Diatom population from Pocket Lake, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

In order to properly assess the anthropogenic impact of mine development on environmental contaminants (e.g. Arsenic) and set realistic remediation goals, it is necessary to establish a baseline of natural geochemical variability within a region. This is complicated due to complex regional geology, changing climate conditions, and the mobility of contaminants within the hydrologic system. To understand natural variations in Arsenic, changes in diatom population will be integrated with other previously collected paleolimnological data (particle size analysis, rock eval, etc) to reconstruct paleoclimate change and compare them to down-core geochemical shifts.