Cultural Impact on the Geochemistry of Sediments in Lake Erie

Abstract

The chemical and physical characteristics of six cores from Lake Erie are described. The concentrations of Si, Al, K, Na, and Mg, which represent the major mineral species in the sediment, were uniform in each core. Surface enrichments of Hg, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Organic-C, N, and P were observed at each location, due mainly to the increasing anthropogenic loading of these elements to the sediments since 1850. Concentration profiles for Mn, Fe, and S were related to sediment Eh and are due to mobilization of these elements in the pore waters.Natural and anthropogenic inputs of nutrients and heavy metals were calculated. About 60% of the total loading of these elements is being deposited in the Eastern basin. It is calculated that 30 million metric tons of fine-grained sediment accumulates in the offshore basins of the lake, each year. The major source of the sediment input is erosion of the shoreline bluffs, with the north shore between Erieau and Long Point contributing 21 million metric tons annually. A sediment mass balance suggests that a large part of this bluff material is transported up to 150 km and is deposited in the Eastern basin.