http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A Purdue University scientist has shown man-made changes to the landscape have affected Indian monsoon rains, suggesting that land-use decisions play an important role in climate change. http://www.physorg.com/news180101231.html Space & Earth Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:30:07 EST news180101231 New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region - the Central Valley - and its major mountain water source - the Sierra Nevada - have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir. The findings, based on satellite data, reflect California's extended drought and increased pumping of groundwater for human uses such as irrigation. http://www.physorg.com/news180025402.html Space & Earth Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:20:01 EST news180025402 The Dead Sea may soon shrink to a lifeless pond as Middle East political strife blocks vital measures needed to halt the decay of the world's lowest and saltiest body of water, experts say. http://www.physorg.com/news178296235.html Space & Earth Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:47:50 EST news178296235 (PhysOrg.com) -- A recently published Pacific Northwest National Laboratory study of a naturally bioreduced sediment sample from a former uranium mill tailings site reveals insights that enhance understanding of the long-term persistence of uranium in groundwater. The study provides the first-ever evidence of a useful pyrite mineral formation within the sample. http://www.physorg.com/news177778022.html Space & Earth Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:49:17 EST news177778022 Researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists, world health agencies and the Bangladeshi government for nearly 30 years. The research suggests that human alteration to the landscape, the construction of villages with ponds, and the adoption of irrigated agriculture are responsible for the current pattern of arsenic concentration underground. http://www.physorg.com/news177515521.html Space & Earth Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:52:45 EST news177515521 (PhysOrg.com) -- Uranium's migration through the soil depends on groundwater's chemical composition, according to a recent study by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Scientists showed that uraniumattached to soil particles and moved slowly when the groundwater was at neutral pH and contained low levels of carbonate ion or dissolved carbon dioxide. Such conditions often occur at riverbanks when the river water rises and mixes with the groundwater. This work appeared in the September 1 issue of Environmental Science & Technology. http://www.physorg.com/news175796478.html Space & Earth Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:50:02 EST news175796478 A Kansas State University geologist and graduate student are finding that the most important tools in their fieldwork on groundwater arsenic pollution are women and children armed with pamphlets and testing kits. http://www.physorg.com/news175430543.html Space & Earth Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:30:04 EST news175430543 (PhysOrg.com) -- CSIRO researchers have discovered that micro-organisms that help break down contaminants under the soil can actually get too hot for their own good. http://www.physorg.com/news171872430.html Space & Earth Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:21:27 EST news171872430 Peat has been a major component of substrates used in container plant production since the 1960s. Highly porous with the capacity to hold water, peat makes an ideal rooting and growing medium for potted plants. But harvesting peat (and draining valuable peatlands in the process) releases the carbon stored in peat into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. And because peat plays an important role in wetland ecosystems -peat bogs improve groundwater quality and are unique habitats for wild plants and animals -the use of peat has been challenged and peat mining is increasingly regulated. http://www.physorg.com/news171655520.html Space & Earth Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:40:01 EST news171655520 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using satellite data, UC Irvine and NASA hydrologists have found that groundwater beneath northern India has been receding by as much as 1 foot per year over the past decade - and they believe human consumption is almost entirely to blame. http://www.physorg.com/news169302846.html Space & Earth Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:35:33 EST news169302846 (PhysOrg.com) -- Climate change and urban expansion could threaten the sustainability of horticultural industries in the Adelaide Hills unless a long-term strategy is employed, according to a senior geographer at the University of Adelaide. http://www.physorg.com/news168771020.html Space & Earth Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:00:02 EST news168771020 For the first time, scientists have detected a highly toxic form of mercury in groundwater flows at two coastal sites in California. http://www.physorg.com/news163781519.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:53:38 EST news163781519 Escherichia coli is a commonly used indicator organism for detecting the presence of fecal contamination in drinking water supplies. The importance of E. coli as an indicator organism has led to several studies looking at the transport behavior of this important microorganism in groundwater environments. Commonly only a single strain of E. coli is used in these studies, yet research has shown that a significant amount of genetic variability exists among strains of E. coli isolated from different host species and even from the same host species. If these genetic differences result in differences in cell properties that affect transport, different strains of E. coli may exhibit different rates of transport in the environment. http://www.physorg.com/news155827998.html Space & Earth Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:34:02 EST news155827998 Ancient groundwater being tapped by Jordan, one of the 10 most water-deprived nations in the world, has been found to contain twenty times the radiation considered safe for drinking water in a new study by an international team of researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news154714642.html Space & Earth Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:17:58 EST news154714642 Tiny sediment grains are covered with a very fine-grained, complex mixture of minerals in an open fabric that results in a large surface area in contact with water between the grains. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are studying this microscopic layer and finding that the mineral composition of these coatings on sediment grains in the unsaturated zone (i.e., between land surface and the water table) can have a substantial effect on the retention of nitrate and sulfate. http://www.physorg.com/news154615214.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:40:46 EST news154615214 Data and images from Mars Express suggest that several Light Toned Deposits, some of the least understood features on Mars, were formed when large amounts of groundwater burst on to the surface. Scientists propose that groundwater had a greater role in shaping the martian surface than previously believed, and may have sheltered primitive life forms as the planet started drying up. http://www.physorg.com/news148225866.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:51:06 EST news148225866