Some secrets of a great river: an overview of the St. Lawrence Riversupplement

摘要

The present issue attempts to cut across discipline boundaries and examines many of the suspected pollution problems in an ecological context. Each of the papers provides a rich literature on relevant issues so that the present studies can be placed in context with historical observations. The papers provide information on changes in plankton populations, macrophyte distribution, mixing rates of the water column, and the dynamics of sediments, where many of the metals and persistent organic pollutants reside. Papers on metals and persistent organic pollutants follow with special emphasis on the polychlorinated biphenyl problems of the Massena area of the Upper St. Lawrence River. Further downstream reliable models to predict polychlorinated biphenyl levels in whales were developed. Indicators for bioavailable metals in sediments were introduced and new information was provided on aspects of global mercury transport.