FATE AND TRANSPORT OF DETROIT RIVER DERIVED POLLUTANTS THROUGHOUT LAKE ERIE

The fate and transport of Detroit River derived sediment-bound pollutants in Lake Erie were investigated by the electron impact gas chromatographic mass spectrometric analysis of 2,4-di-tert-pentylphenol (24DP), an unusual sediment-bound pollutant originating from a single point source on the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River. The 24DP depositional histories were determined in 25 dated sediment cores taken throughout Lake Erie; 24DP occurred in sediments throughout the lake from the mid-1930s until the cores were collected in the late 1980s, with maximum deposition occurring in 1968 +/- 2 years in all three basins of the lake. The average depositional fluxes of 24DP at the 25 sampling sites were determined and used in a three-compartment model of Lake Erie's sedimentation basins. Mass balance was applied to determine pollutant accumulation rates in each basin and interbasin transport rates. About 73% of Detroit River derived, sediment-bound pollutants accumulate in the relatively small western basin of Lake Erie, approximately 20% accumulate in the central basin, and approximately 5% accumulate in the deep eastern basin. The region of the lake most severely affected by the discharge of hydrophobic pollutants from the Detroit River is the western basin within 20-30 km of the mouth of the river.