bacterial...

Trophic accumulation of mercury (Hg) in aquatic ecosystems is of global concern due to health effects associated with eating fish with elevated Hg levels. The methylated form of Hg bioaccumulates so it is important to understand how inorganic Hg is transformed to methylmercury in the environment. Here, a new site...

Solidification/stabilization (S/S) is recognized by the U.S. EPA as a best demonstrated available technology for the containment of contaminated soils and other hazardous wastes that cannot be destroyed by chemical, thermal, or biological means. Despite the increased use of S/S technologies, little research has been conducted on the weathering and...

Under methanogenic conditions, stream-bed sediment microorganisms rapidly degraded [1,2-14C]vinyl chloride to 14CH4 and 14CO2. Amendment with 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid eliminated 14CH4 production and decreased 14CO2 recovery by an equal molar amount. Results obtained with [14C]ethene, [14C]acetate, or 14CO2 as substrates indicated that acetotrophic methanogens were responsible for the production of 14CH4...

Two rain events at Matanuska Glacier illustrate how subglacial drainage system development and snowpack conditions affect hydrologic response at the terminus. On 21 and 22 September 1995, over 56 mm of rain fell in the basin during a period usually characterized by much drier conditions. This event caused an 8-fold...

Robowell is an automated process for monitoring selected ground water quality properties and constituents by pumping a well or multilevel sampler. Robowell was developed and tested to provide a cost-effective monitoring system that meets protocols expected for manual sampling. The process uses commercially available electronics, instrumentation, and hardware, so it...

Gauging the impact of manipulative activities, such as rehabilitation or management, on wetlands requires having a notion of the unmanipulated condition as a reference. And understanding of the reference condition requires knowledge of dominant factors influencing ecosystem processes and biological communities. In this paper, we focus on natural physical factors...

Selenium stable isotope ratio measurements should serve as indicators of sources and biogeochemical transformations of Se. We report measurements of Se isotope fractionation during selenate reduction, selenite sorption, oxidation of reduced Se in soils, and Se volatilization by algae and soil samples. These results, combined with previous work with Se...

Humic substances (HS) form molecular aggregates in solution and on mineral surfaces. Elucidation of the mechanism of formation of these aggregates is important for an understanding of the interactions of HS in soils arid natural waters. The HS are formed mainly by enzymatic depolymerization and oxidation of plant biopolymers. These...

A comprehensive set of soil characteristics were examined to determine the effect of soil on the transport of agrichemicals to ground water. This paper examines the relation of local soil characteristics to concentrations and occurrence of nitrate, atrazine (2-chloro-4 ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-trazine), and atrazine residue [atrazine + deethylatrazine (2-amino-4-chloro-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) + deisopropylatrazine (2-amino-4-chloro-6-ethylamino-s-triazine)]...

Research on the effects of vegetation manipulation on snowpack, soil water, and streamwater chemistry and flux has been underway at the Fraser Experimental Forest (FEF), CO, since 1982. Greater than 95% of FEF snowmelt passes through watersheds as subsurface flow where soil processes significantly...

Hydroxyatrazine (HA) is the major metabolite of atrazine in most surface soils. Knowledge of HA sorption to soils, and its pattern of stream water contamination suggest that it is persistent in the environment. Soils with different atrazine use histories were collected from four sites, and sediments were collected from an...