With increased awareness of nutrition and the advocacy for healthier food choices, there exists a great demand for a simple, easy-to-use test that can reliably measure the antioxidant capacity of dietary products. We report development and characterization of a portable nanoparticle based-assay, similar to a small sensor patch, for rapid and sensitive detection of food antioxidants. The assay is based on the use of immobilized ceria nanoparticles, which change color after interaction with antioxidants by means of redox and surface chemistry reactions. Monitoring corresponding optical changes enables sensitive detection of antioxidants in which the nanoceria provides an optical ‘signature’ of antioxidant power, while the antioxidants act as reducing agents. The sensor has been tested for the detection of common antioxidant compounds including ascorbic acid, gallic acid, vanilic acid, quercetin, caffeic acid, and epigallocatechin gallate and its function has been successfully applied for the assessment of antioxidant activity in real samples (teas and medicinal mushrooms). The colorimetric response was concentration dependent, with detection limits ranging from 20–400 μM depending on the antioxidant involved. Steady-state color intensity was achieved within seconds upon addition of antioxidants. The results are presented in terms of Gallic Acid Equivalents (GAE). The sensor performed favorably when compared with commonly used antioxidant detection methods. This assay is particularly appealing for remote sensing applications, where specialized equipment is not available, and also for high throughput analysis of a large number of samples. Potential applications for antioxidant detection in remote locations are envisioned.

A basin analysis approach is used to help understand a complex aquifer system in the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greater Toronto areas, southern Ontario, Canada. The aquifer complex consists of a sequence of discontinuous strata that have a prominent regional unconformity. To help visualize this architecture, a stratigraphic database has been developed and used to construct a 3-D stratigraphic model, through selective integration of disparate data. To accurately interpret borehole logs, geological context was supplied by using expert knowledge constrained with a conceptual stratigraphic framework. Utilizing a digital stratigraphic training framework derived from manually coded, high-quality data, an expert system automatically interpreted and coded a large number of low-quality water well records. The expert system was designed to emulate the manual borehole interpretation process by applying knowledge-based geological rules, within the constraints of the digital training framework. Issues of poorly constrained interpolation due to sparse data are addressed by the integration of additional spatial rules defined by thematic map coverages within the expert system. As quantitative hydrogeological modelling moves to more regional scales, geological knowledge input becomes increasingly more valuable. The availability of seamless geological mapping improves 3-D modelling and helps to limit the effect of deficiencies in data coverage and data quality, often encountered in regional hydrogeological studies.

Data from a 97 m continuously cored borehole (GSC-BH-JSR-01), near Kinburn, Ontario, contribute to our knowledge of the geology, hydrogeology, and geotechnical properties of clay-rich, glaciated basins, and, specifically, the Champlain Sea basin. Physical properties, downhole geophysics, portable XRF bulk-sediment geochemical composition, micropaleontological results, and pore-water geochemistry data are integrated with detailed, sedimentological descriptions to provide a multidisciplinary data set similar to the 'golden spikes' of southern Ontario. Seismic-reflection data provide a basin architectural framework in which to interpret these results. The Kinburn data set is interpreted to record the retreat of the regional ice sheet, the incursion of the Champlain Sea, and the withdrawal of marine waters from the basin during continued ice retreat and isostatic rebound. The sediment package sits within a bedrock basin and consists of a basal, coarse-grained unit (possibly an esker), overlain by nearly 90 m of clay-rich, marine sediments (locally known as leda clay), and is capped by an 8 m thick silt-rich, nonmarine facies. Ultimately, the sedimentological, stratigraphic, and geochemical data collected from the Kinburn Golden Spike will provide a better understanding of glaciomarine sediments within the Champlain Sea of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. The large thickness of mud, the preservation of pore water chemistry, and the multidisciplinary data sets make the Kinburn site a key reference site for the geology, hydrogeology, and seismic-hazard assessment of the Champlain Sea basin.

The Nobleton continuously-cored borehole (Golden Spike) is situated on the southern flank of the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) 4.25 km north of Nobleton, Ontario. It was drilled in 1996 as part of the Oak Ridges Moraine Hydrogeology Study of the Geological Survey of Canada. The Nobleton borehole, with a core length of 193 m, is one of the deepest hydro-stratigraphic reference sites in the region. The location was selected to provide subsurface ground truthing for a 7 km long seismic profile completed across a broad bedrock depression known as the Laurentian valley. Detailed sedimentological core logging is complemented by downhole geophysics, grain size analysis, total organic carbon analysis, and nested piezometer installation. The base of the borehole intercepts limestone of the Paleozoic Lindsay Formation. Overlying Quaternary deposits interpreted to be Don, Scarborough, Sunnybrook and Thorncliffe formations, referred to as Lower sediment, are overlain by Oak Ridges Moraine sediment and Halton Till. Of particular note is the large number of rhythmites documented in the Scarborough (500) and Thorncliffe (1000) formations and the distinct geophysical signatures associated with these rhythmites. In contrast to the relatively fine grained rhythmic character of these deeper formations is a basal 20 m thick gravel unit and overlying sandier ORM deposits. The Nobleton golden spike borehole provides new hydrogeological insight on Lower sediment (Alliston Aquifer), tunnel channel fills that may host significant aquifer potential, and Oak Ridges Moraine sediment that is an important aquifer for domestic water supply.

This release provides digital data related to the identification and display of glacial landforms across Canada using remotely sensed and digital topographic data. The work provides a national-scale map of ice-sheet flowlines and flow tracts derived from landform indicators based on original observations from the remotely sensed data. The data were collected under the Remote Predictive Mapping (RPM) project of the Geological Survey of Canada, with funding also from NSERC, and aims to contribute to remote predictive mapping by using multi-scaled digital data to analyze and interpret existing and new geological data within an evolving predictive landscape framework. The Flowline Map on this DVD shows directional flow patterns for the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets for Canada south of 75° N. by depicting glacial landforms, flow indicators, flowlines and flow tracts using SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) and LANDSAT 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper + data. Glacial landforms, best seen at scales ~1:100,000 (LANDSAT 30 m resolution) and ~1:250,000 (SRTM 90 m resolution) include: drumlins, flutings, rises, eskers, de Geer moraines, hummocky terrain, Rogen terrain, end moraines, and sinuous ridges. All landforms are presented in digital form and shown on a pdf map at a scale of 1:5 million. Additional LANDSAT ETM+, and thematic layers are included to help the user appreciate the context of landform analysis and interpretation. The data with readily accessible formats that allow maximum and uncomplicated use are expected to serve as aids for detailed mapping, mineral exploration, and mineral potential assessment and for other studies. As well, users may integrate and assess this data with their own data. Descriptive notes explain how landforms were mapped and grouped into regional flow patterns.