Geochemical profile of Chautauqua Lake sediments

Neutron activation analysis techniques were used to study sediments from Chautauqua Lake. The concentrations of Eu, Na, Mn, K, Br, As, Ga, La, Hf, Cs, Tb, Sc, Fe, Ta, Sb were determined and compared with similar data for the bedrock and soils surrounding the lake. The lake sediments are found to be enriched in Na, Mn, Br, As, Hf, Tb, Ta, and Sb relative to the surrounding source beds. High pairwise linear correlation coefficients (R～0.9) were found between the concentrations of antimony, cesium, and scandium. For many elements a relationship was indicated between their concentrations and the clay fraction of the sediment, possibly due to the higher cation exchange potential of the clay minerals.