Book Description
The primary objective of this study was to examine whether sediment cores from headwater lakes can be used to track naturally produced biomarkers and contaminants transported atmospherically. The researchers addressed this objective specifically by dating sediment cores from Legend and Weekes lakes in northern Alberta. They dated the cores using the lead and caesium methods, and used these geochronological results to determine sedimentation rates and time scales, as well as the utility of the cores for subsequent contaminant analyses. Cores were also analysed for bulk parameters such as particle size distribution, bulk carbon and nitrogen species, and atomic carbon/nitrogen ratios in order to obtain indications of the consistency of the depositional environment. Results from these two reference lakes will be compared with results of contaminant analyses on Lake Athabasca cores to determine if contaminants in Lake Athabasca sediments originate from atmospheric or upstream effluent sources.
