| Geophysical methods are commonly employed when investigating areas where data derived from traditional outcrop examination, core logging or other methodologies may be limited or unavailable. This thesis presents three case studies from water bodies in Ontario—principally at Mazinaw Lake, Frenchman's Bay and Hamilton Harbour—that demonstrate the utility of geophysical methods in understanding basin stratigraphies and the history of sedimentation as well as identifying and mapping structures, sediment types and the presence of contaminates. The ability to determine the distribution of contaminated bottom sediment in urban areas is of especial interest given wider concerns with water quality and the remediation and reuse of contaminated waterfronts. Of the various geophysical techniques applied, the mapping of bottom sediments using magnetic properties is found to be perhaps the most useful. The incorporation of multiple geophysical data sets from alternate sources is also examined as an aid in the interpretation process. |
