Lake Ontario sediments in monitoring pollution

An investigation was carried out to select locations for long-term monitoring of inputs of contaminants into Lake Ontario using fine-grained bottom sediments as an historical record of pollution. The sediment sampling program was designed to determine sediment heterogeneity in the western, central and eastern depositional basins of the lake. Surficial sediments and sediment cores were collected in each basin to obtain information on horizontal distribution and concentration profiles of major and trace elements in the sediments (Si, Al, Ca, Mg, Fe, Na, K, Ti, Mn, P, As, Co, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn). The results of the investigation indicated that fine-grained sediments in three Lake Ontario depositional basins are homogeneous to a high degree, and that only a few sediment cores need to be collected within each basin for the long-term monitoring of inputs of contaminants to the lake.