the influence of wetlands and watershed geology on lake chemistry of five remote lakes in northwestern ontario
abstract
in chapter 1 of this study the relationship between spatial, chemical, and
biological factors and their influence on mercury concentration s in walleye were
examined. water, sediment, and fish tissue samples were collected in the summer of the
2008 from 5 lakes near aroland first nation, in nortwesthern, ontario, canada and
analyzed for metals, mercury, ph, and alkalinity. arc gis was used to extract spatial data
from base map s and digital elevation models, in order to calculate lake area, watershed
area, and wetland area for each study lake. hg concentrations in fish tissue were
compared between lakes using a standardized length using an ancov a. the test proved
that a significant difference was present (p=o.oooo with 95% confidence intervals).
walleye (sander vitreum) from melchett lake had the highest levels of mercury with a
mean concentration of 0,5505ug/g, while e snagami had the lowest at 0.2228 ug/g.