Absolute integral closure in positive characteristic

Let R be a local Noetherian domain of positive characteristic. A theorem of Hochster and Huneke [M. Hochster, C. Huneke, Infinite integral extensions and big Cohen-Macaulay algebras, Ann. of Math. 135 (1992) 53-89] states that if R is excellent, then the absolute integral closure of R is a big Cohen-Macaulay algebra. We prove that if R is the homomorphic image of a Gorenstein local ring, then all the local cohomology (below the dimension) of such a ring maps to zero in a finite extension of the ring. As a result there follow an extension of the original result of Hochster and Huneke to the case in which R is a homomorphic image of a Gorenstein local ring, and a considerably simpler proof of this result in the cases where the assumptions overlap, e.g., for complete Noetherian local domains.