A Study of Metal Accumulation Trends in Sediment Cores from the Turkey Lakes (Algoma, Ontario)

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (S1) ◽  
pp. s145-s154 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Morris ◽  
W. Kwain

Temporal (vertical) and spatial trends in sediment accumulations of nonresidual aluminum, manganese, lead, zinc, copper, and nickel were investigated in 18 core samples collected from four of the Turkey Lakes in 1980–81. Accumulation rates of nonresidual Al differed among sampling sites, both within and among lakes, but was assumed to have been temporally constant at each location. Concentrations of dry matter and all other metals were expressed as mass per unit mass of Al. Cumulative Al was used as an index of time. Since Mn enrichments near the sediment surface may reflect an oxidation zone, they were not interpreted as increased Mn inputs. Other metal enrichments were considered anthropogenic. Little Pb occurred at the bottom of sediment cores, but Pb accumulation rates increased greatly towards the sediment surface. Major Pb enrichments were assumed to have begun at 1940. Zn accumulation rates had also progressively increased through most of the previous four decades. During the same period, there was a modest rise in Cu and Ni accumulation rates. Metal accumulation rates differed considerably among lakes, and among sites within lakes, but these differences primarily reflected variations in dry matter sedimentation rates.

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eskander Alhajji ◽  
Iyas Ismail ◽  
Mohammad Al-Masri ◽  
Nouman Salman ◽  
Mohammad Al-Haleem ◽  
...  

Abstract The constant rate of supply (CRS) of excess 210Pb model was successfully applied to assess 210Pb data of two sediment cores from the lake Qattinah, Syria. Gamma spectrometry was used to determine 137Cs and 210Pb activity concentrations. The bottom of the cores was 210Pb-dated to years 1907 and 1893. The accumulation rates were determined using 210Pb method and found to vary similarly in both cores from 0.10 ± 0.01 to 3.78 ± 0.57 kg m−2 y−1 during the past century. 137Cs was used as an in-dependent chronometer. The two distinct peaks observed on the 137Cs record of both cores, corresponding to 1965 and 1986, have allowed a successful validation of the CRS model.


1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Hurley ◽  
David E. Armstrong

Fluxes and concentrations of a phorbins and major algal carotenoids were quantified in sediment trap material and sediment cores from two basins of Trout Lake, Wisconsin (TrDH and TrAB). The basins were chosen to contrast the influence of oxygen content at the sediment–water interface (TrDH, oxic and TrAB, reducing), sediment accumulation rate, and focusing. Pigment diagenesis occurred in both basins, but transformations and destruction were more extensive in TrDH. Although untransformed chlorophyll a was the major phorbin deposited at the sediment surface of both basins (51–64 mol%), pigment destruction, coupled with transition to pheophytin, accounted for substantial losses, especially in oxic TrDH sediments. Fucoxanthin, peridinin, and diadinoxanthin, despite representing > 70% of the deposited carotenoid flux, were substantially degraded or transformed in both basins. However, preservation was relatively high for secondary carotenoids, such as diatoxanthin and β-carotene, and for a major cryptomonad pigment, alloxanthin. Residual profiles in sediments show that pigment sedimentation from the epilimnion and accumulation in the permanent sediments are not directly related and that diagenesis must be considered in interpreting sedimentary pigments.


1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 635 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Kilby ◽  
GE Batley

The determination of recent sedimentation rates has traditionally used radiochemical dating techniques but, because of limited laboratory facilities and the costs of these techniques, alternative methods are desirable. Information on sedimentation rates and sediment history can be obtained from anthropogenic chemical components whose presence in sediments, especially near urban areas, can be used as markers to assess their chronology. More than one marker, with a known date of introduction, should be used. In this study, organosilicons first used in the early 1950s and tributyltin used in marine antifouling paints from 1972 were examined in sediments from Lake Macquarie, NSW, to supplement the known input of heavy metals from the lead-zinc smelter that has been operating at the northern end of the lake since 1897. The most reliable data were obtained at sites where all three markers were present, and use of these data allowed independent determination of the year of initial operation of a sewage treatment works.


1991 ◽  
Vol 116 (6) ◽  
pp. 981-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.J.A. Niederholzer ◽  
R.M. Carlson ◽  
K. Uriu ◽  
N.H. Willits ◽  
J.P. Pearson

A study was undertaken to determine the seasonal dynamics of leaf and fruit K content and the influence of tree K status and fruit growth on leaf and fruit K accumulation rates in French prune (Prunus domestics L. cv. d'Agen). Mature trees in a commercial orchard were treated with various rates of K2 SO4. (O to ≈20 kg/tree) in the fall. Fruit dry weight yield per tree at harvest and fruit K content were higher for high-K trees, but fruit percent K (by dry weight) was ≈1.0% for all trees. Leaf scorch and subsequent abscission severely reduced the canopy of K-deficient trees. Significant positive linear relationships between leaf and fruit K accumulation rates existed for the periods of 28 Apr.-28 May (May) and 28 May-7 July (June). A significant negative linear relationship existed between these two criteria from 7 July-3 Aug. (July). May (0.237 mg K per fruit-day) and July (0.267 mg K per fruit-day) mean fruit K accumulation rates were similar, but both were significantly higher (P = 0.001) than those for June (0.140 mg K per fruit-day). Mean leaf K accumulation rates for May (- 0.007 mg K per leaf-day) and July (-0.010 mg K per leaf-day) were similar, but both were significantly (P = 0.001) less than for June (0.005 mg K per leaf-day). Potassium per fruit accumulation was highest in trees with highest K status. Periods of net leaf K efflux and influx did not precisely correlate with fruit growth stages measured by fruit dry weight. The period of lowest fruit K accumulation (28 May-7 July) coincided with the period of maximum dry matter accumulation by the kernel. After 7 July, all increases in fruit dry weight and K content were due to mesocarp growth.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana M Sanders ◽  
Kathryn H Taffs ◽  
Debra Stokes ◽  
Alex Enrich-Prast ◽  
Christian J Sanders

AbstractAnthropogenic radionuclide signatures associated with nuclear testing are increasingly utilized in environmental science to explore recent sedimentation. In this study, we assess the suitability of Pu radioisotope analysis in floodplain lake environments in the Amazon Basin to form geochronologies during the 20thcentury. The240Pu +239Pu (240+239Pu) signatures in six sediment cores indicate sediment accumulation rates in the floodplain lakes of the major rivers; Amazon (2.3 mm year-1), Tapajos (10.2 and 2.4 mm year-1) and Madeira (3.4, 4.2 and 6.2 mm year-1). The results from this study show that240+239Pu fallout activities, and the well documented (240Pu/239Pu) atomic ratios of the above ground nuclear tests which began in the 1950’s, are sufficient and well preserved in Amazon floodplain lake sediments to infer chronologies. Lead-210 dating analyses in the same sediment cores produced comparable sediment accumulation rates at three of the six sites. The differences between dating methods may be attributed to the different time scale these dating methods represent and/or in the solubility between Pb and Pu along the sediment column. The geochronologies derived from the240+239Pu and210Pb dating methods outlined in this work are of interest to identify the effects of changing sediment accumulation rates during the previous century as a result of development, including deforestation, along the Amazon Basin which increased towards the middle of the 20thcentury. This study shows that Pu dating provides a viable alternative geochronology tool for recent sediment accumulation (previous ~60 years) along the Amazon Basin.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 2076-2091 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Novak ◽  
M. C. Pelletier ◽  
P. Colarusso ◽  
J. Simpson ◽  
M. N. Gutierrez ◽  
...  

Abstract Increasing the protection of coastal vegetated ecosystems has been suggested as one strategy to compensate for increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere as the capacity of these habitats to sequester and store carbon exceeds that of terrestrial habitats. Seagrasses are a group of foundation species that grow in shallow coastal and estuarine systems and have an exceptional ability to sequester and store large quantities of carbon in biomass and, particularly, in sediments. However, carbon stocks (Corg stocks) and carbon accumulation rates (Corg accumulation) in seagrass meadows are highly variable both spatially and temporally, making it difficult to extrapolate this strategy to areas where information is lacking. In this study, Corg stocks and Corg accumulation were determined at 11 eelgrass meadows across New England, representing a range of eutrophication and exposure conditions. In addition, the environmental factors and structural characteristics of meadows related to variation in Corg stocks were identified. The objectives were accomplished by assessing stable isotopes of δ13C and δ15N as well as %C and %N in plant tissues and sediments, measuring grain size and 210Pb of sediment cores, and through assessing site exposure. Variability in Corg stocks in seagrass meadows is well predicted using commonly measured environmental variables such as grain size distribution. This study allows incorporation of data and insights for the northwest Atlantic, where few studies on carbon sequestration by seagrasses have been conducted.


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 151-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon J. Ogden

Although nearly 50 years have passed since P.B. Sears introduced pollen analysis to North America, it remains an occult art. Dramatic improvements in sampling and analytic techniques continue to be limited by intractable problems of differential production, dispersal, ballistics, sedimentation, and preservation. It is a basic tenet of pollen stratigraphy that the data set, consisting primarily of microfossils preserved in sediments, is better than anything we have yet been able to do with it. Basic agreement between late- and postglacial pollen records has been confirmed wherever the method has been applied. Quantitative sampling techniques, sample preparation, and analytic procedures, together with multiple radiocarbon dates, permits calculation of sedimentation rates and absolute pollen influx. Of approximately 300 sediment cores from northeastern North America, fewer than 30 have more than 3 radiocarbon determinations from which least squares power curve regressions can be reliably calculated in the determination of sedimentation rates. Analogy with modern environments represented by surface pollen spectra is limited by an insufficient number of samples of uniform quality to characterize a vegetational mosaic covering 40 degrees of latitude (40-80°N) and longitude (60-100°W). The present surface pollen data bank includes about 700 samples, unevenly spaced and of uneven quality, permitting a grid resolution of no better than 10,000 km2.


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