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

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

• Evaluating Acid Mine Drainage Cleanup Strategies
• Measuring Aquifer Properties at Contaminated Sites without Interrupting Remediation
• Tools to Define Pre-Mining Water-Quality Restoration Targets
• Are Fecal Indicator Bacteria Effective Indicators of Chemical and Pathogenic Contaminants Associated with Human and Animal Waste?
• Visualizing Contamination Pathways in the Subsurface
• 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 (366 Publications)

Upcoming Publications

• , Autho, in Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems--Proceedings, Tucson, Arizona, March 25-29, 2012: Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society. (IN PRESS).
• Monitoring groundwater/surface-water interaction using time-series and time-frequency analysis of transient three-dimensional electrical resistivity changes: Johnson, T.D., Slater, L.D., Ntarlagiannis, D., Day-Lewis, F.D., and Elwaseif, M., Water Resources Research (IN PRESS).