ANTHROPOGENIC TRACE METALS IN TIDAL MARSH SEDIMENTS, SILVER SANDS STATE PARK, MILFORD, CT
During restoration of the Fletcher's Creek tidal marsh channel system in 1999, bedded debris from unregulated dumping was exposed at the surface in a debris field of 3.72 square kilometers, lying 242 meters south of the fenced-off landfill, and extending a minimum distance of 60-100 meters beyond the mapped '0' limit of landfill waste. Bedded debris exposed in channels occurs to an average depth of 2 meters.
X-ray fluorescence analyses of sediment from the debris field, within tidal channels in the restored part of Fletcher's Creek and in the poorly circulating Nettleton Creek system indicate elevated concentrations of heavy metals of probable anthropogenic origin. Select ranges include Sn=8-280 mg/g, Pb=111-802 mg/g, Zn=153-2760 mg/g, Cu=57-1847 mg/g. Concentrations were highest in the tidal channel immediately south of the fenced landfill, and at several sites close to Nettleton Creek; concentrations were lower in the strandline zone.