Directory

Research Interests

Current research topics span many different areas of low-T aqueous geochemistry:

• Microbial Responses to Hydrocarbon and Dispersant: Field-Based Studies. This project, funded by British Petroleum through the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, experimentally examines the impact of hydrocarbon and dispersant on the geochemistry and microbial communities of sediment and water samples collected from the Alabama Gulf Coast.
• Carbon Sequestration: A three-year study funded by the Department of Energy’s NETL Program which will model the fluid-rock geochemical interactions induced in the Rodessa Formation by the injection of supercritical CO2 for carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery at a pilot study site located at Citronelle Oil Field, northern Mobile Country, Alabama. In-Situ Fixation of Toxic Metal Contaminants in Soil and Groundwater.An experimental study evaluating various fixation methods for long-term immobilization of metals in contaminated soil and groundwater. This study is funded by Southern Company Services and EPRI.
• Evaluation of Zeolite-Based Treatment Technologies for Contaminated Groundwater and Industrial Waste Solutions: This study is determining contaminant adsorption isotherms for zeolite/quartz mixtures. The data will be used to design reactive, permeable barriers for groundwater remediation and ion exchange columns to remove contaminants from industrial waste solutions prior to discharge.
• Bacterial Controls on the Mobility of Trace Metals in Fe-rich Sediments: An experimental study of the mechanisms by which Fe and associated trace metals are mobilized/immobilized through bacterial reduction of iron oxide phases. This study is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s NABIR Program.
• Land-Water Interfaces: A Study of Nutrient and Elemental Cycling in a Wetland System. An interdisciplinary project funded by the National Science Foundation to conduct a long-term study of the sources and sinks of dissolved organic matter, dissolved inorganic nutrients, and metal elements in a stream wetland system.

Student research topics include the fate of metals released from ferrihydrite by dissimilatory bacterial reduction; controls on the distribution of iron and bacteria in wetland sediments; the origin of solutes in groundwater below a wetland system; mercury contamination and migration in streams; physical and chemical controls on metal attenuation in soils; the effect of storm events on the solute chemistry of stream water; organic and inorganic controls on soil formation in two watersheds.

• Qi, Y. and Donahoe, R. J. (2010) Modeling arsenic sorption in the subsurface with a dual-site model. Ground Water, doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2010.00726.x.
• Donahoe, R. J., Bhattacharyya, S., Patel, D.  (2010)  Potential uses of surfactant-modified zeolite in fly ash management, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA, 56 pp.
• Neupane, G. and Donahoe, R. J. (2010) Fate of arsenic, iron, and lanthanum in ferrous sulfate and ferrous sulfate-lanthanum chloride treated arsenic-contaminated soils.  G-073, in K.A. Fields and G.B. Wickramanayake (Chairs), Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds 2010. Seventh International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds (Monterey, CA; May 2010). ISBN 978-0-9819730-2-9, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH,www.battelle.org/chlorcon.
• Redwine, J.C., Basta, N.T., Richey, J.S. and Donahoe, R. J. (2010) Bioaccessibility of Arsenic in Soil: Method Evaluation and Comparison to In Vivo Primate Data. EPRI, Palo Alto, CA and Southern Company Services, Inc.: 2010. 1019851, 65 pp.
• Donahoe, R. J., Bhattacharyya, S., Patel, D. (2010)  Adsorption of trace elements by fresh and weathered fly ash, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA, 51 pp.
• Neupane, G. and Donahoe, R. J. (2009) Potential use of surfactant-modified zeolite to treat leachate from fly ash disposal sites.  University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, Ash Library:133-neupane2009, 19 pp.
• Qi, Y. and Donahoe, R. J. (2009) Modeling arsenic desorption from herbicide-contaminated soil.  Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry 28(6), 1338-1345.
• Yue, Z. and Donahoe, R. J. (2009) Experimental simulation of soil contamination by arsenolite.  Applied Geochemistry, in press, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.12.016.
• Bhattacharyya, S., Donahoe, R. J. and Patel, D. (2008) Experimental study of chemical treatment of coal fly ash to reduce the mobility of priority trace elements. FUEL, in press, doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2007.11.006.
• Qi, Y. and Donahoe, R. J. (2008) The environmental fate of arsenic in surface soil contaminated by historical herbicide application.  Science of the Total Environment 405, 246-254.
• Yue, Z., Donahoe, R. J., Graham, E.Y., Redwine, J. and Pugh, J. (2007) Arsenic release from herbicide application to soil; experimental simulation of field conditions. Water-Rock Interaction, A.A. Balkema Publishers, 723-726.
• Yang, L., Donahoe, R. J. and Redwine, J.C. (2007) In situ chemical fixation of arsenic-contaminated soils: An experimental study.  Science of the Total Environment 387, 28-41.
• Yue, Z., Donahoe, R. J., Graham, E.Y., Redwine, J. and Pugh, J. (2007) Arsenic release from herbicide application to soil; experimental simulation of field conditions. Water-Rock Interaction,  A.A. Balkema Publishers, 723-726.
• Donahoe, R. J., Bhattacharyya, S. and Ladwig, K. J. (2007) Chemical fixation of trace elements in coal fly ash. University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, Ash Library, http://www.flyash.info, 22 pp.
• Yang, L. and Donahoe, R. J. (2007)  The form, distribution and mobility of arsenic in soils contaminated by arsenic trioxide, at sites in southeast USA.  Applied Geochemistry 22, 320-341.
• Donahoe, R. J. (2005) Secondary minerals produced by weathering of coal ash: observed and predicted. EPRI Technical Update, 20 pp.
• Donahoe, R. J. (2004) Secondary Mineral Formation in Coal Combustion By-Product Disposal Facilities: Implications for Trace Element Sequestration. Chapter 17  In: (R. Giere and P. Stille, eds.)  Energy, Waste and the Environment: A Geochemical Perspective.  Geological Society, London, Special Publication, 236, 641-658.
• Howell, J. R., Redwine, J. C., and Donahoe, R. J. (2004) Secondary Mineral Formation in Weathered Coal Ash, Proceedings, Air and Waste Management Association 97th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Indianapolis, IN, 547.
• Redwine, J.C., Howell, J.R., Donahoe, R. J., and Yang, L. (2004) In-Situ Chemical Fixation of Arsenic in Soil: Laboratory and Field Results. Proceedings, Air and Waste Management Association 97th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Indianapolis, IN, 548.
• Neumann, K., Lyons, W.B., Priscu, J.C. and Donahoe, R. J. (2001) CO2 concentrations in perennially ice-covered lakes of Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Biogeochemistry, 56: 27-50.
• Lu, G., Zheng, C., Donahoe, R. J., and Lyons, W.B. (2000) Controlling processes in a CaCO3 preciptating stream in Huanglong Natural Scenic District, Sichuan, China. J. of Hydrology, 230 (2000), 34-54..
• Howell, J.R., Donahoe, R. J., Roden, E.E., and Ferris, F.G. (1998) Effects of microbial iron oxide reduction on pH and alkalinity in anaerobic bicarbonate-buffered media: implications for metal mobility. Mineralogical Magazine, 62A(2), 657-658.
• Donahoe, R. J., and Liu, C. (1998) Porewater geochemistry near the sediment-water interface of a zoned, freshwater wetland in the southeastern United States. Environmental Geology, 33, 143-153.
• Gong, C. and Donahoe, R. J., (1997) An experimental study of heavy metal attenuation and mobility in sandy loam soils. Applied Geochemistry, 12(3), 243-254.
• Donahoe, R. J., Liu, C., Dobson, K. and Graham, E. (1994) Cycling of iron and manganese in a riparian wetland. Mineralogical Magazine, 58A, 237-238.
• Gong, C. and Donahoe, R. J., (1992) Interactions between heavy metals and silty loam soil in Flow-Through Experiments. In: (Y.K. Kharaka and A.S. Maest, eds.) Water-Rock Interaction, Volume 1: Low Temperature Environments, A.A. Balkema Publishers, 723-726.
• Donahoe, R. J., and Walton, S. R. (1990) The Emelle hazardous chemical waste disposal facility, Sumter County, Alabama. In: (R. J. Donahoe and R. H. Groshong, eds.) Hazardous Waste Disposal in the Upper Cretaceous Selma Group, Guidebook for Field Trip IV, 1990 S.E. Geological Society of America Meeting, 1-8.
• Donahoe, R. J. (1990) Ground water hydrology and geochemistry in the Eutaw aquifer, Sumter County, Alabama: implications for monitoring hazardous waste disposal facilities. In: (R. J.
• Donahoe and R. H. Groshong, eds.) Hazardous Waste Disposal in the Upper Cretaceous Selma Group, Guidebook for Field Trip IV, 1990 S.E. Geological Society of America Meeting, 9-20.
• Groshong, R. H., Hawkins, W. B., and Donahoe, R. J. (1990) Structures influencing the permeability of the Selma Group in western Alabama. In: (R. J. Donahoe and R. H. Groshong, eds.) Hazardous Waste Disposal in the Upper Cretaceous Selma Group, Guidebook for Field Trip IV, 1990 S.E. Geological Society of America Meeting, 21-34.
• Donahoe, R. J., Hemingway, B. S., and Liou, J. G. (1990) Thermochemical data for merlinoite: 1. low temperature heat capacities, entropies and enthalpies of formation at 298.15K for six synthetic samples having various Si/Al and Na/(Na + K) ratios. The American Mineralogist, 75, 188-200.
• Donahoe, R. J., Liou, J. G., and Hemingway, B. S. (1990) Thermochemical data for merlinoite: 2. free energies of formation at 298.15K for six synthetic samples having various Si/Al and Na/(Na + K) ratios and application to saline, alkaline lakes. The American Mineralogist, 75, 201-208.
• Donahoe, R. J., and Leard, L. E. (1989) An experimental study of the effect of injection waters on Citronelle Field cores, Mobile County, Alabama. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, Oil and Gas Field Development Issue, 73, No. 11, 1326-1340.
• Nordstrom, D. K., Ball, J. W., Donahoe, R. J., and Whittemore, D. (1989) Groundwater chemistry and water-rock interactions at Stripa. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 53, 1727-1740.
• Nordstrom, D. K., Lindblom, S., Donahoe, R. J., and Barton, C. (1989) Fluid inclusions in the Stripa granite and their possible influence on the groundwater chemistry. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 53, 1741-1755.
• Hemingway, B. S., Nitkiewicz, A. J., and Donahoe, R. J. (1988) Key values for the thermodynamic properties of geologic materials: I. The enthalpy of solution of quartz in hydrofluoric acid, a preliminary evaluation. U.S. Geological Survey, Open-file report 88-252, 15 pp.
• Donahoe, R. J. and Liou, J. G. (1985) An experimental study on the process of zeolite formation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 49, no. 11, 2349-2360.
• Donahoe, R. J., Guldman, S., and Liou, J. G. (1984) Synthesis and characterization of zeolites in the system Na2O-K2O-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O. Clays and Clay Minerals, 32, no. 6, 433-443.
• Donahoe, R. J. and Liou, J. G. (1983) An experimental study on the process of zeolite formation. Fourth International Symposium on Water-Rock Interaction, Missasa, Japan, 119-122, International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry.