Kathleen A. McCarthy

Transport of volatile organic compounds across the capillary fringe

Physical experiments were conducted to investigate the transport of a dissolved volatile organic compound (trichloroethylene, TCE) from shallow groundwater to the unsaturated zone under a variety of conditions including changes in the soil moisture profile and water table position. Experimental data indicated that at moderate groundwater velocities (0.1 m/d), vertical mechanical dispersion was negligible and molecular diffusion was the dominant vertical transport mechanism. Under these conditions, TCE concentrations decreased nearly 3 orders of magnitude across the capillary fringe and soil gas concentrations remained low relative to those of underlying groundwater. Data collected during a water table drop showed a short-term increase in concentrations throughout most of the unsaturated zone, but these concentrations quickly declined and approached initial values after the water table was returned to its original level. In the deep part of the unsaturated zone, the water table drop resulted in a long-term decrease in concentrations, illustrating the effects of hysteresis in the soil moisture profile. A two-dimensional random walk advection-diffusion model was developed to simulate the experimental conditions, and numerical simulations agreed well with experimental data. A simpler, one-dimensional finite-difference diffusion-dispersion model was also developed. One-dimensional simulations based on molecular diffusion also agreed well with experimental data. Simulations which incorporated mechanical dispersion tended to overestimate flux across the capillary fringe. Good agreement between the one- and two-dimensional models suggested that a simple, one-dimensional approximation of vertical transport across the capillary fringe can be useful when conditions are appropriate.

National, Holistic, Watershed-Scale Approach to Understand the Sources, Transport, and Fate of Agricultural Chemicals

This paper is an introduction to the following series of papers that report on in-depth investigations that have been conducted at five agricultural study areas across the United States in order to gain insights into how environmental processes and agricultural practices interact to determine the transport and fate of agricultural chemicals in the environment. These are the first study areas in an ongoing national study. The study areas were selected, based on the combination of cropping patterns and hydrologic setting, as representative of nationally important agricultural settings to form a basis for extrapolation to unstudied areas. The holistic, watershed-scale study design that involves multiple environmental compartments and that employs both field observations and simulation modeling is presented. This paper introduces the overall study design and presents an overview of the hydrology of the five study areas.

Using heat to characterize streambed water flux variability in four stream reaches.

Estimates of streambed water flux are needed for the interpretation of streambed chemistry and reactions. Continuous temperature and head monitoring in stream reaches within four agricultural watersheds (Leary Weber Ditch, IN; Maple Creek, NE; DR2 Drain, WA; and Merced River, CA) allowed heat to be used as a tracer to study the temporal and spatial variability of fluxes through the streambed. Synoptic methods (seepage meter and differential discharge measurements) were compared with estimates obtained by using heat as a tracer. Water flux was estimated by modeling one-dimensional vertical flow of water and heat using the model VS2DH. Flux was influenced by physical heterogeneity of the stream channel and temporal variability in stream and ground-water levels. During most of the study period (April-December 2004), flux was upward through the streambeds. At the IN, NE, and CA sites, high-stage events resulted in rapid reversal of flow direction inducing short-term surface-water flow into the streambed. During late summer at the IN site, regional ground-water levels dropped, leading to surface-water loss to ground water that resulted in drying of the ditch. Synoptic measurements of flux generally supported the model flux estimates. Water flow through the streambed was roughly an order of magnitude larger in the humid basins (IN and NE) than in the arid basins (WA and CA). Downward flux, in response to sudden high streamflows, and seasonal variability in flux was most pronounced in the humid basins and in high conductivity zones in the streambed.

The dynamic relationship between ground water and the Columbia River: using deuterium and oxygen-18 as tracers

Abstract Deuterium and oxygen-18 were used as natural tracers to investigate the hydraulic relationship between the Columbia River and the Blue Lake gravel aquifer near Portland, Oregon. A time series of stable-isotope data collected from surface and ground waters during a March 1990 aquifer test confirms that the river and aquifer are hydraulically connected. Calculations based on simple mixing show that the river contributed 40–50% of the yield of three wells after 5–6 days of pumping. Data collected during August 1990, show that the river contributed 65–80% of the yield of one well after 22 days of pumping and indicate that the contribution of the river was still increasing.

Comparative Study of Transport Processes of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Herbicides to Streams in Five Agricultural Basins, USA

Agricultural chemical transport to surface water and the linkage to other hydrological compartments, principally ground water, was investigated at five watersheds in semiarid to humid climatic settings. Chemical transport was affected by storm water runoff, soil drainage, irrigation, and how streams were linked to shallow ground water systems. Irrigation practices and timing of chemical use greatly affected nutrient and pesticide transport in the semiarid basins. Irrigation with imported water tended to increase ground water and chemical transport, whereas the use of locally pumped irrigation water may eliminate connections between streams and ground water, resulting in lower annual loads. Drainage pathways in humid environments are important because the loads may be transported in tile drains, or through varying combinations of ground water discharge, and overland flow. In most cases, overland flow contributed the greatest loads, but a significant portion of the annual load of nitrate and some pesticide degradates can be transported under base-flow conditions. The highest basin yields for nitrate were measured in a semiarid irrigated system that used imported water and in a stream dominated by tile drainage in a humid environment. Pesticide loads, as a percent of actual use (LAPU), showed the effects of climate and geohydrologic conditions. The LAPU values in the semiarid study basin in Washington were generally low because most of the load was transported in ground water discharge to the stream. When herbicides are applied during the rainy season in a semiarid setting, such as simazine in the California basin, LAPU values are similar to those in the Midwest basins.

Biodegradation of Aliphatic vs. Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Fertilized Arctic Soils

The objectives of this study were to (1) test a simple bioremediation treatment strategy in the Arctic and (2) examine the effect of fertilization on the degradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The site is a coarse sand pad that once supported fuel storage tanks. Concentrations of diesel-range organics at the beginning of the study (July 1996) ranged from 250 to 860 mg/kg soil. Replicate field plots treated with fertilizer yielded final concentrations of 0, 50, 100, or 200 mg N/kg soil. Soil samples were collected three times during the thaw season and analyzed for physical and chemical properties, microbial populations and activities, and concentrations of semivolatile hydrocarbons. Soil pH and soil-water potentials declined as a result of fertilizer application. Addition of fertilizer significantly increased soil respiration potentials, but not the populations of microorganisms measured. Fertilizer addition also resulted in ∼50% loss of measured aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in surface...

Subsurface fate of spilled petroleum hydrocarbons in continuous permafrost

Abstract Accidental releases of approximately 2000 m 3 of fuel have resulted in subsurface contamination adjacent to Imikpuk Lake, a drinking-water source near Barrow, AK. This paper presents a conceptual model of the distribution and transport of subsurface free-phase hydrocarbons at this site. The mean annual temperature in Barrow is −13 °C, and average monthly temperatures exceed 0 °C only during the months of June, July, and August. As a result, the region is underlain by areally continuous permafrost that extends to depths of up to 300 m and constrains subsurface hydrologic processes to a shallow zone that temporarily thaws each summer. During the 1993 and 1994 thaw seasons, the measured depth of thaw varied across the site from approximately 0.5 to 2 m. However, exploratory borings in 1995 showed that free-phase hydrocarbons were present at depths greater than 3 m, indicating that permafrost at this site is not a barrier to the vertical migration of nonaqueous-phase liquids. In 1996, a subsurface containment barrier was installed to prevent lateral movement of contaminated water to Imikpuk Lake, and a recovery trench was excavated upgradient of the barrier to facilitate removal of free-phase hydrocarbons. Free-phase hydrocarbons were recovered from the trench during 1996, 1997, and 1998. Recovery rates diminished over this time, and in 1999, no further product was recovered and the recovery operation was halted. Subsequent exploratory borings in 2001 and 2002 have revealed that some product remains in the subsurface. Data indicate that this remaining product exists in small discrete pockets or very thin layers of hydrocarbon floating on brine. These small reservoirs appear to be isolated from one another by relatively impermeable permafrost.

Natural attenuation of chlorinated-hydrocarbon contamination at Fort Wainwright, Alaska; a hydrogeochemical and microbiological investigation workplan

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