Abstract
A water quality sampling programme for James Bay territory established in a previous study has been carried out for the Department of Natural Resources of the Province of Quebec.
The network is composed of 5 base-stations, sampled every fortnight to determine the variability with time of the parameters and 16 satellite-stations, sampled five times yearly with a view to determine the spatial variability.
The data (major ions and certain nutrients) gathered during the 1974–1975 field survey are subjected to an analysis by a multivariate technique (correspondence analysis) in addition to certain classical statistical methods. The latter have shown that the mean values obtained at satellite stations were representative of the annual mean. In addition, the results permit the determination for a given parameter, of the relationship between stations and, for a given station, the relationship between parameters. In both cases, the formulation of predictive equations was attempted.
An overall evaluation of the data by correspondence analysis has permitted: - a more precise definition of the qualitative behaviour of the different sub-basins of the James Bay territory and characterization of their waters;- a proof of the existence of gradual concentration changes in both East-West and North-South directions.
Within the original objectives of the network, the results of the study have led to the following recommendations: - to continue synchronised samplings;- to transform a base station with a low information content into a satellite station;- to create a new base station in the eastern part of the territory.
Methane fluxes from three peatlands in the La Grande Rivière watershed, James Bay lowland, Canada