Zonation of Contaminated Bottom Sediments in Hamilton Harbour as Defined by Statistical Classification Techniques

Abstract Hamilton Harbour, a 2,150-ha embayment at the western end of Lake Ontario, is the receiving water for a number of industrial and municipal effluents. Their accumulation over the past decades has resulted in a seriously degraded aquatic environment that is now being subjected to remedial actions. Chemical determinations of total and weak acid-extractable metals were carried out on 40 sediment samples from the harbour. …