Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 62, Issue 2, Pages 251-257Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.11.004
Keywords
Atmospheric pollution; Leaded gasoline; Palmyra Atoll; Pb geochemistry
Funding
- Faculty of Science
- Centre for Marine Environmental and Economic Research at Victoria University of Wellington
- National Science Foundation [ATM-0402562]
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Anthropogenic lead (Pb) inputs to the atmosphere increased greatly over the past century and now dominate Pb supply to the oceans. However, the Pb content of sediments across the equatorial Pacific region is relatively unknown, and data exist only for deep sea sites where Pb deposition lags surface water inputs by up to a century. Here we present ICP-MS analyses of Pb of a core from a lagoon at Palmyra Atoll, northern Line Islands, that spans approximately the past 160 years. The non-bioturbated sediments of the euxinic lagoon, coupled with rapid rates of deposition, provide a unique fine-scale record of atmospheric Pb supply at a remote Pacific location. These first observations of historic Pb sedimentation in an atoll lagoon reveal a 63-fold increase in Pb flux to sediments during the past century and correlate directly with the North American consumption of leaded gasoline that began in 1926. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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