The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Toxic Substances Hydrology (Toxics) Program develops approaches and methods for the study and characterization of the occurrence, fate, transport, and effects of contaminants in the environment. Approaches include:

• Multidisciplinary approaches to evaluating and monitoring the natural attenuation of contaminants in the subsurface
• The innovative use of trace contaminants as flow-path tracers or source indicators that enhance water-resources investigations--for example, the use of chloroflurocarbons to determine the age of ground water, or of gadolinium (a rare earth element) to determine the presence of wastewaters in streams
• A tool box approach to characterizing contamination in fractured-rock aquifers that combines hydrologic, geophysical, and chemical methods
• Injecting tracers into streams to determine the major sources of contamination within a watershed

The information presented on this page cuts across boundaries of the Toxics Program's individual investigations and projects so that information on the development of approaches used to study contamination issues can be presented in one place.

Investigations and Research Activities

• Transport Phenomena in Fractured Rock
• Hydrology of Fractured Rocks
• Advanced Geophysical Methods Development
• Borehole Geophysics as Applied to Geohydrology
• Application of Molecular Methods in Microbial Ecology to Understand the Natural Attenuation of Chlorinated Solvents
• Organic Compounds in Near-Surface Environments: Understanding Fate in a Changing Biogeochemical Landscape
• USGS Isotope Tracers Project, Information on the application of environmental isotopes in hydrology, geology, and biology
• Coupled Transport and Geochemical Processes Determining the Fate of Chemicals in Surface Waters

Fact Sheets

• Characterizing Ground-Water Chemistry and Hydraulic Properties of Fractured-Rock Aquifers Using the Multifunction Bedrock-Aquifer Transportable Testing Tool (BAT³): USGS Fact Sheet FS-075-01
• Methods to Identify Areas Susceptible to Irrigation-Induced Selenium Contamination in the Western United States: USGS Fact Sheet FS-O38-97
• Tracing and Dating Young Ground Water: USGS Fact Sheet 134-99
• Use of Tracer Injections and Synoptic Sampling to Measure Metal Loading from Acid Mine Drainage: USGS Fact Sheet FS-245-96

Vapor sampling using a peristaltic pump and gas-tight syringe to collect data on concentration reaction products above a naturally degrading plume of gasoline at the Galloway Site, NJ. The data is then used to estimate site-wide natural-attenuation rates through the use of a numerical model
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USGS scientists and their partners have combined hydrological, chemical, and microbiological methods to develop a unique approach for evaluating the capacity for natural attenuation at environmental contaminant sites. Here a USGS scientist is collecting water samples anaerobically in a glove bag at the Norman Landfill Research Site, Oklahoma
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Bibliography

• Publications on Approaches for Investigations (361 Publications)

Headlines

• Tracing Wastewater - Using Unique Compounds to Identify Sources of Contamination
• USGS Develops Geophysical Methods to Improve Remediation Monitoring and Site Characterization
• Multidisciplinary Approach to Remediating Watersheds Contaminated from Abandoned Mine Lands
• Using Plants To Detect Tritium Contamination
• USGS Patents the Multifunction Bedrock-Aquifer Transportable Testing Tool (BAT3)
• The Changing Face of Microbial Communities in Contaminant Plumes
• A Unique Approach to Evaluating Natural Attenuation is Applied Worldwide
• Relying on Nature to Cleanup Contaminated Ground Water
• Daily Variation of Metals in Streams Can Confound Scientific Studies

USGS scientists collecting water samples from discrete fractures with the BAT³ at the University of Connecticut Landfill Study Area, Storrs, CT. On the table is the equipment used to control the BAT³. The BAT³ is one of many tools used to study the flow and transport of contaminants in fractured rock
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