The purpose of this investigation was to study the sediment in the
upper reaches of Claytor Lake. The lake is a manmade impoundment on the
New River near Radford, Virginia. Eleven core samples, varying in
length from 66 cm. to 141 cm, were taken from the lake. The concentration
of various water quality parameters were determined for segments
of the entire length of each core. An in vitro assay was
performed in the laboratory to determine the productivity potential
of the nutrients contained in the sediments.
Results of this investigation showed that sufficient nutrients are
contained in the sediments to sustain algae growth. These nutrients,
when released under controlled conditions, were found to sustain abundant
growth of three algal genera: S. capricornutum, A. flos-aguae, and
M. aeruginosa. Several nutrients were found to exhibit trends with sediment depth and also to correlate with each other. Particle size distributions were also determined on several of the sediment samples. Several nutrients were found to correlate with particle size of the
sediment.
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