DAVID L. DECKER

EDUCATION:

Ph.D., Hydrogeology, University of Nevada, Reno
M.S., Hydrogeology, University of Nevada, Reno
B.S., Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS:

Research interests are in hydrogeology and engineering. Dissertation dealt with arsenic transport in gold mine heap leach and waste rock impoundments. This work was split into two phases: laboratory determination of the pH-dependent sorption behavior of As(III) and As(V) on two examples of gold ore, and the development of an unsaturated reactive transport code to include the experimental observations and to provide a means of estimating arsenic flux from mine waste rock and heap leach dumps. This work resulted in a new isotherm formulation that includes pH dependence, and modifications to enable reactive transport of arsenic to an existing unsaturated transport code from the U.S. Soil Salinity Laboratory through collaboration with J. Simunek and R. van Genuchten. A significant finding from this work is that there is a distinct decoupling between the flow physics and arsenic geochemistry such that covering spent heaps and waste rock dumps with an engineered earthen cover will have no impact on reducing the concentration of arsenic in the water produced at the bottom of these structures.

Current research projects include: developing a reactive transport version of a DSC flow model for the Nevada Test Site, evaluating the thermodynamic database developed for the application of surface complexation models to radionuclide adsorption, extending the surface complexation modeling database for radionuclide analog sorption onto oxide and silicate minerals to high temperatures, developing a down-borehole tritium detector, examining the gas and leachate geochemistry of municipal waste landfills, and continuing the development of the arsenic reactive transport model in mine heap leach systems and in natural porous media environments.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Decker, D.L.; Simunek, J.; Tyler, S.W.; Papelis, C.; Logsdon, M.J.; 2006.

Variably saturated reactive transport of arsenic in heap leach facilities. Vadose Zone Journal. v.5. pp.430-444.

Decker, D.L.; Papelis, C.; Tyler, S.W.; Logsdon, M.J.; Simunek, J.; 2006.

Arsenate and arsenite sorption on carbonate hosted precious metals ore. Vadose Zone Journal. v.5. pp.419-429.

CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS

Garcia, E.S., Jr.; Reimus, P.W.; Hershey, R.L.; Decker, D.L.; Earman, S.; 2007.

Laboratory experiments of carbon-14 uptake and release from calcite. The 233rd American Chemical Society National Meeting. Chicago.

Hershey, R.L.; Decker, D.L. ; Earman, S.; Ryu, J. ; Reimus, P.; Garcia, E.S. Jr.; 2007.

Laboratory experiments of carbon-14 uptake on calcite and dolomite. The 233rd American Chemical Society National Meeting. Chicago.

Decker, D L; Earman, S; Hershey, R L; Ryu, J H ; Garcia, E; Reimus, P; 2007.

Reactive transport of ¹⁴C through a carbonate aquifer: Implications for contaminant migration. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Denver.

Andraski, B.J.; Stonestrom, D.A.; C, A.Garcia.; Michel, R.; Johnson, M.; Decker, D.L.; 2006.

Plant-Based Plume-Scale Mapping Reveals Tritium-Transport Extent and Processes in Desert Soils. Soil Science Society of America, U.S. National Committee for Soil Science, International Union of Soil Sciences. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Gee, G.; Keller, J.M.; Serne, R.J.; Albright, W.H.; Decker, D.L.; 2005.

Chloride Mass Balance Errors in Low-Chloride Environments. Soil Science Society of America.

Decker, D.L.; Hershey, R.L.; 2005.

Coupling a discrete-state compartment model and a water-rock reaction model with application to a large-scale hydrologic system in southern Nevada. AGU. San Francisco, CA.

Thomas, J.M.; Deverel, S.; Decker, D.L.; Earman, S.; Mihevc, T.M.; Acheampong, S.; 2005.

Groundwater Evaporation From a Playa in Spring Valley, Nevada. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. San Francisco.

Hershey, R.L.; Papelis, C.; Decker, D.L.; Miller, G.; 2003.

Laboratory experiments of As(V) and As(III) sorption onto pit-lake sediments from three different orebody types. The Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Cairns, Queensland, Australia.