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J.S. Herman

Publications and source records attributed to J.S. Herman.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2018

Geochemical investigation of weathering processes in a forested headwater catchment: Mass-balance weathering fluxes

Geochemical research on natural weathering has often been directed towards explanations of the chemical composition of surface water and ground water resulting from subsurface water-rock interactions. These interactions are often defined as the incongruent dissolution of primary silicates, such as feldspar, producing secondary weathering products, such as clay minerals and oxyhydroxides, and solute fluxes (Meunier and Velde, 1979). The chemical composition of the clay-mineral product is often ignored. However, in earlier investigations, the saprolitic weathering profile at the South Fork Brokenback Run (SFBR) watershed, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, was characterized extensively in terms of its mineralogical and chemical composition (Piccoli, 1987; Pochatila et al., 2006; Jones et al., 2007) and its basic hydrology. O'Brien et al. (1997) attempted to determine the contribution of primary mineral weathering to observed stream chemistry at SFBR. Mass-balance model results, however, could provide only a rough estimate of the weathering reactions because idealized mineral compositions were utilized in the calculations. Making use of detailed information on the mineral occurrence in the regolith, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of compositional variation on mineral-solute mass-balance modelling and to generate plausible quantitative weathering reactions that support both the chemical evolution of the surface water and ground water in the catchment, as well as the mineralogical evolution of the weathering profile. ?? 2008 The Mineralogical Society.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2012

American hydrogeology at the millennium: An annotated chronology of 100 most influential papers

Hydrogeology developed as scientists undertook activities to describe how a groundwater system functions to explain why it is that way, in order to solve practical problems of water supply. This paper demonstrates the evolutionary nature and growth of hydrogeology in the United States on the basis of a selection of one hundred papers that had a significant impact on subsequent activities. We have identified three revolutionary concepts that resulted directly from this evolutionary understanding and have selected papers that demonstrate important consequences. These three concepts are 1) that the mathematical expression for heat flow can be paraphrased for groundwater and used in transient flow conditions to determine aquifer characteristics; 2) that the distribution of fluid potential can be formulated in mathematical equations suitable for solution by various analytical techniques; and 3) that chemical thermodynamics can be applied to hydrogeologic systems in order to understand the processes controlling the chemical character of groundwater. One purpose of this paper is to encourage scientists to gain an additional dimension of satisfaction from their work by being aware of the contributions of those who went before them and to see how their own work fits into the current understanding of hydrogeology.

Hydrogeology Journal↗
USGS2000

Atrazine adsorption and colloid-facilitated transport through the unsaturated zone

One explanation for unexpectedly widespread ground water contamination from atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) may be the occurrence of colloid-facilitated transport, whereby the dissolved herbicide becomes adsorbed to mobile colloids that migrate through preferential flow-paths in the soil zone and into the ground water. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of adsorpton of atrazine to bulk soil and to soil colloids and to determine the extent of colloid-facilitated transport of atrazine at a field site in Virginia during simulated rainfall events. Equilibrium batch adsorption experiments were performed over a concentration range of 0.05 to 10.0 mg atrazine L-1 on bulk soil samples and on colloidal suspensions of 75 mg L-1, a concentration comparable with those observed at the field site. Linear partition coefficients ranged from 0.496 to 2.48 L kg-1 for the bulk soil and from 70.8 to 832 L kg-1 for the soil colloids. In the field, gravity lysimeters were insured at a depth of 25 cm below the surface of six 0.25-m2 undisturbed plots. Mass recovery of surface-applied atrazine in the lysimeters was not significantly affected by rainfall rate and was, on average, 2.7% for plots receiving 25 mm h-1 simulated rainfall and 3.6% for plots receiving 50 mm h-1 simulated rainfall. Of the total atrazine collected in the lysimeters, the fraction that was colloid-associated ranged from 4.9 to 30% (mean of 15%), indicating that a measurable portion of mobile atrazine is transported via association with colloids.One explanation for unexpectedly widespread ground water contamination from atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) may be the occurrence of colloid-facilitated transport, whereby the dissolved herbicide becomes adsorbed to mobile colloids that migrate through preferential flow-paths in the soil zone and into the ground water. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of adsorption of atrazine to bulk soil and to soil colloids and to determine the extent of colloid-facilitated transport of atrazine at a field site in Virginia during simulated rainfall events. Equilibrium batch adsorption experiments were performed over a concentration range of 0.05 to 10.0 mg atrazine L-1 on bulk soil samples and on colloidal suspensions of 75 mg L-1, a concentration comparable with those observed at the field site. Linear partition coefficients ranged from 0.496 to 2.48 L kg-1 for the bulk soil and from 70.8 to 832 L kg-1 for the soil colloids. In the field, gravity lysimeters were installed at a depth of 25 cm below the surface of six 0.25-m2 undisturbed plots. Mass recovery of surface-applied atrazine in the lysimeters was not significantly affected by rainfall rate and was, on average, 2.7% for plots receiving 25 mm h-1 simulated rainfall and 3.6% for plots receiving 50 mm h-1 simulated rainfall. Of the total atrazine collected in the lysimeters, the fraction that was colloid-associated ranged from 4.9 to 30% (mean of 15%), indicating that a measurable portion of mobile atrazine is transported via association with colloids.In the Muddy Creek watershed, VA, the extent of atrazine adsorption to the immobile soil matrix and mobile soil colloids was examined in an agricultural silt loam soil, and atrazine transport during simulated rainfall events of different intensities was assessed. Results from batch equilibration experiments revealed that atrazine adsorption was significantly greater on the colloids than on the bulk soil, which was attributed to the higher specific surface area and organic content of the colloids. Despite the mobilization of colloids, however, the mass recovery of colloid-associated atrazine was low for all plots. Precipitation rate did not significantly affect atrazine mass recovery.

Journal of Environmental Quality↗
USGS1999

Iron reduction in the sediments of a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer

Sediments sampled at a hydrocarbon-contaminated, glacial-outwash, sandy aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota, were analyzed for sediment-associated Fe with several techniques. Extraction with 0.5 M HCl dissolved poorly crystalline Fe oxides and small amounts of Fe in crystalline Fe oxides, and extracted Fe from phyllosilicates. Use of Ti-citrate-EDTA-bicarbonate results in more complete removal of crystalline Fe oxides. The average HCl-extractable Fe(III) concentration in the sediments closest to the crude-oil contamination (16.2 μmol/g) has been reduced by up to 30% from background values (23.8 μmol/g) as a result of Fe(III) reduction in contaminated anoxic groundwater. Iron(II) concentrations are elevated in sediments within an anoxic plume in the aquifer. Iron(II) values under the oil body (19.2 μmol/g) are as much as 4 times those in the background sediments (4.6 μmol/g), indicating incorporation of reduced Fe in the contaminated sediments. A 70% increase in total extractable Fe at the anoxic/oxic transition zone indicates reoxidation and precipitation of Fe mobilized from sediment in the anoxic plume. Scanning electron microscopy detected authigenic ferroan calcite in the anoxic sediments and confirmed abundant Fe(III) oxyhydroxides at the anoxic/oxic boundary. The redox biogeochemistry of Fe in this system is coupled to contaminant degradation and is important in predicting processes of hydrocarbon degradation.

Applied Geochemistry↗
USGS1998

Lithological and hydrological influences on ground-water composition in a heterogeneous carbonate-clay aquifer system

The influence of clay units on ground-water composition was investigated in a heterogeneous carbonate aquifer system of Miocene age in southwest Florida, known as the Intermediate aquifer system. Regionally, the ground water is recharged inland, flows laterally and to greater depths in the aquifer systems, and is discharged vertically upward at the saltwater interface along the coast. A depth profile of water composition was obtained by sampling ground water from discrete intervals within the permeable carbonate units during coring and by squeezing pore water from a core of the less-permeable clay layers. A normative salt analysis of solute compositions in the water indicated a marine origin for both types of water and an evolutionary pathway for the clay water that involves clay diagenesis. The chemical composition of the ground water in the carbonate bedrock is significantly different from that of the pore water in the clay layers. Dissolution of clays and opaline silica results in high silica concentrations relative to water in other parts of the Intermediate aquifer system. Water enriched in chloride relative to the overlying and underlying ground water recharges the aquifer inland where the confining clay layer is absent, and it dissolves carbonate and silicate minerals and reacts with clays along its flow path, eventually reaching this coastal site and resulting in the high chloride and silica concentrations observed in the middle part of the Intermediate aquifer system. Reaction-path modeling suggests that the recharging surficial water mixes with sulfate-rich water upwelling from the Upper Floridan aquifer, and carbonate mineral dissolution and precipitation, weathering and exchange reactions, clay mineral diagenesis, clay and silica dissolution, organic carbon oxidation, and iron and sulfate reduction result in the observed water compositions.

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗
USGS1994

The effect of a confining unit on the geochemical evolution of ground water in the Upper Floridan aquifer system

In west-central Florida, sections of the Upper Floridan aquifer system range in character from confined to leaky to unconfined. The confining unit is the Hawthorn Formation, a clay-rich sequence. The presence or absence of the Hawthorn Formation affects the geochemical evolution of the ground water in the Upper Floridan aquifer system. Mass-balance and mass-transfer models suggest that, in unconfined areas, the geochemical reactions are dolomite dissolution, ion exchange (Mg for Na, K), sulfate reduction, calcite dissolution, and CO 2 exchange. In the areas in which the Hawthorn Formation is leaky, the evolution of the ground water is accounted for by ion exchange, sulfate reduction, calcite dissolution, and CO 2 exchange. In the confined areas, no ion exchange and only limited sulfate reduction occur, and the chemical character of the ground water is consistent with dolomite and gypsum dissolution, calcite precipitation, and CO 2 ingassing. The Hawthorn Formation acts both as a physical barrier to the transport of CO 2 and organic matter and as a source of ion-exchange sites, but the carbonate-mineral reactions are largely unaffected by the extent of confinement of the Upper Floridan aquifer.

Journal of Hydrology↗