Our objectives are to examine sediment PAH distributions in environments representing contrasting depositional regimes within the York River, VA, a sub-estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Our study utilizes a suite of geochemical tools to quantify sediment processes influencing the distribution of dissolved and solid-phase PAHs. These tools will enable us to quantify particle residence times in surf...

In recent years, pharmaceutical pollution in the environment has been a great concern due to the potential effects on the human and animal health. Some of the most used classes such as antibiotics, which are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections and promote the growth of livestock, deserve to be highlighted since their intensive use has contaminated environmental matrices such as soil,...

Biogeochemical processes in rivers are controlled by biological, chemical, geomorphic and hydrologic interactions. These interactions produce variable redox environments wherein microorganisms derive energy and synthesize tissue using oxidation-reduction reactions associated with several elements including C, N, P, S, and to a lesser extent Fe and Mn. Biogeochemistry of river water and surface ...

An allometric scaling approach has been used to calculate biological half-lives of elimination (TB1/2) and concentration factors (CF) for radionuclides in marine biota. Power functions of organism mass are fitted to a biokinetic database for plankton, seaweed, fish, crustaceans and molluscs, using data generated by us, in combination with reviewed data. Scaling of the CF to M−0.26±0.09 is obser...

Bioaccumulation, the accumulation of a chemical in an organism relative to its level in the ambient medium, is of major environmental concern. Thus, monitoring chemical concentrations in biota are widely and increasingly used for assessing the chemical status of aquatic ecosystems. In this paper, various scientific and regulatory aspects of bioaccumulation in aquatic systems and the relevant cr...

This document outlines a strategy for integrated mercury investigations linked to restoration and adaptive management of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem (termed the Bay-Delta ecosystem and defined as the combined watershed, Delta, and Bay). Ecosystem restoration and management of the Bay-Delta ecosystem are complicated by mercury contamination from historic mini...

The abstraction of groundwater is a global phenomenon that directly threatens groundwater ecosystems. Despite the global significance of this issue, the impact of groundwater abstraction and the lowering of groundwater tables on biota is poorly known. The aim of this study is to determine the impacts of groundwater drawdown in unconfined aquifers on the distribution of fauna close to the water ...

The Mississippi River Delta (MRD) has undergone tremendous land loss over the past century due to natural and anthropogenic influences, a fate shared by many river deltas globally. A globally unprecedented effort to restore and sustain the remaining subaerial portions of the delta is now underway, an endeavor that is expected to cost $50-100B over the next 50 yr. Success of this effort requires...

The “Flume Room” The University of Michigan has created a specialized laboratory containing 150 artificial mini-streams, or “flumes,” that mimic a variety of river conditions as closely as possible. The flumes are populated with rocks, sediment, biota, and more than 3,000 gallons of water from the Huron River. The goal is to better understand how different stressors—nutrient and chemical pollut...

To improve understanding of phosphorus (P) retention processes in small constructed wetlands (CWs), we analysed variations in sediment deposition and accumulation in four CWs on clay soils in east-central Sweden. Sediment deposition (in traps) generally exceeded the total suspended solids (TSS) load suggesting that resuspension and wetland base erosion were important. This was confirmed by quan...