Are historical pollution events on the Delaware River recorded as geochemical marker horizons in adjacent marsh sediments
- Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Geology Bryn Mawr Coll., PA (United States). Geology Dept.
In the last two hundred years of massive population and industrial growth, the Delaware River has been subjected to several minor and major pollutions. For example, as recently as June 1989 the tanker Presidente Rivera spilled an estimated hundred thousand to million gallons of oil into the river. In the Lower Delaware Basin tides affect the river and its tributaries up to a hundred kilometers inland. The freshwater marshes adjacent to the creeks that empty into the Delaware River experience diurnal tidal sedimentation. It is thus expected that the pollutants in the waterway would be transported via the tidal channels into the adjacent wetlands. The high sedimentation rate, clay-rich sediments, accumulation of terrestrial organic matter, and the low energy environments in these marshes should ensure rapid burial which may preserve some of the contaminants transported into the marshes. To test this hypothesis the authors selected a freshwater marsh along the Raccoon Creek just south of Philadelphia in New Jersey, and collected a 2 m core from a relatively undisturbed portion of the marsh, about 15 m away from the tidal channels. The pH averages around 6.2, ranges from 5.5--6.8, but, is slightly higher in the middle part of the core. The bulk mineralogy comprises chlorite, illite, kaolinite, feldspars and quartz. Vivianite and vermiculite were observed at places lower in the core. Graminae dominates the pollen/spore taxa. The organic debris is unaltered throughout the core. The authors will measure heavy metals and toxic chemicals on < 2[mu]m clay fractions. Also pristane/phytane ratios, indicative of hydrocarbons (crude oils), will be determined on organic matter extracts. The authors will compare and correlate the results to historically documented events of chemical and petroleum spills on the Delaware River.
- OSTI ID:
- 5641812
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9303211-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:2; Conference: 28. annual Geological Society of America (GSA) Northeastern Section meeting, Burlington, VT (United States), 22-24 Mar 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Accelerated drowning of the Delaware Bay coast 1800 years ago
The role of Delaware River freshwater tidal wetlands in the retention of nutrients and heavy metals
Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
CHEMICAL SPILLS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
DELAWARE RIVER
OIL SPILLS
MARSHES
LAND POLLUTION
SEDIMENTS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
GEOCHEMISTRY
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
NEW JERSEY
PALYNOLOGY
POLLUTANTS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
WATER POLLUTION
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
CHEMISTRY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOSYSTEMS
MASS TRANSFER
NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION
RIVERS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
USA
WETLANDS
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540220 - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
580000 - Geosciences