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Inventory, fluxes and residence times from the depth profiles of naturally occurring 210Pb in marine sediments of Mumbai Harbor Bay

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Abstract

Measurements of the vertical concentration profile of deposited 210Pb and its parent (226Ra) in cores of recent marine sediment of Mumbai Harbor Bay (MHB) were made to determine the various depth distribution parameters (sedimentation rate, age of sediment, total inventory, fluxes, residence times, scavenging rate, linear attenuation coefficient and relaxation mass depth). Overall, the profile distributions of 226Ra and 210Pb showed a decreasing trend with increasing the depth. The mean of sedimentation rate in the studied area was obtained to be about 0.76 cm year−1 which corresponds to average age of sediment of about 56 years. The average total deposited 210Pb for the studied sediment profile was 9.68 k Bq m−2 and correspondingly the average value of fluxes of total 210Pb and excess 210Pb (atmospheric flux) were 0.59 and 0.32 k Bq m−2 year−1, respectively. The residence time of 210Pb was in the range of 26–226 years throughout the sediment profile and showed generally an increasing trend from top to bottom. The mean relaxation mass depth (h0) derived from the depth profile of 210Pb at the studied area was about 190 kg m−2. The negative association between clay content of cores and the h0 of 210Pb indicates that as the clay content increases, the penetration depth of deposited 210Pb in sediment profile decreases.

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Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely acknowledge the guidance, help and constant encouragement provided by Dr. D. N. Sharma, Director, H, S & E Group.

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  1. Mumbai, India

    Ajay Kumar, Sabyasachi Rout, Rupali Karpe, Manish Kumar Mishra, Usha Narayanan, Rakesh Kumar Singhal, Pazhayath Mana Ravi & Raj Mangal Tripathi

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  1. Ajay Kumar
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Kumar, A., Rout, S., Karpe, R. et al. Inventory, fluxes and residence times from the depth profiles of naturally occurring 210Pb in marine sediments of Mumbai Harbor Bay. Environ Earth Sci 73, 4019–4031 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3687-6

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