Phytoremediation in the Desert?
Type |
- Testing Remediation Technologies
- Site Characterization
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Location |
Amargosa Desert Research Site, NV |
Partners |
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Technology |
Phytoremediation |
Contaminants |
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Description |
Phytoremediation
in the desert might be a possibility. Research at the Amargosa Desert
Research Site has documented the importance of plants in the upward
movement and discharge of water from the deep (110-meter-thick)
unsaturated zone
at the site. New studies are now underway to evaluate the role of
plants in the detection and remediation of subsurface contamination.
These studies could lead to the development of a method to conduct
long-term monitoring at low-level radioactive waste sites that will
(a) provide an accurate indication of changes in subsurface tritium
concentrations at low cost and (b) quantify the transport of tritium
from the subsurface to the atmosphere.
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More Information |
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Contact |
Brian Andraski, USGS, Nevada District, Carson City,
Nevada, |
Publications |
The following publications illustrate
the importance of plants in the water balance and flow processes in
arid environments:
- Andraski, B.J., 1997,
Soil-water
movement under natural-site and waste-site conditions--A multiple-year
field study in the Mojave Desert, Nevada: Water
Resources Research, v. 33, no. 9, p. 1901-1916.
- Andraski, B.J., and Prudic, D.E., 1997,
Soil,
plant, and structural considerations for surface barriers in arid
environments--Application of results from studies in the Mojave
Desert near Beatty, Nevada, in Barrier Technologies
for Environmental Management, Summary of a workshop: Washington,
D.C., National Academy Press, p. 68-78.
- Andraski, B.J., Prudic, D.E., and Nichols, W.D., 1995,
Waste burial
in arid environments--Application of information from a field
laboratory in the Mojave Desert, southern Nevada: U.S. Geological
Survey Fact Sheet FS-179-95, 4 p.
- Gee, G.W., Wierenga, P.J., Andraski, B.J., Young, M.H., Fayer,
M.J., and Rockhold, M.L., 1994,
Variations in water balance and recharge potential at three
western desert sites: Soil Science Society of America Journal,
v. 58, no. 1, p. 63-72.
- Walvoord, M.A., Phillips, F.M., Tyler, S.W., and Hartsough,
P.C., 2002, Deep
arid system hydrodynamics--2. Application to paleohydrologic
reconstruction using vadose zone profiles from
the northern Mojave Desert:
Water Resources Research, v. 38, no. 12, p. 27-1 to 27-12.
- Walvoord, M.A., Plummer, M.A., Phillips, F.M., and Wolfsberg,
A.V., 2002, Deep
system hydrodynamics--1. Equilibrium states and response times
in thick desert vadose zones:
Water Resources Research, v. 38, no. 12, p. 44-1 to 44-15.
- Walvoord, M.A., Stonestrom, D.A., and Phillips, F.M., 2002,
From multi-year
observations to millennial inferences--Uncertainties in paleohydrologic
reconstructions of deep unsaturated zones
in the desert southwest, U.S.A.:
Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, v. 83, no. 47,
Fall Meeting Supplement, Abstract H22F-07, CD-ROM.
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