Dispersion of Toxic and Radioactive Wastes in Ground-Water Systems

Movement of toxic and radioactive substances in aquifer systems occurs in all three phases and is controlled by both hydrologic and chemical forces. Solute movement can be greatly affected not only by physical dispersion, but by other factors such as exchange sorption, chemical kinetics, and ionic distributions. Movement of gases and particulate material in the unsaturated zone are controlled by many additional factors. Knowledge of how these physical and geochemical factors affect prediction of movement of toxic and radioactive wastes is only generally known for ideal systems. This project's objective is to develop field methods and techniques that will yield values for physical and geochemical factors of regional significance in a ground-water system.

REPORTS PUBLISHED 1999-2004

Baedecker, M.J. and Wood, W.W., 2009, William “Bill” Back: An Incisive Geochemist and a Great Mentor: Ground Water, v. 47, no. 2, p. 314-318. (on-line article in pdf format,173 KB, compilation by the National Ground Water Association; no claim to original US government works.)

Wood, W.W., and Sanford, W.E., 2007, Atmospheric bromine flux from the coastal Abu Dhabi sabkhat: A ground-water mass balance investigation: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 34, 5 p., doi:10.1029/2007GL029922. (on-line abstract or on-line article in pdf fomat, 158 KB, published 2007 by American Geophysical Union, not subject to U.S. copyright)

Wood, W. W., 2005 , Nanobots: A New Paradigm for Hydrogeologic Characterization? Ground Water, vol. 43, no. 4, p. 462

Wood, W.W., Sanford, W.E., and Frape, S.K., 2005, Chemical openness and potential for misinterpretation of the solute environment of coastal sabkhat: Chemical Geology, v. 215, p. 361-372.(on-line abstract)

Wood, W.W., Kraemer, T.F., and Shapiro, A., 2004, Radon (222Rn) in ground water of fractured rocks: A diffusion/ion exchange model: Ground Water, v. 42, p. 552-567. (on-line abstract)

Alsharhan, A.S., and Wood, W.W., eds., 2003, Water Resources Perspectives: Evaluation, Management and Policy: Developments in Water Science, v. 50, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 385 p. (on-line description and contents)

Wood, W.W., 2003, A fresh water odyssey: Some observations on the global resource; Ground Water v. 41 no. 3, p. 300-305. (on-line abstract)

Wood, W.W., 2003, Water sustainability: science or science fiction? - A perspective from one scientist, in Alsharhan, A.S., and Wood, W.W., eds., Water Resources Perspectives: Evaluation, Management and Policy: Developments in Water Science, v. 50, Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 45-52.

Wood, W. W., and Imes, J. L., 2003, Dating of Holocene ground-water recharge in the Rub al Khali of Abu Dhabi: constraints on global climate-change models, in Alsharhan, A.S., and Wood, W.W., eds., Water Resources Perspectives: Evaluation, Management and Policy: Developments in Water Science, v. 50, Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 379-385.

Wood, W.W., Rizk, Z.S., and Alsharan, A.S., 2003, Timing of recharge, and the origin, evolution, and distribution of solutes in a hyperarid aquifer system, in Alsharhan, A.S., and Wood, W.W., eds., Water Resources Perspectives: Evaluation, Management and Policy: Developments in Water Science, v. 50, Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 295-312.

Kraemer, T.F., Doughten, M.W., and Bullen, T.D., 2002, Use of ICP/MS with ultrasonic nebulizer for routine determination of uranium activity ratios in natural water: Environmental Science & Technology, v. 36, p. 4899-4904. (on-line abstract)

Verstraeten, I.M., Bohlke, J.K., Kraemer, T.F.,and Cannia, J., 2002, Use of environmental tracers and isotopes to evaluate sources of water, nitrate, and uranium in an irrigated alluvial valley, Nebraska: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 100-01.

Wood, W.W., 2002, Role of ground water in geomorphology, geology, and paleoclimate of the southern High Plains, USA: Ground Water, v. 40, p. 438-447. (on-line abstract)

Wood, W.W., and Sanford, W.E., 2002, Hydrogeology and solute chemistry of the Coastal-Sabkha Aquifer in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi: in Barth, H.J., and Boer, B., eds, Sabkha Ecosystems, volume 1: The Arabian Peninsula and adjacent countires: Tasks for Vegetation Science, v. 36, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, p. 173-185.

Wood, W.W., Sanford, W.E., and Abdul Rahman S.A.H., 2002, Source of solutes to the coastal sabkha of Abu Dhabi, The Geological Society of America, Bulletin, v. 114, no. 3, p. 259-268. (on-line abstract)

Wood, W.W., Stokes, S., and Rich, J., 2002, Implications of water supply for indigenous Americans during Holocene aridity phases on the Southern High Plains, USA: Quaternary Research, v. 58, p. 139-148. (on-line abstract)

Focazio, M.J., Szabo, Z., Kraemer, T.F., Mullin, A.H., Barringer, T.H., and dePaul, V.T., 2001, Occurrence of selected radionuclides in ground water Used for drinking water in the United States: A targeted reconnaissance survey, 1998: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 00-4273. (on-line report)

Phillips, E.J.P., Landa, E.R., Kraemer, T., Zielinski, R., 2001, Sulfate-reducing bacteria release barium and radium from naturally occurring radioactive material in oil-field barite: Geomicrobiology Journal, v. 18, no. 2, p. 167-182. (on-line abstract)

Sanford, W.E., and Wood, W.W., 2001, Hydrology of the Coastal Sabkhas of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Hydrogeology Journal, v. 9, no. 4, p. 358-366. (on-line abstract or on-line pdf file)

Verstraeten, I.M., Steele, G.V., Cannia, J.C., Hitch, D.E., Scripter, K.G., Bohlke, J.K., Kraemer, T.F., and Stanton, J.S., 2001, Interaction of surface water and ground water in the Dutch Flats area, western Nebraska, 1995-1999: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 01-4070, 56 p.

Wood, W.W., 2001, Water Sustainability -- Science or Management?, Editorial: Ground Water, v. 39, no. 5, p. 641.

Verstraeten, I.M, Bohlke, J.K., and Kraemer, T.F., 2000, Groundwater/surface-water interactions and source of nitrogen, and uranium in ian irrigated area of Nebraska, USA, in Proceedings, Tracers and Modeling in Hydrogeology: IAHS publication no. 262, p. 525-531. (on-line abstract)

Wood, W.W., 2000, Ground-water recharge in the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-127-99.

Rich, J., Stokes, S., and Wood, W.W., 1999, Holocene chronology for lunette dune depostition on the Southern High Plains, USA: Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementband 116, p. 165-180.

Wood, W.W., 1999, Use and misuse of the chloride-mass balance method in estimating ground water recharge: Ground Water, v. 37, no. 1, p. 2-3.

Wood, W.W., Kraemer, T.F., and Shapiro, A.M., 1999, Exchangeable ions, fracture volume, and specific surface area in fractured crystalline rocks, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999--Volume 3 of 3--Subsurface Contamination from Point Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018C, p. 681-684. (on-line abstract)

For information on additional projects in the National Research Program, see Indexes to NRP projects and bibliographies.