Anomalously high concentrations of arsenic and phosphate are found in the sediments of the Saguenay Fjord relative to those of the Gulf and St. Lawrence Estuary. Whereas the source of phosphate is likely anthropogenic, arsenic appears to be scavenged from the bottom marine waters by settling detrital and authigenic particles. The surface waters of the Saguenay Fjord show a particulate aluminum anomaly ([Al]tot/[Al]diss > 1) that decreases downstream or with increasing salinity. The mineralogy of the aluminum particulate matter may be akin to gibbsite given the refining activities in the region. The adsorption of phosphate and arsenic to various mineral oxides is well established but the scavenging capacity of gibbsite in this estuarine environment is not known. / In order to simulate the behavior of the adsorbent/adsorbate relationship during estuarine mixing, the adsorption capacity of gibbsite for arsenate and phosphate was measured in pure water; 0.67 M NaCl; 10 mM CaCl2; 10 mM CaCl2 + 0.64 M NaCl and in seawater in the absence and presence of the fluoride ion.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.78363 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Garand, Alain |
| Contributors | Mucci, Alfonso (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001984143, proquestno: AAIMQ88198, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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