Sedimentary record of heavy metal pollution in Lake Erie

Three cores, one kilometer apart, from each of seven locations along Lake Erie were analyzed for heavy metals and dated by ²¹⁰Pb techniques. The sedimentary record of anthropogenic inputs of heavy metals parallels the increasing intensity of cultural activity in the lake basin. On the average, pollution sources annually contribute 0.4 μg of Cd, 12 μg of Cu, 12 μg of Pb and 36 μg of Zn deposited per each cm² of the Eastern Basin sediments: 0.5, 8.8, 11 and 31 μg of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, respectively, deposited per cm² of Western Basin sediments and 0.7, 1.4, 2.0 and 5.6 μg of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, respectively, deposited per cm² of fine-grained sediments in the Central Basin. These anthropogenic flux rates exceed the pre-colonial data by 80–600%. The mean flux rates for ²¹⁰Pb into the Eastern. Central and Western Basins are 0.45, 0.07 and 0.15dpm cm^?2 yr^?1. respectively. From an inventory of sources and sinks of the metals, it is shown that about 2500 × 10³ kg of Cu. 1900 × 10³ kg of Pb and 6750 × 10³kg of Zn are delivered annually into the lake. The calculated retention in the lake sediments of 45%, 65% and 35% of the total annual inputs of Cu. Pb and Zn, respectively, agrees closely with the accumulation of data derived from sediment analyses. Sewage discharges, direct and indirect, are shown to be an important source of metal in the lake. The mean residence times in the water column are inferred to be 104 days for Cu. 180 days for Pb and 152 days for Zn.     

Migration and sedimentology of longshore sandwaves, Long Point, Lake Erie, Canada

This paper describes the formation, migration and sedimentology of sandwaves along the distal end of Long Point, a 40 km long spit in Lake Erie. Some seven to nine sandwaves occur in a zone over the last 14 km of the spit. They are characteristically 50–100 m wide at the downdrift end, range in length from 350 m to > 1500 m and migrate alongshore at rates that are typically 100–300 m year⁻¹. Measurements over a 7-year period show two forms of alongshore sandwave migration: (1) a migratory jump; and (2) downdrift accretion. The migratory jump is commonly 200–500 m year⁻¹ and results from the onshore migration and welding of an inner nearshore bar to the downdrift end of the sandwave. This in turn leads to emergence of the bar over a distance of several hundred metres downdrift of the sandwave and isolation of the trough landward of the bar. Infilling of the trough abstracts large volumes of sediment from the local sediment transport system and may affect movement of the sandwave in the following year or movement of the next sandwave downdrift. Downdrift accretion commonly results in migration of 50–150 m year⁻¹ and results from the refraction of waves around the distal end of the sandwave and episodic accretion of small swash bars. This mechanism occurs less frequently and appears to reflect a local condition of lower sediment abundance, often triggered by a large migratory jump in the previous year. The process of bar emergence and infilling produces a distinct suite of sedimentary structures associated with the infilling of the landward trough and building of the sandwave berm. The initial shoreline perturbation that generates the sandwave results from onshore migration and welding of inner nearshore bars, and the development and growth of the sandwaves is promoted by refraction of highly oblique waves.     

Decade-scale coastal bluff retreat from LiDAR data: Lake Erie coast of NW Pennsylvania, USA

Bluff retreat is an ongoing problem on the southern Great Lakes coast of the United States where Pleistocene unconsolidated sediments overlie Devonian bedrock. This retreat results in loss of sediment from the coastal zone and a decrease in coastal water quality, and is of concern because evaluating landslide hazards and developing regulations on coastal construction setbacks must account for spatial variability in coastal retreat. The goal of this pilot study is to explain and quantify short to medium term spatial variability in bluff-retreat patterns, magnitudes, and rates along a 6 km littoral cell on the Pennsylvania coast of Lake Erie. High-resolution LiDAR data covering a one-decade time frame (1998–2007) permit mapping of the bluff-crest position on two comparable, high-quality data sets. The rates of bluff retreat range from unresolvable (~20% of coast) to 2.2 m/year, averaging 0.22 ± 0.1 m/year. Average-annual change rates and 9-year net movement values show an along-coast periodicity, with a spatial wavelength of ~1 km and an amplitude of 0.2 m/year. Observed variability is inferred to occur because variations in surface watershed size and groundwater recharge area, topographic shielding of the bluff from overland flow, and groundwater-table topography, cause groundwater discharge and overland flow to the bluff face to vary along the coast. In addition, short ravines (<300 m in length) fed by groundwater seepage distort groundwater equipotential lines and cause locally enhanced bluff retreat. While other factors likely influence bluff retreat spatially along this coast, their roles are relatively minor at the scale of this study.     

Transport, sorting, and reworking of late Wisconsinan plant macrofossils from Lake Erie, Canada

Stratigraphic, sedimentological, and plant macrofossil studies on proglacial lacustrine and deltaic sequences dating from the Mackinaw Interstadial on the north shore of Lake Erie, Canada, indicate long-distance transport, selective sorting and reworking of the plant fossils. Transport, sorting, and reworking may make detailed paleoclimatic indices irrelevant and may account for incongruent phytogeographic indicators in the fossil assemblage. Details of the stratigraphic and sedimentological setting of the study site and the state of preservation of the fossils should be considered more carefully as aids to the interpretation of macrofossil assemblages.     

Offshore petroleum and commercial fishery interactions: The case of Long Point,Port Dover,Lake Erie

GeoJournal - From a human ecological perspective, research was undertaken on interactions between Lake Erie fisheries and offshore petroleum (gas) development from 1913 to summer, 1981. In an...     

Magnetic mineral transport and sorting in the swash‐zone: northern Lake Erie,Canada

A combined field and laboratory study in northern Lake Erie has provided new insights into the origin and dynamics of heavy mineral placer deposits on beaches consisting primarily of non‐magnetic sediment. Work was conducted on the cross‐shore and longshore transport of heavy magnetic minerals using magnetic susceptibility and fluorescent paints to trace the movement, in the field, of samples of magnetic (magnetite) and non‐magnetic (quartz and calcite) grains, respectively. Laboratory experiments examined how the burial of small, dense magnetic minerals is affected by the grain size of the non‐magnetic host material, and how grain burial affects magnetic susceptibility measurements at the surface. The field experiments demonstrated that the magnetic mineral tracers were buried rapidly beneath coarser, non‐magnetic grains under low to moderate wave conditions, and subsequently were unable to move in the longshore or cross‐shore directions. The laboratory experiments showed that the magnetic susceptibility rapidly decreased with the rate and depth of burial of the magnetic minerals, and that magnetic grain burial was most effective beneath coarser rather than finer non‐magnetic sand and, for the latter sediments, under less rather than more energetic conditions. The results imply that magnetic mineral concentrations develop in this area through magnetic grain burial under fairly mild conditions, and subsequent settling, exposure and concentration in the upper swash zone during more energetic periods, when the non‐magnetic grains are eroded. It is probably during these erosional periods, when the magnetic minerals are exposed in fairly homogeneous deposits, that longshore and cross‐shore transport takes place.     

Anthropogenic gadolinium as a micropollutant in river waters in Pennsylvania and in Lake Erie, northeastern United States

“Anthropogenic” gadolinium, Gd, used in contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging, is a micropollutant that enters river and lake waters with the discharge from wastewater treatment plants, WWTPs. Such discharge is also the source of other micropollutants, for example pharmaceuticals, such as steroids, antihistamins, and antibiotics. Together with the “natural” Gd, the anthropogenic Gd produces positive Gd anomalies in rare-earth element distribution patterns and is, therefore, easily detectable. This pilot study reports on the occurrence of anthropogenic Gd in rivers in Pennsylvania (Ohio, Beaver, Allegheny, Monongahela, Juniata, and Susquehanna) and in near-shore surface water from Lake Erie close to the city of Buffalo. Additional data are reported for the Delaware River and the headwaters of Spring Creek in Central Pennsylvania, and for Lake Ontario and Niagara River, all of which do not show significant anthropogenic Gd. Most pronounced impact of anthropogenic Gd discharged from WWTPs is observed in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan area. Such contamination is similar to that observed in densely populated areas with highly developed medical and healthcare systems in Europe and Japan. Its worldwide applicability adds to the promising potential of anthropogenic Gd as a cost-effective tracer for the presence of WWTP effluent in river, lake, ground, and drinking waters.     

Application of empirical and semi-analytical algorithms to MERIS data for estimating chlorophyll a in Case 2 waters of Lake Erie

Lake Erie is biologically the most active lake among the Great Lakes of North America, experiencing seasonal harmful algal blooms (HABs). The early detection of HABs in the Western Basin of Lake Erie (WBLE) requires a more efficient and accurate monitoring tool. Remote sensing is an efficient tool with high spatial and temporal coverage that can allow accurate and timely detection of the HABs. The WBLE is heavily influenced by the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem via rivers such as the Sandusky River and the Maumee River. As a result, the optical properties of the WBLE are influenced by multiple color producing agents (CPAs) such as phytoplankton, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), organic detritus, and terrigenous inorganic particles. The diversity of the CPAs and their non-linear interactions makes these waters optically complex, and the task of optical remote sensing for retrieving estimates of CPAs more challenging. Chlorophyll a, which is the primary light harvesting pigment in all phytoplankton, is used as a proxy for algal biomass. In this study, several published remote sensing algorithms and band ratio models were applied to the reflectance data from the full resolution MERIS sensor to remotely estimate chlorophyll a concentrations in the WBLE. Efficiency of the sensor and the algorithms performance were tested through a least squares regression and residual analysis. The results indicate that, among the suite of existing bio-optical models, the Simis semi-analytical algorithm provided the best model results for measures of algal biomass in the optically complex WBLE with R ² of 0.65, RMSE 0.85 μg/l, (n = 71, P < 0.05). The superior results of this model in detecting chlorophyll a are attributed to several factors including optimizing spectral regions that are less sensitive to CDOM and the incorporation of correction factors such as absorption effects due to pure water (a _w), backscatter (b _b) from suspended matter and interference due to phycocyanin (δ), a major accessory pigment in the WBLE.     

Stable isotopes and heavy metal distribution in Dreissena polymorpha (Zebra Mussels) from western basin of Lake Erie, Canada

 Dreissena polymorpha is an exotic freshwater bivalve species which was introduced into the Great Lakes system in the fall of 1985 through the release of ballast water from European freighters. Utilizing individual growth rings of the shells, the stable isotope distribution (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) was determined for the life history of selected samples which were collected from the western basin of Lake Erie. These bivalves deposit their shell in near equilibrium with the ambient water and thus reflect any annual variation of the system in the isotopic records held within their shells. Observed values for δ¹⁸O range from -6.64 to –9.46‰ with an average value of –7.69‰ PDB, while carbon values ranged from –0.80 to –4.67‰ with an average value of –1.76‰ PDB. Dreissena polymorpha shells incorporate metals into their shells during growth. Individual shell growth increments were analyzed for Pb, Fe, Mg, Mn, Cd, Cu, and V concentrations. The shells show increased uptake of certain metals during periods of isotopic enrichment which correspond with warmer water temperatures. Since metals are incorporated into the shells, the organism may be useful as a biomonitor of metal pollution within aquatic environments. Received: 31 October 1996 · Accepted: 21 May 1997     

Groundwater flux as a determinant of coastal-zone upland loss: a case study from the Pennsylvania coast of Lake Erie,USA

Climate change in the Great Lakes Basin of North America over the next several decades is projected to lead to significant changes to coastal environments. Groundwater-driven coastal bluff recession should increase in areas where groundwater forcing is important and lead to increased loss of coastal uplands. The latter is an issue in NW Pennsylvania because of coastal development pressures, and because the state ranks within the top five US states in grape production, most of which occurs within 5 km of the Lake Erie coastline. In 2007, viticulture contributed almost $2.4 billion to the state economy. An analysis of a 20-km stretch of coast shows that bluff retreat is pervasive and variable under current climatic conditions. Over a 9-year time frame, bluff change rates ranged from ?4.2 to +0.98 m/year. In general, higher retreat rates (?0.2 to ?0.65 m/year) occurred along the sandy central beach–ridge sector which lacks significant surface drainage. Lower retreat rates (?0.10 to ?0.25 m/year) occurred along coastal sectors where surface drainage networks are well developed. Conservative estimates of groundwater discharge at the bluff correlate strongly (r = 0.74, p < 0.001) with bluff retreat rate. Groundwater is inferred to be the principal driving mechanism for both bluff retreat and spatial variability in retreat rates on this coast. Other common factors that may spatially influence bluff retreat elsewhere (bluff height, land use, beach width) do not correlate strongly with retreat rate.     

Spatial Variations in Particle Size and Magnetite Concentration on Cedar Beach: Implications for Grain-Sorting Processes, Western Lake Erie, Canada

<正>This study examined spatial variations in the concentration,grain size and heavy mineral assemblages on Cedar Beach(Lake Erie,Canada).Magnetic studies of heavy mineral-enriched,dark-reddish sands present on the beach showed that magnetite(～150μm) is the dominant magnetic mineral.Surficial magnetic susceptibility values defined three zones:a lakeward region close to the water line(Zone 1),the upper swash zone(Zone 2) and the region landwards of the upper swash zone (Zone 3).Zone 2 showed the highest bulk and mass susceptibility(κ,χ) and the highest mass percentage of smaller grain-size(250μm) fractions in the bulk sand sample.Susceptibility(i.e.κandχ) values decreased and grain size coarsened from Zone 2 lakewards(into Zone 1) and landwards (into Zone 3),and correlated with the distribution of the heavy mineral assemblage,most probably reflecting preferential separation of large,less dense particles by waves and currents both along and across the beach.The eroded western section of Cedar Beach showed much higher concentrations of heavy minerals including magnetite,and finer sand grain sizes than the accreting eastern section, suggesting that magnetic techniques could be used as a rapid,cost-effective way of examining erosion along sensitive coastline areas.     

Wave of Rejuvenation and Stage Correlation

GENERAL CONSIDERATTONS In my previous paper dealing with river profile of equilibrium andknickpoints,I have pointed out that the propagation of knickpoints up-streammay assume two forms:that they may migrate,if rock defended,or they may     

Paleoenvironmental records of water level and climatic changes from the middle to late Holocene at a Lake Erie coastal wetland, Ontario, Canada

Pollen and diatom assemblages, and peat stratigraphies, from a coastal wetland on the northern shore of Lake Erie were used to analyze water level and climatic changes since the middle Holocene and their effects on wetland plant communities. Peat deposition began 4700 cal yr B.P. during the Nipissing II transgression, which was driven by isostatic rebound. At that time, a diatom-rich wild rice marsh existed at the site. Water level dropped at the end of the Nipissing rise at least 2 m within 200 yr, leading to the development of shallower-water plant communities and an environment too dry for most diatoms to persist. The sharp decline in water level was probably driven primarily by outlet incision, but climate likely played some role. The paleoecological records provide evidence for post-Nipissing century-scale transgressions occurring around 2300, 1160, 700 and 450 cal yr B.P. The chronology for these transgressions correlates with other studies from the region and implies climatic forcing. Peat inception in shallow sloughs across part of the study area around 700 cal yr B.P. coincides with the Little Ice Age. These records, considered alongside others from the region, suggest that the Little Ice Age may have resulted in a wetter climate across the eastern Great Lakes region.     

Rejuvenation of continental lithosphere beneath an intracratonic basin

The effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere in the Williston Basin region has been determined for several time intervals by fitting an elastic flexure equation to the shape of the basin over time. The elastic thickness increases from about 40 km just after the basin began subsiding (450 m.y. B.P.) to about 80 km at the present.These results agree well with the increasing elastic thickness with age predicted for a cooling, 250 km-thick plate (taking elastic thickness to be depth to the 450°C isotherm) if we assume a thermal age of the lithosphere of about 500 m.y. Radiometric dates of basement in the area, however, generally yield ages of 1.7 b.y. (Churchill Province) and 2.5 b.y. (Superior Province).Because basement ages are generally much greater than the inferred lithospheric thermal age in the Williston Basin region, we suggest that lithosphere in this area was thermally rejuvenated, about 500 m.y.B.P., by the same process(es) responsible for the thermal subsidence of the basin. Temperatures were not high enough in the upper crust to reset most radiometric clocks. Additional support for a thermal event 500 m.y.B.P. comes from fission-track ages and a single Rb-Sr age of basement rocks of about 500 m.y.Lithospheric rejuvenation has been modelled using a one-dimensional finite-difference thermal model. The base of a 250 km-thick plate is heated from 1333°C to 1850°C (approximately the solidus of basalt at that depth) for approximately 100 m.y. With conduction only, the depth to the 450°C isotherm slowly decreases, then slowly increases after heating ceases. Rapid thinning and slow thickening of the lithosphere can be achieved only if convective thinning is simulated in the model. The model with convection yields results consistent with the observed increase in lithospheric thickness as well as the observed subsidence of the basin over time.     

Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the stratotype sections of the Catfish Creek Drift Formation between Bradtville and Plum Point, north shore, Lake Erie, southwestern Ontario, Canada

The Catfish Creek Drift Formation is a significant and extensive lithostratigraphical marker unit in SW Ontario. Here the stratotype, exposed in the Lake Erie bluffs of the Plum Point-Bradtville (Grandview) area south of London, Ontario, Canada, is proposed. It consists of subglacial and proglacial sediments deposited at the beginning of the Nissouri Phase of the Wisconsinan glaciation. In the 2.5-km-long stratotype section, the Catfish Creek Drift consists of 9 members. Five of them, the Dunwich and Grandview I-IV members, mainly consist of till, with minor components of stratified drift. The Dunwich till was deposited by the Huron-Georgian Bay lobe, but the Grandview I-IV tills by the Erie lobe. The Zettler Farm Member consists of co-lobal till in the central part of the section and of a proglacial waterlain flow diamicton and a subglacial undermelt diamicton in the SW part. Three members consist entirely of stratified drift; the glaciolacustrine silty and clayey Waite Farm Member, the ice-marginal deltaic Oosprink Farm Member and the Boy Scout Camp Member - deposited by meltwater streams in subglacial channels. The sequence of interbedded till and stratified drift represents the oscillating advance of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the Lake Erie basin.     

Rejuvenation of Fossil Sutures and Related Mesozoic Intracontinental Orogenies in South China

The Huanan (South China) subcontinent was created by amalgamation of the Yangtze, Xianggan, Ca-thaysia and Zhemin microcontinents by the Guangxi orogeny in the Early Palaeozoic. The closure of the Tethyan Ocean and subsequent collision event outside the amalgamated continent reactivated fossil sutures and resulted in in-tracontinental (ensialic) orogenies in the Mesozoic. Based on evidence from deformation, molasse and granitoids, the Sichuan-Guizhou-Hunan-southern Hubei and Hunan-Jiangxi-Fujian Yanshanian fold-thrust systems and the Lower Yangtze-northwestern Fujian Indosinian fold-thrust system are thought to be intracontinental orogens. Their main features are as follows: intracontinental orogenies occurred areally, thrusting propagated towards the interior of the continental, they extend parallelly to the strikes of the fossil sutures, and the details of the temporal-spatial evolution of the orogens depend on subduction-collision events.     

库车再生前陆盆地冲断构造楔特征

库车再生前陆盆地冲断构造楔由一系列向南运动的逆冲断层和相关褶皱组成。冲断楔的北部以断层转折褶皱、断层传播褶皱、双重逆冲构造为主。断层楔的前缘发育了很好的滑脱膝折背斜,全为盲断层控制,形成隐蔽式前锋。冲断层的就位从中新世开始,自北向南迁移,前锋的构造形成在第四纪。造成逆冲断层的地壳水平缩短作用速度在中新世较慢,平均为0．355mm/a,上新世中期达0．82mm/a,而到上新世晚期和第四纪速度增大了约一个数量级,达到1．29－3mm/a。     

Hydrocarbons in the surficial sediments of Lakes St. Clair,Erie, and Ontario

Although the long-term effects and the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in marine and freshwater environments are not fully understood, it is generally recognized that much of the oil released by accidental spills or by various land sources ends up in the sediment where it may remain for at least several years The present study was undertaken to collect some initial data on the hydrocarbon concentrations in surficial sediments of lakes St Clair, Erie, and Ontario The distribution of hydrocarbons in these lakes followed the general patterns found for a number of contaminants, in that the distribution tended to coincide with the outlines of the sedimentary basins The highest concentrations were found in the Western Basin of Lake Erie and in the inshore zone around the west end of the lake, suggesting major inputs from the Detroit River Apart from some spots of high concentration around known dumping grounds, the concentrations gradually diminish toward the east The distribution pattern in Lake Ontario may be more readily ascribed to water circulation patterns than to any specific source around the lake The hydrocarbon levels were found to be significantly lower than those in Lake Erie in Lake St Clair only trace quantities of hydrocarbons were found, suggesting either low inputs or low sedimentation/accumulation rates due to its shallowness Although the present survey was limited to the top 3 cm of the sediments, the resulting distribution patterns indicate the western end of Lake Erie as the area with the heaviest hydrocarbon loadings The results may also facilitate the selection of specific areas where core sampling coupled with more complete analysis of the extracts could yield significant information on the long-term accumulation of anthropogenic hydrocarbons, and on their persistence and transformations in Great Lakes sediments