PREFACE
Downloaded by 51.15.100.63 on May 27, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 15, 1987 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1987-0216.pr001
OUR
UNDERSTANDING O F T H E PROCESSES controlling the transport and
fate of inorganic and organic species in the limnic and marine environments significantly advanced in the past 10 years. This book examines these processes and their implications on environmental chemical dynamics. Some of the contributions contrast processes occurring in marine and freshwater systems. This volume presents a holistic approach to the study of aquatic pollutant chemistry; the atmosphere, water, and sediment are treated as interdependent compartments of an ecosystem. For example, the water column of a lake receives inputs from the atmosphere and from surface and subsurface drainage and loses material to outflow, volatilization, and internal processes such as sedimentation and degradation. The rates of physical mixing within, and material transfer among, the atmospheric, hydrospheric, and sedimentary compartments and the rates of reactions occurring in each compartment determine the concentrations throughout the system. The dynamic phenomena occurring at interfaces drive the chemical fluxes, feed the degrading reaction, and control the element and compound residence times. The theme of this book, explicitly or implicitly, is the relationship between physical mixing and chemical reaction rates. For example, rates of transport between the atmosphere and water, rates of sedimentation and volatilization, and rates of chemical transformations are important issues that are treated. The topical coverage is summarized in Figure 1. This book is divided into four sections: air-water processes, water column processes, water-sediment processes, and case studies. The emphasis of the first three sections is on the chemical and physical processes controlling solute behavior and fate in air and water. The case studies serve to integrate information on these processes into a systemwide picture of the cycling of inorganic and organic chemicals. Although the intent is to concentrate on processes occurring in aquatic systems and not on "popular" areas of environmental research, several of the papers describe aspects of topical interest, for example, acid rain and PCBs. We thank the authors of this volume. Our job as editors was easy compared with that of the authors. As several of them mentioned, "Without authors, editors are superfluous." We agree and acknowledge
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Hites and Eisenreich; Sources and Fates of Aquatic Pollutants Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1987.
Hites and Eisenreich; Sources and Fates of Aquatic Pollutants Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1987.
Figure 1.
The mixing and transfer processes (left) and the primarily chemical and physical processes (right) that determine compartmental concentrations and fluxes in the aquatic environment.
Downloaded by 51.15.100.63 on May 27, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 15, 1987 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1987-0216.pr001
the first-rate contributions of all the authors involved in this book. We also thank Robin Giroux, Keith Belton, and Cara Aldridge Young of the ACS Books Department for their guidance and help. RONALD A. HITES
School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Department of Chemistry Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47405
Downloaded by 51.15.100.63 on May 27, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 15, 1987 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1987-0216.pr001
S. J. E I S E N R E I C H
Environmental Engineering Program Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering University of Minnesota Minneapolis, M N 55455 November 1986
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Hites and Eisenreich; Sources and Fates of Aquatic Pollutants Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1987.
