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USGS · 70015354

Accumulation and diagenesis of chlorinated hydrocarbons in lacustrine sediments

Steven J. Eisenreich·Paul D. Capel·John A. Robbins·R. Bourbonniere
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Abstract

Two sediment cores were taken from the Rochester Basin of eastern Lake Ontario and analyzed for the radionuclides 210Pb and 137Cs and several high molecular weight chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHs). The two sites are geographically proximate but differ in sedimentation rate, permitting sedimentation-dependent processes to be factored out. The 210Pb chronology showed a mixed depth of 3-5 cm and an intrinsic time resolution of 11-14 years. Vertically integrated numbers of deposit-feeding oligochaete worms and burrowing organisms are insufficient to homogenize the sediment on the time scale of CH inputs, which are non steady state. U.S. production and sales of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT, Mirex, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB), as determinants of the shape of the input function, adequately predict the overall shape and, in many cases, details in the sedimentary profile. Sediment focusing factors (FF) inferred from 137Cs and 210Pb inventories averaged 1.17 and 1.74 for cores E-30 and G-32, respectively. This permitted CH accumulation rates to be corrected for focusing. Apparent molecular diffusion coefficients modeled for many of the CHs were about (1-3) ?? 10-9 cm2/s.

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Steven J. Eisenreich, Paul D. Capel, John A. Robbins, R. Bourbonniere. 2002-05-01. Accumulation and diagenesis of chlorinated hydrocarbons in lacustrine sediments. https://doi.org/10.1021/es00067a009

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