Measurement of Whole Lake Sediment Accumulation and Phosphorus Retention Using Lead-210 Dating

Abstract

Lead-210 dating was used to measure rates of sediment accumulation in 15 cores from Bob Lake, Ontario. The rate of accumulation was highly correlated with sample depth. This relation allowed the calculation of accumulation of sediments over the whole lake area. Phosphorus (P) retention was calculated from mean concentration of P in the sediments and the whole lake accumulation of sediment. Retention of P calculated in this way was similar to retention calculated from previously measured input and output of P.Key words: lead-210 dating, sediment accumulation, phosphorus retention