Open-File Report 01-282

Sediment-Deposition Rates and Organic Compounds in Bottom Sediment at Four Sites in Lake Mead, Nevada, May 1998

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CONTENTS

Abstract

Introduction

Purpose and Scope

Description of Study Area

Acknowledgements

Methods

Sediment Deposition

Physical Description of Cores

Age Dating

Sediment-Deposition Rates

Occurrence of Organic Compounds

Summary

Selected References

 

TABLES

Table 1. Index to sediment coring sites and types of samples collected in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 2. Physical characteristics of bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 3. Depth intervals and cesium-137 concentrations in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 4. Depth of the pre-impoundment boundary and the 1952 and 1964 cesium-137 peaks, and sediment-deposition rates in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 5. Depth and porosity in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 6. Summary of selected synthetic organic compounds, with maximum concentration and depth, in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 7. Pesticide and total polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 8. Dioxin concentrations in bottom-sediment cores at three sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 9. Furan concentrations in bottom-sediment cores at three sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Table 10. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and phenol concentrations in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

 

FIGURES

Figure 1. Location of data-collection sites in Lake Mead, Nevada.

Figure 2. Concentrations of cesium-137 in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998, and in the atmosphere, 1952-72.

Figure 3. Concentrations of DDD and DDE in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998. Solid circles represent cesium-137 concentrations.

Figure 4. Concentrations of total TCDD and OCDD in bottom-sediment cores at three sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Figure 5. Concentrations of OCDF and total TCDF in bottom-sediment cores at three sites in Lake Mead, May 1998. Solid circles represent cesium-137 concentrations.

Figure 6. Concentrations of benzo[g,h,i]perylene and 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Figure 7. Concentrations of indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene and perylene in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

Figure 8. Concentrations of phenol and pyrene in bottom-sediment cores at four sites in Lake Mead, May 1998.

CONVERSION FACTORS, VERTICAL DATUM, AND CHEMICAL ABBREVIATIONS

Sea level: In this report, "sea level" refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 1929, formerly called "Sea-Level Datum of 1929"), which is derived from a general adjustment of the first-order leveling networks of the United States and Canada.

Chemical abbreviations:

¹³⁷Cs (cesium-137)
DDD (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane)
DDE (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene)
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
OCs (organochlorine compounds)
OCDD (octochlorodibenzo-p-dioxin)
OCDF (octochlorodibenzofuran)
PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)
SVOCs (semivolatile organic compounds)
TCDD (tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin)
TCDF (tetrachlorodibenzofuran)

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