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Sediment Oxygen Demand in the Central Basin of Lake Erie

Smith, Derek
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1196466284

Abstract Details

2008, Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Geological Sciences.
Four separate procedures were used to estimate the sediment oxygen demand (SOD) in the central basin of Lake Erie. First, core incubations involved sealing sediment cores at 12°C to ensure no interaction between the overlying water and the atmosphere and monitoring continuously to define the linear disappearance of oxygen. Second, vertical profiles of the dissolved oxygen concentrations obtained by microelectrodes were modeled to obtain the flux of oxygen into the sediments. Third, sediment plugs were placed inside flow-through reactors and the influent and effluent concentrations were monitored. Steady-state reaction rates were calculated from the data. Fourth, an extensive data set for the central basin of Lake Erie was collected for input into the diagenetic BRNS model, and the SOD was calculated assuming all primary redox reactions, but no secondary reactions. All procedures produce reasonably precise estimates of SOD, but show a rise from the work performed over the previous 35 years. Whole core incubations yield an average SOD of 7.40 x 10-12 moles/cm2/sec. In comparison, the O2 diffusion model results in an average SOD for the central basin of 8.29 x 10-12 moles/cm2/sec. The BRNS model predicts an SOD of 7.87 x 10-12 moles/cm2/sec over the top 10 cm of sediment, and appears to be calibrated reasonably well to the conditions of the central basin of Lake Erie. The untreated group of the flow-through experiments had an average SOD of 4.04 x 10-12 moles/cm2/sec. These findings suggest that the SOD of the central basin has decreased, presumably, in response to the decrease in chemical loadings of Lake Erie; nevertheless the dead zone is as extensive today as it was more than thirty years ago.
Gerald Matisoff (Advisor)
SEDIMENT; SOD; OXYGEN; CENTRAL BASIN; BRNS; Dissolved Oxygen

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Citations

  • Smith, D. (2008). Sediment Oxygen Demand in the Central Basin of Lake Erie [Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1196466284

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smith, Derek. Sediment Oxygen Demand in the Central Basin of Lake Erie. 2008. Case Western Reserve University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1196466284.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smith, Derek. "Sediment Oxygen Demand in the Central Basin of Lake Erie." Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1196466284

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1196466284
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.