What Can Ancient Sediments Tell Us About Lake Erie? (2024)

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12:00 pm, Wed August 28, 2024 – Newly funded Ohio Sea Grant research will collect sediment “cores” to gather important data about Lake Erie’s past and present

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By studying deep layers of sediment found at the bottom of Lake Erie, scientists can tell a story about its past: how oxygen and pH levels in the lake changed over the course of thousands of years, and how sediment followed different patterns as it accumulated.

Next, researchers can take these findings a step further, learning how sediments accumulate today and gleaning insights about how low-oxygen zones and harmful algal blooms form on the lake.

What Can Ancient Sediments Tell Us About Lake Erie? (1)

That’s the subject of a newly funded Ohio Sea Grant research project led by Dr. Beverly Saylor of Case Western Reserve University. With work getting underway this year, her team plans to extract new sediment “cores” — cylindrical sections that capture the lake’s deep layers — and gather high-resolution data to improve sediment modeling and monitoring.

“Our primary goal is to understand which areas are accumulating sediments today and which are not, and to establish timescales of deposition and erosion,” said Saylor, a professor at Case Western’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences. “Does sediment accumulate during quiet periods and then erode during major storm events?”

On Lake Erie, sediments bring nutrients and contaminants such as phosphorus and heavy metals into the lake, store them on the lake floor, and release them into the water.

“Erosion can recycle these elements, making them, potentially, an important internal source of pollutants,” Saylor said. “The variation in thickness of sediments across the basin can tell us about where sediments are accumulating and are a sink for pollutants and where they are being eroded and may be a source.”

“This project holds the promise of improved modeling and monitoring of sediment accumulation in Lake Erie’s central basin and can help practitioners and policymakers to better understand one of the factors that may contribute to hypoxia and anoxia.”
Dr. Beverly Saylor

Through previous research, Saylor and others used sediment cores to document how low oxygen conditions arose in Lake Erie thousands of years ago, driven by changes in lake level. Researchers also found evidence that large offshore areas of the lake’s central basin have accumulated very little sediment over time.

Now, Saylor’s team plans to collect new sediment cores that are 10-20 feet long and use them as a record of lake conditions over the past 5,000 years and more. The project is a collaboration among researchers at multiple universities, including Dr. Onema Adojoh of Northern Missouri State University, Dr. Joseph Ortiz of Kent State University, Dr. John Peck of the University of Akron, and Dr. Mohamed Zobaa at University of Texas Permian Basin.

What Can Ancient Sediments Tell Us About Lake Erie? (2)

“Sediment composition and fossils can tell us about past oxygen levels and pH in the bottom waters and may also provide evidence for algal blooms and landscape disturbance that we can relate to changes in lake level and climate,” Saylor said.

To collect the cores, the team will “piggyback” off of monitoring and research work being done aboard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Research Vessel Lake Guardian. Researchers will collect both long and short cores at different locations across Lake Erie, cut them into segments, and transport them to the University of Minnesota’s Continental Scientific Drilling Facility.

There, the team will scan cores for their magnetic properties and elemental composition, split them lengthwise, and sample them further. Researchers will date the cores using different methods that work best for different time periods, including paleomagnetic variation, carbon dating, and pollen analysis.

By developing a record of sedimentation over thousands of years, the team will be able to establish links between hydrology, climate, and low-oxygen conditions.

What Can Ancient Sediments Tell Us About Lake Erie? (3)

“This project holds the promise of improved modeling and monitoring of sediment accumulation in Lake Erie’s central basin and can help practitioners and policymakers to better understand one of the factors that may contribute to hypoxia and anoxia,” Saylor said.

Specifically, results may help inform managers taking steps to reduce nutrient loading from sediment deposition on Lake Erie. Insights may also explain how regional climate variation will impact future sediment movement and accumulation.

For more information about this newly funded research project, set to end in spring of 2026, contact Dr. Saylor at bzs@case.edu.

Ohio Sea Grant is supported by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, and NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 34 Sea Grant programs nation-wide dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie and is the research, education, and outreach facility of Ohio Sea Grant and part of CFAES School of Environment and Natural Resources.

ARTICLE TITLE: What Can Ancient Sediments Tell Us About Lake Erie?PUBLISHED: 12:00 pm, Wed August 28, 2024 | MODIFIED: 2:38 pm, Thu August 29, 2024

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What Can Ancient Sediments Tell Us About Lake Erie? (2024)

FAQs

What Can Ancient Sediments Tell Us About Lake Erie? ›

By studying deep layers of sediment found at the bottom of Lake Erie, scientists can tell a story about its past: how oxygen and pH levels in the lake changed over the course of thousands of years, and how sediment followed different patterns as it accumulated.

What is the sediment of Lake Erie? ›

The bottom sediments of Lake Erie consist of silt and clay muds, sand and gravel, peat, compact glacio-lacustrine clays, glacial till, shoals of limestone and dolomite bedrock and rubble, shale bedrock shelves, and erratic cob- bles and boulders composed chiefly of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

What was the significance of Lake Erie? ›

The Battle of Lake Erie proves one of the most resounding triumphs of the War of 1812. The victory secures control of the lake, forcing the British to abandon Fort Malden and retreat up the Thames River.

What is the geological history of Lake Erie? ›

Geological history of Lake Erie, its three distinct basins – Western, Central, and Eastern, and the surrounding region, began with recurrent long periods of deposition of a variety of shallow marine, coastal, and nonmarine sedimentary rocks throughout most of Paleozoic time (250-500 ma).

Why is Lake Erie called a dead lake? ›

During the 1960s, Lake Erie was declared a “dead lake” due to eutrophication and pollution. The children's book, The Lorax, written by Dr. Seuss, actually included the following line referring to fish: “They will walk on their fins and get woefully weary in search of some water that isn't so smeary.

How does sediment affect a lake? ›

Soil in the water, called suspended sediment, blocks out the sunlight that bottom-dwelling plants in lakes and rivers need to survive. If these plants, called submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), are deprived of sunlight for extended periods, they will die.

What type of sediment is in a lake? ›

Sediment in a lake has two origins. It may be generated within the lake (autochthonous, e.g. dead algae, fish, fish poop) or from the outside (allochthonous). Allochthonous inputs may include organic matter but also include silt, sand, clay, and other inorganic material that either wash in or are blown into the lake.

What are 3 facts about Lake Erie? ›

​LAKE ERIE QUICK STATS
  • 872 miles shoreline.
  • 241 miles east to west.
  • 57 miles north to south.
  • 9,910 square miles.
  • 30,140 square miles drained.
  • 6 year turnover rate (30-50 days western basin)
  • 90% of water from the upper Great Lakes via Detroit River.
  • More consumable fish than all other Great Lakes Combined.

Why is Lake Erie so famous? ›

Its shallow depth makes it the warmest Great Lake and a favourite destination for summer recreationists and migrating birds. Lake Erie also supports a variety of industries and is home to one of the world's largest and most valuable freshwater commercial and sport fisheries.

Why Lake Erie has historically been the most polluted of the Great Lakes? ›

Of all of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie had become predominantly polluted by the 1960s, largely due to the heavy industrial presence along its shores. With 11.6 million people living in its basin, and with big cities and sprawling farmland dominating its watershed, Lake Erie is severely impacted by human activities.

What is the rare phenomenon in Lake Erie? ›

"It was so exciting to see Lake Erie like that, it was like exploring a whole new world," Koehler told the news outlet. Lake Erie is susceptible to this phenomenon, which is known as a seiche. It occurs when strong winds and pressure changes cause the water to move from one end of the lake to the other.

Was Lake Erie Man made? ›

The Lake Erie basin was gouged out of Earth's crust years by rivers and glaciers between 1 million and 12,600 years ago. The rocks from which the basin was carved are Devonian in age (about 400 million years old) and formed in a tropical ocean reef environment.

What did they find at the bottom of Lake Erie? ›

Abnormally low water levels at Lake Erie gave some people a glimpse into history when they discovered what appeared to be a hidden shipwreck still equipped with two cannons at the bottom of the lake.

Which is the cleanest Great Lake? ›

Watershed's surface: 209,000 square kms. Lake Superior is the largest, cleanest, and wildest of all the Great Lakes.

Is Lake Erie clean or dirty? ›

Lake Erie surpasses all the other Great Lakes in the amount of effluent received from sewage treatment plants and is also most subjected to sediment loading due to the nature of the underlying geology and land use.

Is Lake Erie clean in 2024? ›

The mainly wet weather pattern in early spring caused the flow of water systems within the Western Lake Erie Basin to be above normal in March and April, creating what is considered a 'mildly severe' algal bloom forecast by NOAA.

What is the sludge in Lake Erie? ›

For over a decade, Lake Erie has been experiencing annual toxic algal blooms. Algal blooms happen when algae grows out of control, clogging water intake pipes, covering shorelines in slime, and sometimes even producing health-harming toxins.

Is it safe to swim in Lake Erie? ›

The NWS said swimmers should not enter the water because wind and waves will cause dangerous currents on the shores of Lake Erie. "Currents can carry swimmers away from shore through a sand bar and along structures extending out into the lake," the NWS said.

Why is Lake Erie so brown? ›

Waste from city sewers made its way into the lake too, as did fertilizer and pesticides from agricultural runoff. As a result of these pollutants, Lake Erie contained increased levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which contributed to eutrophication - a process that encourages the development of algal blooms.

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