| March 27, 1996 | Release No.354 Contact: Phyllis Graber Jensen 207-786-6330 (office) 207-784-6240 (home) |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bates College Geologist to Deliver Paper on Arsenic
LEWISTON, Maine -- A Bates College geologist will discuss the results of a
study of the sorption of dissolved arsenic by sand at the 1996
Northeastern Section Meeting of the Geological Society of America on
Friday
Lois K. Ongley, assistant professor of geology at Bates College in
Lewiston, Maine, conducted a study to determine the nature of arsenic
sorption to sand. In an effort to make class laboratories relevant to
water contamination issues in Maine, Ongley and five Bates students
designed and conducted this experiment during the Fall 1996 semester.
Jon Eden, Jerimiah Hubeny, Erica Montgomery, Ray Pavlik, and Sara Tichenor
are co-authors of the paper.
Arsenic contaminated water was placed in vials with sand and
allowed to sit for three and 18 days. The experiments, run in triplicate,
yielded the following conclusions: arsenic is absorbed readily by
uncontaminated sandy aquifer materials; the sorption appears to be
time-dependent; the arsenic probably undergoes cation exchange with the
naturally occurring calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium in the
mineral grains; the absorptive capacity of the sand probably exceeds 60
micrograms of arsenic per gram of sand.
Ongley intends to continue her study of the absorption of arsenic
with a focus on time dependence and absorption by size fractions and
minerals. She also plans to investigate the desorption process and the
transport of arsenic through aquifer material.
In 1995, the National Science Foundation awarded a grant to Ongley
to promote undergraduate research in hydrology in Maine and Mexico. Under
the terms of this grant, twelve students study the arsenic contamination
of aquifers in Zimapan, Mexico, under the direction of Ongley and her
colleagues: Aurora Armienta (National Autonomous University of Mexico,
Mexico), Alison Lathrop (Millersville University, Pa.) and Helen Mango
(Castleton State College, Vt.).
A member of the Bates faculty since 1992, Ongley graduated from
Middlebury College, earned a master's degree in geology from Texas A & M
University, and received master's and doctor's degrees in environmental
science and engineering from Rice University.
From 1977 to 1982, she worked as an oil and gas exploration
geologist in south Texas, the Gulf of Mexico coast and the mid-continent
area of the United States. From 1973 to 1975, Ongley was one of the first
women to work as a shipboard technician for Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
For further information about Ongley's presentation, "Arsenic
Sorption to Aquifer Material from Auburn, Maine," contact Phyllis Graber
Jensen of College Relations, Bates College at 207-786-6330.
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