| Saglek, Labrador was the site of a United States Air Force communication station for a twenty-year period ending in 1971. Significant amounts of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination was discovered at the site in 1996, along with evidence that PCBs had entered the marine ecosystem.{09}PCBs are persistent bioaccumulative chemicals which have been declared toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.; The focus of this thesis was to characterize the spatial distribution of total PCB concentrations and homologue patterns within Saglek Bay. Sediment characteristics (organic carbon content, grain size) were compared to PCB concentrations in order to establish the geochemical relationships. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis and multivariate statistics were used to compare PCB congener composition in sediment samples from Saglek Bay to that of surrounding lakes which only receives aerial deposition of PCBs. The differing PCB congener profiles distinguished local from distant inputs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
