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Chemistry of interstitial water and bottom sediments as indicators of seepage patterns in Perch Lake, Chalk River, Ontario 1
Author(s) -
Frape S. K.,
Patterson R. J.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1981.26.3.0500
Subject(s) - piezometer , aquifer , groundwater , geology , hydrology (agriculture) , shore , perch , groundwater discharge , sediment , water quality , geochemistry , environmental science , groundwater flow , oceanography , geomorphology , ecology , biology , geotechnical engineering , fishery , fish <actinopterygii>
A coring and squeezing technique was used to study seepage processes in Perch Lake. This lake was selected because a portion of the shallow aquifer in its basin contains tritium, which is an excellent tracer. Tritium analyses of interstitial water samples and well waters from piezometers adjacent to the lake indicate a pattern of groundwater discharge, or seepage, consistent with the predictions of mathematical simulations. Shallow groundwaters in the aquifer discharge almost vertically into the lake near the shore; water deeper in the aquifer enters the lake farther from shore. As a result of this groundwater discharge, metals such as iron and manganese are being deposited in the sediments. Interstitial waters in Perch Lake, especially nearshore, are groundwaters or groundwaters mixed with lake waters. The chemistry of interstitial waters in lake sediments may thus be determined by the quality of local groundwaters as well as by sediment‐water reactions and vertical diffusional mixing. Data from nests of piezometers near the lake and from cores or multilevel piezometers in the lake bottom, information about bottom sediments, and measurements of seepage flux will be needed to estimate the contributions to lakes of dissolved components from groundwater discharge.