Book Description

The difficult struggle to protect our valuable ground-water resources necessarily involves scientists and engineers from many disciplines. To prevail in this effort, these practitioners—including microbiologists, hydrogeologists, geoscientists, and environmental engineers—must have a common understanding of essential ground-water quality issues and problems. That includes a basic grasp of how microorganisms and microbial processes affect the chemistry of ground water in both pristine and chemically stressed aquifer systems. Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry marks the first attempt to bridge the historical lack of communication among these disciplines by detailing—in language that cuts across specialties—the impact of microorganisms and microbial processes on ground-water systems. To bring these diverse practitioners together, the book has been organized in three parts, with each section addressing the information needs of specific disciplines. The first six chapters of Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry provide an overview of microbiology that’s geared to geoscientists who may lack formal training in the field. Here, the book systematically covers the kinds of microorganisms found in subsurface environments, focusing on their growth, metabolism, genetics, and ecology. The second part of the book, which covers four chapters, speaks both to geoscientists and to microbiologists. It offers a hydrologic perspective on how microbial processes affect groundwater geochemistry in pristine systems—an important topic for geochemists since most ground-water reservoirs have not been chemically affected by human activities, and naturally occurring microbial processes have major impacts on water quality. At the same time, Part Two introduces microbiologists to the different classes of ground-water systems, and gives an overview of techniques for sampling subsurface environments. In addition, microbiologists gain an understanding of biogeochemical cycling in ground-water systems—in coverage that’s unique to this book—and of the classic geochemical modeling techniques that are used to study microbial processes. The final three chapters of Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry focus in on microbial processes in contaminated ground-water systems—a topic of central concern to environmental scientists. In this concluding section, microbiologists see how degradation processes depend upon the hydrologic and geochemical environments within which they operate. Having achieved a basic knowledge of microbiological and biochemical concepts from the earlier chapters, geoscientists are fully prepared for this treatment of microbial acclimation and the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons and halogenated compounds. Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry is as graphically impressive as it is far reaching. High-quality, computer-generated illustrations, of particular appeal to visually oriented geoscientists, can be found throughout the book. Equally important is the book’s unusually comprehensive bibliography, which, like the text itself, spans the relevant science and engineering disciplines. The importance of Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry to geoscientists, hydrologists, and environmental scientists has been amply documented. The book should also be required reading for water planners and lawyers involved in environmental issues. It will also serve as a compelling text in upper undergraduate and graduate courses in ground-water chemistry.