Regions: South Slave Region
Tags: physical sciences, contaminants
| Principal Investigator: | Wolfe, Brent BBW (10) |
| Licence Number: | 14966 |
| Organization: | Wilfrid Laurier University |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2011
|
| Issued: | Sep 08, 2011 |
| Project Team: | Brent B. Wolfe, PhD (Sampling, analysis and report writing , Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University), Roland I. Hall, PhD (Sampling, analysis and report writing, Department of Biology, University of Waterloo), Matthew Elmes (Sampling, analysis and report writing, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University) |
Objective(s): To increase our understanding about the present and historical contaminant deposition in the Slave River Delta.
Project Description: The objective of this study is to increase our understanding about the present and historical contaminant deposition in the delta. The analysis of the information will contribute to the overall understanding of the existing environmental stressors that might affect the aquatic ecosystem health of the delta. The information will provide a starting point for further sediment quality studies in the delta, as well as be linked to other studies such as a present fish health study that is conducted at the mouth of the delta (and includes analysis for the same contaminants as the proposed sediment study). Using a gravity corer, lake sediment cores will be collected from ‘SD2’, a small (~1.2 km2), shallow (maximum depth ~1.5 m) flood-dominated lake in the active Slave River Delta (see Figure 1), as well as other potential sites(not yet determined). Sediments in the SD2 lake contain a record of spring break-up flooding for at least the past century (Brock et al. 2010). Sediment cores will be sectioned into 1.0-cm intervals, placed in sample bags and shipped to the University of Waterloo. Samples will be analyzed for 1) radiometric isotope (137Cs, 210Pb) concentration to develop the sediment core chronology, 2) loss-on-ignition to characterize physical properties of the sediment core, 3) organic carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotope composition to reconstruct past hydrological conditions, and 4) polycyclic aromatic compounds and metals to examine their deposition patterns and trends over time. Analyses for # 1-3 will be conducted at laboratories at Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Waterloo. Analyses for # 4 will be conducted by ALS Canada Ltd. (Edmonton). The sediment core sampling will be part of a larger project, Vulnerability Assessment for the Slave River and Slave River Delta (NWT CIMP funded for 2011/2012). The project was developed under the Slave River and Delta Partnership, where all aboriginal organizations from Fort Resolution and Fort Smith as well as the Town of Fort Smith and the Hamlet of Fort Resolution are represented. This study intends to answer questions that have been raised by the community members of Fort Resolution, Fort Smith and Fort Fitzgerald regarding contaminant deposition in the delta. There will be community involvement in Fort Resolution when the sediment core sampling occurs (Fall 2011). The involvement includes: transportation, guiding and information meeting. The results will be communicated back to the communities through the Slave River and Delta Partnership (both University of Waterloo and Wilfrid-Laurier University are members of the Partnership) by teleconferences and meeting. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from September 8, 2011 to November 15, 2011.
