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The kinetics of anaerobic mineralization of DCE and VC under methanogenic and Fe(III)-reducing conditions as a function of dissolved contaminant concentration were evaluated. Microorganisms indigenous to creek bed sedi ments, where groundwater contaminated with chlorinated ethenes continuously discharges, demonstrated significant mineralization of DCE and VC under methanogenic...

On July 21 or 22, 1984, debris flows triggered by rainfall occurred on the southern hillslope of Jake Ridge, about 6 km east of the crest of Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Rain gages near Jake Ridge recorded 65 mm and 69 mm...

The spatial distribution of source areas and associated residence times of water in the catchment are significant factors controlling the annual cycles of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in Deer Creek (Summit County, Colorado). During spring snowmelt (April-August 1992), stream DOC concentrations increased with the rising limb of the hydrograph,...

Stream bed temperature profiles were monitored continuously during water year 1990 and 1991 (WY90 and 91) in two New Mexico arroyos, similar in their meteorological features and dissimilar in their hydrological features. Stream bed temperature profiles between depths of 30 and 300 cm were examined to determine whether temporal changes...

Organic and inorganic pools of nitrogen (N) were measured in talus fines or ‘soils’ and subtalus water during the summer of 1995 in the alpine Green Lakes Valley catchment of the Colorado Front Range. Nineteen talus soil samples were divided into four classes: subtalus...

In the mantled karst terrane of northern Florida, the water quality of the Upper Floridan aquifer is influenced by the degree of connectivity between the aquifer and the surface. Chemical and isotopic analyses [18O/16O (δ18O), 2H/1H (δD), 13C/12C (δ13C), tritium (3H), and strontium‐87/strontium‐86 (87Sr/86Sr)] along with geochemical mass‐balance modeling were used to...

The different oxidation species of iodine have markedly different sorption properties. Hence, changes in iodine redox states can greatly affect the mobility of iodine in the environment. Although a major microbial role has been suggested in the past to account for these redox changes, little has been done to elucidate...

Chemical mass balances for sodium, magnesium, chloride, dissolved organic carbon, and oxygen 18 were used to estimate groundwater seepage to and from Williams Lake, Minnesota, over a 15-month period, from April 1991 through June 1992. Groundwater seepage to the lake and seepage from the lake to groundwater were determined independently...

Technical chlordane, a formerly widely used organochlorine pesticide, has become widespread in the environment. The distribution of technical chlordane in riverine environments may be due in part to resuspension and aqueous transport of contaminated bed sediment. To test this hypothesis, the Mississippi River was sampled for suspended sediment five times...

Brominated methanes are ozone-depleting compounds whose natural sources include marine algae such as kelp. Brominated methane degradation by bacteria was investigated to address whether bacterial processes might effect net emission of these compounds to the atmosphere. Bacteria in seawater collected from California kelp beds degraded CH2Br2 but not CHBr3. Specific...

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) was combined with high-performance liquid chromatography/high-flow pneumatically assisted electrospray mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESP/MS) for the trace analysis of oxanilic and sulfonic acids of acetochlor, alachlor, and metolachlor. The isolation procedure separated the chloroacetanilide metabolites from the parent herbicides during the elution from C18 cartridges using ethyl acetate for parent...

Infiltration and dispersion (including molecular diffusion) can transport volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from urban air into shallow groundwater. The gasoline additive methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is of special interest because of its (1) current levels in some urban air, (2) strong partitioning from air into water, (3) resistance to degradation, (4)...

Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, USA, have agreed to reduce nutrient loadings to Chesapeake Bay by 40% by the year 2000. This requires control of nonpoint sources of nutrients much of which comes from agriculture. Riparian forest buffer systems (RFBS) provide effective control of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution in some types...

Several practical considerations for measuring concentrations of dissolved molecular hydrogen (H2) in groundwater including 1 sampling methods 2 pumping methods and (3) effects of well casing materials were evaluated. Three different sampling methodologies (a downhole sampler, a gas- stripping method, and a diffusion sampler) were compared. The downhole sampler and...

Groundwater dating studies have supported the concept that aquifers with low coefficients of dispersion may contain coherent records of past conditions in recharge areas. Groundwater records can provide unique information about natural or anthropogenic changes in the atmosphere and hydrosphere where long-term monitoring data are not available. Here we describe...

The oxidation of [14C]methyl bromide ([14C]MeBr) to 14CO2 was measured in field experiments with soils collected from two strawberry plots fumigated with mixtures of MeBr and chloropicrin (CCl3NO2). Although these fumigants are considered potent biocides, we found that the highest rates of MeBr oxidation occurred 1 to 2 days after...

The effects of exchanged cation and layer charge on the sorption of water and ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (EGME) vapors on montmorillonite have been studied on SAz-1 and SWy-1 source clays, each exchanged respectively with Ca, Na, K, Cs and tetramethylammonium (TMA) cations. The corresponding lattice expansions were also determined,...

Nitrate in surface water can have adverse effects on aquatic life and, in drinking-water supplies, can be a risk to human health. As part of a regional study, nitrates as N (NO3-N) was analyzed in water samples collected from streams throughout 10 Midwestern states during synoptic surveys in 1989, 1990,...

In a solute-transport model, if a constant-concentration boundary condition is applied at a node in an active flow field, a solute flux can occur by both advective and dispersive processes. The potential for advective release is demonstrated by reexamining the Hydrologic Code Intercomparison (HYDROCOIN) project case 5 problem, which represents...

Borehole televiewer and hydrologic logging and hydraulic fracturing stress measurements were carried out in a 2.7-km-deep geothermal production well (73B-7) drilled into the Stillwater fault zone. Precision temperature and spinner flowmeter logs were also acquired in well 73B-7, with and without simultaneously injecting water into the well. Localized perturbations to...

Single-well injection/recovery tracer tests are considered for use in characterizing and quantifying matrix diffusion in dual-porosity aquifers. Numerical modeling indicates that neither regional drift in homogeneous aquifers, nor heterogeneity in aquifers having no regional drift, nor hydrodynamic dispersion significantly affects these tests. However, when drift is coupled simultaneously with heterogeneity,...

The Great Plains landscape is less topographically complex than most other regions within North America, but diverse aquatic ecosystems, such as playas, pothole lakes, ox-bow lakes, springs, groundwater aquifers, intermittent and ephemeral streams, as well as large rivers and wetlands, are highly dynamic and responsive to extreme climatic fluctuations. We...

Controlled debris-flow initiation experiments focused on three hydrologic conditions that can trigger slope failure: localized ground-water inflow; prolonged moderate-intensity rainfall; and high-intensity rainfall. Detailed monitoring of slope hydrology and deformation provided exceptionally complete data on conditions preceding and accompanying slope failure and debris-flow mobilization. Ground-water inflow and high-intensity sprinkling led...

The chemical relationships among particulate and colloidal organic material and dissolved fulvic acid were examined in an alpine and subalpine lake and two streams in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park. The alpine lake, Sky Pond, had the lowest dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (0.37 mgC/L), the highest particulate carbon...

Diatoms from lake sediments beneath Owens Lake playa, Inyo County, California, document a nearly continuous paleolimnological record of climate and hydrologic change since the penultimate glacial-interglacial cycle based on a chronology established by radiocarbon, tephrochronology, and paleomagnetic control. Freshwater planktic diatoms (especially species of Stephanodiscus), plagioclase feldspar-rich sediments with high...