Lead in the western South China Sea: Evidence of atmospheric deposition and upwelling
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Boyle_Lead in the western.pdf
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Author(s)
Chen, Mengli
Goodkin, Nathalie F.
Switzer, Adam D.
Bolton, Annette
Boyle, Edward A
Date Issued
May 2016
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Citation
Chen, Mengli et al. “Lead in the Western South China Sea: Evidence of Atmospheric Deposition and Upwelling: Temporal Pb Variability in Western SCS.” Geophysical Research Letters 43.9 (2016): 4490–4499.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
In recent decades, rapid industrial developments have increased lead (Pb) inputs to the South China Sea. To quantify the increasing variability, we investigated 170 years of skeletal Pb and Pb isotopes from an offshore, central Vietnamese coral. The Pb/Ca in the coral was 10–16 nmol/mol before the mid-1950s and increased to more than 30 nmol/mol by 2000. While the regional phaseout of leaded petrol commenced in 2000, coral Pb/Ca continued increasing until 2004, possibly due to regional upwelling and the transport of previously emitted Pb from tropical Pacific waters. The [superscript 206]Pb/[superscript 207]Pb ratio in the coral was 1.191–1.195 before mid-1950s, suggesting natural sources. Since then, the ratio decreased, reaching ~1.165 in 2004. Lead isotopes show high linearity between natural and Chinese emitted Pb, with the latter contributing ~40%~60% of the skeletal Pb after 2000.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068697
