The Surficial Sediments of the Big Bay Section of the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario

Abstract

Ninety-six samples of the uppermost 3 cm of sediment were taken from the Big Bay section of the Bay of Quinte. The samples were analyzed for grain size, Eh, pH, organic C, and inorganic C. The Big Bay section contains three depositional basins and has a mean depth of 4.7 m. The sediment distribution was mapped by conventional echosounding and showed that the coarser sediments, sands and gravels, occurred on the northern shore and in the eastern part of the study area, with clayey silts and silty clays offshore in the three depositional basins. This distribution was confirmed by the grain size analyses.The textural properties of the sediments, mean grain size, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis, are related to the variable mixing of three populations comprising gravel, sand, and silt/clay. Trends in the grain-size statistics related to sediment distribution suggested that the distribution observed is a result of increasing energy levels downwind under prevailing westerly and southwesterly winds.