Lead concentration and isotopic composition in the Pacific sclerosponge (Acanthochaetetes wellsi) reflects environmental lead pollution

• Ohmori, Kazuto

• Watanabe, Tsuyoshi

• Tanimizu, Masaharu

• Shirai, Kotaro

Abstract

We measured Pb/Ca and Pb isotopes with high resolution in the high-Mg calcite skeleton of a Pacific sclerosponge (Acanthochaetetes wellsi) collected from the reef edge off the western coast of Kume Island (East China Sea), to investigate its potential to he used as a proxy for lead contamination in the environment, and atmospheric transportation and fallout over the last few decades. Skeletal Pb/Ca ranged from 58 to 1642 nmol/mol, 10x higher than that of the aragonite skeleton of Pacific corals, and 2.5x higher than that of the aragonite skeletons of Caribbean sclerosponges. The Pb/Ca timeseries recorded from 1967 through 2007 CE correspond to historical changes in atmospheric lead flux in anthropogenic aerosols. Pb isotopes (Pb-206/Pb-207 and Pb-208/Pb-207) in the sclerosponge skeleton document that the main source of lead emissions shifted from Japan (1970-1980 CE) to China (1995-2005 CE), as expected from the timing of legislation against the use of leaded gasoline in Japan and China. Our results indicate that the skeleton of the Pacific sclerosponge is a powerful proxy to monitor environmental lead pollution. Applying this methodology to long-living and/or fossil specimens could be useful in determining the interannual variability of atmospheric transport and dynamics over geologic time scales.

Journal

• Geology

  Geology 42 (4), 287-290, 2014-04

  Geological Society of America

Keywords

• Geology

Details

• CRID: 1050845763945901184
• NII Article ID: 120005553661
• DOI: 10.1130/g34316.1
• ISSN: 19432682
• ISSN: 00917613
• HANDLE: 2115/58018
• Web Site: http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology/article-pdf/42/4/287/3544976/287.pdf
• Text Lang: en
• Article Type: journal article
• Data Source:
  • IRDB
  • Crossref
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN