The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Toxic Substances Hydrology (Toxics) Program develops methods to measure a wide range of environmental properties in the field, including:

• Techniques for the collection of water and sediment samples for the analysis of pesticides (and their environmental degradates), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pharmaceuticals, trace metals, and other contaminants
• Aquifer and tracer tests to determine flow and transport properties in unconsolidated and fractured-rock aquifers
• Novel ways to assess and characterize contamination sites, such as the use of plants to map tritium contamination in the subsurface
• Stream tracers to determine contaminant sources, transport, and dispersal
• Surface and borehole geophysics to identify subsurface properties and flow paths
• Methods to monitor the transport of contaminants and water in the unsaturated zone

The information presented on this page cuts across the boundaries of individual investigations and projects so that information on the application of field methods can be presented in one place.

Investigations and Research Activities

• USGS Mobile Atmospheric Mercury Laboratory Applications
• Examples of Where Multifunction Bedrock-Aquifer Transportable Testing Tool (BAT₃) Technology Has Been Applied
• Applied Geophysical Research
• Borehole Geophysics as Applied to Geohydrology
• Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Fundamental Research (scroll to Task 3)
• Toxics Geophysics Project
• Transport Phenomena in Fractured Rock
• Hydrology of Fractured Rocks
• Unsaturated Zone Flow Project Lab Methods

Fact Sheets

• Robowell--Providing Accurate and Current Water-Level and Water-Quality Data in Real Time for Protecting Ground-Water Resources, USGS Fact Sheet FS-053-02
• 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
• Use of Tracer Injections and Synoptic Sampling to Measure Metal Loading from Acid Mine Drainage, USGS Fact Sheet FS-245-96

Collecting plant foliage for water extraction by solar distillation, Amargosa Desert Research Site, Nevada
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Sample processing during a stream tracer test at California Gulch, Animas River, CO
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Headlines

• Detecting Amphibian-Killing Fungus Helps Scientists Study Amphibian Declines
• Tracing Wastewater - Using Unique Compounds to Identify Sources of Contamination
• USGS Develops Geophysical Methods to Improve Remediation Monitoring and Site Characterization
• Desert Plants Reveal Contaminant Transport Pathways
• USGS Patents the Multifunction Bedrock-Aquifer Transportable Testing Tool (BAT³)
• USGS Develops New Field Method for Detecting Chromium VI in Ground Water
• Using Plants To Detect Tritium Contamination
• New Diffusion Samplers Track Contamination Entering Lakes and Ponds
• New Book on Soil Analysis Methods Destined to Become a Classic
• Tracer-Tests Steer Clean-Up of Mined Watersheds

USGS scientists collecting water samples from bedrock fractures with the BAT³ at the University of Connecticut Landfill Study Area, Storrs, CT. The BAT3 is an example of a method developed by the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program that has been applied at many sites
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Bibliography

• Publications on Field Methods (346 Publications)

New Publications

Upcoming Publications

• Monitoring the removal of phosphate from ground water discharging through a pond-bottom permeable reactive: McCobb, T.D., LeBlanc, D.R., and Massey, A.J., Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation (IN PRESS).
• , Autho, in Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, Proceedings, Fort Worth, Texas, March 29 - April 2, 2009: Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society. (IN PRESS).
• The use of fluoride as a natural tracer and the relationship to geologic features--Examples from the Animas River Watershed, San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Bove, D.J., Walton-Day, K., and Kimball, B.A., Geochemistry--Exploration, Environment, and Analysis (IN PRESS).

Newly Published

• A simple technique for continuous measurement of time-variable gas transfer in surface waters: Tobias, C.R., Böhlke, J.K., Harvey, J.W., and Busenberg, E., 2009, Limnology and Oceanography--Methods, v. 7, no. 2, p. 185-195 (Journal table of contents with pdf links).