The low ambient air temperatures, together with the low annual
rainfall and complete lack of vegetation in the Canadian High Arctic,
results in a breakdown of the carbonate rock material by mechanical means.
The importance of chemical decomposition, soil formation and transport
of ionic material in solution is negligible, when compared with the
role played by these same processes in more temperate climates.
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate certain aspects of
the alkali, alkaline earth and heavy metal geochemistry of selected
components of the weathering cycle. The discussion will deal with
concentration levels of these parameters in stream waters and, to a lesser
extent, soils and stream sediments.
Analytical results show that element distributions in the streams
resemble those of more temperate carbonate terrains. However, the
solute levels are, in general, lower, indicating that a greater proportion
of the metals is travelling in colloidal form and/or adsorbed to siltsized material carried by the streams.
These findings confirm the belief that chemical weathering and
transport in solution are of little importance in the area studied. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/29580 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Davie, Robert F. |
| Contributors | Kramer, J. R., Geology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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