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The study of lead-210 in the marine environment

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Abstract

This article summarizes the author's work on210Pb and210Po distributions in the marine environment for which the Okada Prize of the Oceanographical Society of Japan was awarded. In this review, the work of other investigators and the studies now going on are also included. The210Pb concentration in the surface water of the ocean is controlled by the atmospheric flux of210Pb and productivity. The disequilibrium between226Ra and210Pb in the deep sea reveals that the oceanic residence time of lead is less than a hundred years rather than of the order of thousands of years as thought before based on stable lead measurement in ocean water. Particulate removal of210Pb from the water column is likely to be the major cause of the deficiency of210Pb in the water, however more investigations would be needed to clarify the detailed removal mechanism of210Pb. The experiments on particulate flux by using sediment traps will provide an unique opportunity to examine this.

210Pb in excess of226Ra in sediment is useful for geochronology of shallow water sediments and the study on bioturbation rates on the deep sea sediments.

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  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, 06520, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Yoshiyuki Nozaki

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  1. Yoshiyuki Nozaki
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Nozaki, Y. The study of lead-210 in the marine environment. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 33, 342–349 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109581

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