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USGS Scientists Contribute to the Landmark “Treatise on Geochemistry”

Nineteen U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists were invited to write chapters for the monumental “Treatise On Geochemistry.” This landmark 10-volume publication is a comprehensive review of the many-faceted field of geochemistry. Nine of the nineteen are supported by the USGS's Toxic Substances Hydrology (Toxics) Program. Examples of Toxics Program science featured in the Treatise are:

• The chapter on “Modeling low-temperature geochemical processes (v. 5, c. 2)” discusses the development of geochemical modeling software. Several USGS geochemical modeling software packages, such as OTEQ (One-Dimensional Transport with Equilibrium Chemistry), a reactive transport model for streams and rivers, are discussed in the chapter. Many of the USGS software packages were developed in conjunction with Toxics Program investigations.
• The chapter on “Geochemistry of ground water (v. 5, c. 14)” discusses using a mass balance approach to investigate not only natural systems but contaminated sites as well. A case study of a Toxics Program investigation of a subsurface solvent plume at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, is presented in the chapter.
• The chapter on “Volatile fuel hydrocarbons and MTBE in the environment (v. 9, c. 12)” presents results from Toxics Program investigations of
• The natural attenuation of a ground-water plume caused by a crude oil spill near Bemidji, Minnesota,
• An oxygenated-gasoline plume from a leaking underground storage tank near Laurel Bay, South Carolina, and
• A plume of gasoline from a leaking underground storage tank in Galloway Township, New Jersey.
• The chapter on “The geochemistry of waste disposal facilities in groundwater (v. 9, c. 16)” presents results from the Toxics Program investigation of the fate of landfill leachate at the Norman Municipal Landfill, Norman , Oklahoma. The chapter discusses the results of investigations into the subsurface biogeochemical processes that control the fate of the landfill's leachate plume.

The contributions from Toxics Program scientists presented in the Treatise are evidence of the impact the Toxics Program has had on the field of geochemistry as applied to the presence of toxic substances and hazardous waste in the environment. The Treatise will be an indispensable reference not only to academics but to contamination cleanup professionals, resource managers, and environmental regulators as well.

Chapters by USGS Authors

• Volume 5. Surface and Ground Water, Weathering, and Soils
  • Chapter 2.Modeling Low-Temperature Geochemical Processes, by Darrell K. Nordstrom (USGS)
  • Chapter 4.Mass Balance Approach to Interpreting Weathering Reactions in Watershed Systems, by Owen P. Bricker (USGS) , Carl J. Bowser, Blair F. Jones (USGS)
  • Chapter 5.Natural Weathering Rates of Silicate Minerals, by Arthur F. White (USGS)
  • Chapter 11.Stable Isotope Applications in Hydrologic Studies, by Carol Kendall (USGS) , Daniel H. Doctor (USGS)
  • Chapter 13.Geochemistry of Saline Lakes , by Blair F. Jones (USGS) , Daniel M. Deocampo (USGS)
  • Chapter 14.Geochemistry of Ground Water, by Francis H. Chapelle (USGS)
  • Chapter 16.Deep Fluids in the Continents: I. Sedimentary Basins, by Yousif K. Kharaka (USGS) , Jeffrey S. Hanor
• Volume 7. Sediments, Diagenesis, and Sedimentary Rocks
  • Chapter 9.Coal Formation and Geochemistry, by Robert B. Finkelman (USGS) , William H. Orem (USGS)
  • Chapter 12.Sulfur-rich Sediments, by Martin B. Goldhaber (USGS)
• Volume 8. Biogeochemistry
  • Chapter 9.The Geological History of the Carbon Cycle, by Eric T. Sundquist (USGS)
• Volume 9. Environmental Geochemistry
  • Chapter 3.Heavy Metals in the Environment - Historical Trends, by Edward Callender (USGS)
  • Chapter 7.The Medical Geochemistry of Minerals, Dusts, Soils, and Other Earth Materials, by Geoffrey S. Plumlee (USGS) , Thomas L. Ziegler (USGS)
  • Chapter 12.Volatile Fuel Hydrocarbons and MTBE in the Environment, by Isabelle M. Cozzarelli (USGS) , Arthur L. Baehr (USGS)
  • Chapter 15.The Geochemistry of Pesticides, by Jack E. Barbash (USGS)
  • Chapter 16.The Geochemistry of Waste Disposal Facilities in Groundwater, by Poul L. Bjerg, Hans-Jørgen Albrechtsen, Peter Kjeldsen, Thomas H. Christensen, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli (USGS)

USGS Geochemical Information

• Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Investigations, Toxics Program interdisciplinary research teams investigate the natural response of the environment to contamination. Biogeochemistry, geochemistry, microbiology, and geophysics are just a few of the disciplinary approaches applied in Toxics Program investigations
• National Research Program Projects Listed by Discipline (Ecology, Geomorphology and Sediment Transport, Ground-Water Chemistry, Ground-Water Hydrology, Surface-Water Chemistry, Surface-Water Hydrology), A listing of a diverse set of projects, many partially funded by the Toxics Program, that range from reaction-transport modeling in ground-water systems to the biogeochemistry of metals and nutrients in stream sediments
• Organic Compounds in Near-Surface Environments: Understanding Fate in a Changing Biogeochemical Landscape, Geochemical investigations of the fate of toxic organic substances in a variety of aquatic environments
• USGS Arsenic Studies Group, Information on the geochemistry of arsenic and an arsenic bibliography
• Organic Geochemistry Research Group, A multidisciplinary research group that focuses on the fate, transport, and degradation of organic contaminants in the environment with special emphasis on nonpoint-source contamination from agricultural chemicals
• Organic Geochemistry Laboratory, Research on the physical and chemical processes of hydrocarbon generation, migration, and accumulation
• Crustal Imaging & Characterization Team, Conducts a variety of projects that range from aqueous to isotope geochemistry
• Downloadable Data Sets, Includes databases on the geochemical analysis of soils, rocks, and sediments (the geochemical databases are in the middle of the list)

• New Book on Soil Analysis Methods Destined to Become a Classic
• Handbook on Permeable Reactive Barriers Published, The handbook gives guidance on the use of permeable reactive barriers to remediate radionuclide, trace metal, and nutrient contamination
• Landmark Book Published on the Fate of Contaminants in the Environment: Partition and Adsorption of Organic Contaminants in Environmental Systems
• Three Program Scientists Make Environmental Science and Technology's Top Ten Papers
• Relying on Nature to Clean Up Contaminated Ground Water
• "Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry" Textbook Published
• Science of the Total Environment Special Issue on Agricultural Chemicals

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