Assessing upper Mississippi River sediments using benthic invertebrates and the sediment quality triad
- National Biological Service, Columbia, MO (United States). Midwest Science Center
Benthic invertebrate samples were collected from 23 pools in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) and from one station in the Saint Croix River (SCR) as part of study to assess the effects of the extensive flooding of 1993 on sediment contamination in the UMR system. Sediment contamination consists of organic and inorganic contaminants. Samples were collected with a petite ponar grab sampler Oligochaete and Chironomid abundance constituted over 80% of the community in samples from 18 of 23 pools in the UMR and in the SCR sample. Fingernail clams comprised a large portion of the community in 5 of 23 UMR pools. Total abundance values ranged from 333/m{sup 2} at pool 1 to 25,000/m{sup 2} at pool 19. Overall frequency of chironomid mouth part deformities was 3%, which is comparable to literature values for incidence of deformities in uncontaminated sediments. Occurrence of mouth part deformities ranged 0 to 13% at the UMR pools. Sediment contamination was generally low in the UMR pools and the SCR site. The degree of sediment contamination will be evaluated with data from laboratory toxicity exposures, sediment chemistry analyses and benthic community analyses using the Sediment Quality Triad approach. Preliminary evaluations show the sediments from the UMR and SCR are relatively uncontaminated and the flooding of `93 did not adversely effect sediment quality in the UMR system.
- OSTI ID:
- 230901
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9623%%211
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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