Acid Sensitive Lakes, Oil Sands Region

Acid Sensitive Lakes, Oil Sands Region Acid-Sensitive Lakes Nine hundred and thirty-three lakes located in Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories were sampled to establish current acidification status. Of the 933 lakes, 244 (or 26%) are considered acid sensitive, almost always because of naturally low calcium and magnesium (or "base cation") concentrations. The most acid-sensitive lakes (i.e., those with extremely low base cation concentrations) are located on the Canadian Shield in both Alberta and Saskatchewan and east of the oils sands development area. Fifty-one of the 244 acid-sensitive lakes were sampled twice annually (spring and fall) to identify chemical changes through trend analyses. Results revealed that 55% of these lakes had concentrations of some metals in excess of Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment guidelines. Of the 291 samples taken in the 51 lakes, iron concentrations were greater than guidelines in 36% (105 samples), aluminum in 33% (97 samples), lead in 0.3% (1 sample) and copper in 0.3% (1 sample). The metals in these lakes occur naturally and are expected to be found in a wide range of concentrations given the geology and physiography of the Canadian Shield. It remains to establish the relationship between acid sensitivity, geology and high metal concentrations. 2022-06-14 Environment and Climate Change Canada fred.norouzian@canada.ca Nature and Environmentoil sands; monitoring; atmospheric deposition; contaminant; acidification; metals; nutrients; major ions; acid sensitivity; water qualityWater - QualityAssess Toxicity; Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and WasteMonitor / Assess Substance and Waste Levels in Air; Water; Soil; BiotaPrairie - Alberta (AB)Prairie - Saskatchewan (SK)Territories - Northwest Territories (NT)Oil sandsLakes Acid Sensitive Lakes - Level 1 and Level 2 Monitoring - Water Chemistry Data (English)CSV http://donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/acid-sensitive-lakes-oil-sands-region/?lang=en Acid Sensitive Lakes - Level 1 and Level 2 Monitoring - Water Chemistry Data (French)CSV http://donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/acid-sensitive-lakes-oil-sands-region/?lang=fr Acid-Sensitive Lakes -Topographic MapsPDF http://donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/acid-sensitive-lakes-oil-sands-region/Acid-sensitive Lakes Map Information Monitoring Level1-2-En-Fr.pdf Scientific Publication - Chemical characteristics and acid sensitivity of boreal headwater lakes in northwest SaskatchewanPDF http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~jjgibson/mypdfs/04_scott.pdf Scientific Publication - Site-specific estimates of water yield applied regional acid sensitivity surveys across western CanadaPDF https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228662455_Site-specific_estimates_of_water_yield_applied_in_regional_acid_sensitivity_surveys_across_western_Canada Scientific Publication - Chapter: Critical Loads and Dynamic Risk Assessments “Critical Load Assessments and Dynamic Model Applications for Lakes in North America”PDF http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231016303661 Scientific Publication - Recently surveyed lakes in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada: characteristics and critical loads of acidityPDF http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~jjgibson/mypdfs/05_jeffries.pdf Acid Sensitive LakesESRI REST https://maps-cartes.ec.gc.ca/arcgis/rest/services/OSM/MapServer/16 Acid Sensitive LakesESRI REST https://maps-cartes.ec.gc.ca/arcgis/rest/services/OSM/MapServer/38 Acid Sensitive Lakes, Oil Sands RegionWMS https://maps-cartes.ec.gc.ca/arcgis/services/OSM/MapServer/WMSServer?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS&layers=29&legend_format=image/png&feature_info_type=text/html Acid Sensitive Lakes, Oil Sands RegionWMS https://maps-cartes.ec.gc.ca/arcgis/services/OSM/MapServer/WMSServer?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS&layers=7&legend_format=image/png&feature_info_type=text/html

Acid-Sensitive Lakes

Nine hundred and thirty-three lakes located in Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories were sampled to establish current acidification status. Of the 933 lakes, 244 (or 26%) are considered acid sensitive, almost always because of naturally low calcium and magnesium (or "base cation") concentrations. The most acid-sensitive lakes (i.e., those with extremely low base cation concentrations) are located on the Canadian Shield in both Alberta and Saskatchewan and east of the oils sands development area.

Fifty-one of the 244 acid-sensitive lakes were sampled twice annually (spring and fall) to identify chemical changes through trend analyses. Results revealed that 55% of these lakes had concentrations of some metals in excess of Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment guidelines. Of the 291 samples taken in the 51 lakes, iron concentrations were greater than guidelines in 36% (105 samples), aluminum in 33% (97 samples), lead in 0.3% (1 sample) and copper in 0.3% (1 sample). The metals in these lakes occur naturally and are expected to be found in a wide range of concentrations given the geology and physiography of the Canadian Shield. It remains to establish the relationship between acid sensitivity, geology and high metal concentrations.

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Contact Information

Delivery Point: 867 Lakeshore Road

City: Burlington

Postal Code: L7S 1A1

Country: Canada

Electronic Mail Address: fred.norouzian@canada.ca

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